TechCrunch has reported that several months after it landed a major USD 550 million investment from Google, China’s JD.com has teamed up with Intel Corporation to setup ‘The Digitized Retail Joint Lab’.
The lab will be focused on bringing Internet-of-Things technology into the retail process, that would likely include new-generation vending machines, advertising experiences etc.
The JD ‘7Fresh’ store in Beijing, in China tech speak, is “online-to-offline” retail — combining the benefits of e-commerce with brick and mortar physical retail shopping. Customers can for example, order ahead of time and come in store for collection, buy items without a checkout, take advantage of ‘smart shelves’ or simply try products in person before they buy them.
The joint announcement stated that “The Digitized Retail Joint Lab will develop next-generation vending machines, media and advertising solutions, and technologies to be used in the stores of the future, based on Intel architecture”.
JD is backed by Chinese internet giant Tencent and valued at nearly USD 30 billion.