Hong Kong, 14 November 2018:
RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE: ECM), a global multi-channel distributor, today confirmed a strategic partnership agreement with JD.com, China’s largest retailer. The agreement includes the supply of more than 10,000 industrial products and consumables from RS PRO, the own-brand range of RS, which will to be made available on JD.com by the end of 2018.
The initiative will include the provision of high-quality and cost-effective products, enabling businesses of all types to transform and upgrade their MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) procurement strategies. Several thousand RS PRO products covered by the agreement are already sold by JD.com in its first party retail business, including testing instruments, cables, connectors, tools and personal protection equipment (PPE).
The two companies will also work closely together using analytical data insights from JD.com to formulate product plans, improve customer service standards and sales processes. This will allow both companies to tailor the portfolio to meet the product preferences and procurement requirements of the China market. In addition, RS and JD.com will cooperate in key areas such as customer profiling, and explore the strategic development of industrial procurement to provide customers with a highly efficient one-stop shopping experience within the MRO consumer channel.
Customer orders will be shipped directly from the RS bonded warehouse at Waigaoqiao, Shanghai. This will mean that leading customers located in many major cities in China, depending on inventory levels, will be able to receive their orders within 24 hours.
“This agreement is a major opportunity for RS, as JD.com is second to none in terms of its extensive industry experience with best-in-class e-commerce, supply chain, logistics, customer service and marketing,” said Simon Brown, Vice President RS PRO. “We will provide our expertise in industrial and professional maintenance markets, and will further enhance all aspects of our eProcurement platform. In addition, this cooperation can make a valuable contribution within the framework of the Chinese government’s ‘sunshine’ procurement policy, which promotes the digitalisation and transparency of procurement processes.”
“RS has proven leading-edge e-commerce capabilities, in addition to a large customer base already existing in China,” said Chunzhen Song, VP of JD.com and General Manager of Key Accounts Division “There is already significant synergy between our two companies that will be furthered by this important agreement. This cooperation will create a transparent and digitalized eProcurement service for MRO procurement, meeting the needs of businesses of all sizes.”
The RS PRO portfolio covers more than 50,000 high quality, competitively priced industrial products and consumables. Furthermore, all of the products have been rigorously tested to meet demanding industry standards and come with the RS PRO ‘Seal of Approval’.