Richard Liu
Richard Liu is a Chinese entrepreneur who founded JD.com, moved it fully online in 2004, and from 2007 built its own nationwide warehouse and delivery network rather than relying on outside carriers.
What they did and why it matters
Liu's decision to own logistics end to end is a leading example of an e-commerce company treating fulfillment as a core asset. Facing a fragmented Chinese delivery market, JD built warehouses, sortation centers, and its own delivery staff, which let it offer fast and reliable delivery and later sell logistics services to other merchants. The model is capital intensive, but it gives control over speed, service quality, and data. The same choice between building in-house fulfillment and using 3PLs and carriers comes up for growing brands everywhere, as Amazon's network in the US shows.
Related people
Sources
- Liu Qiangdong (Wikipedia) en.wikipedia.org
- Behind Richard Liu's bountiful harvest (JD Corporate Blog) jdcorporateblog.com