Editor | Weber

At 10 pm on May 31, pressing the "Confirm Payment" button. At 10 am on June 1, the product arrived at the doorstep.

From the perspective of shopping experience alone, JD.com is undoubtedly a leader in the industry.

During the 618 period, relying solely on the shopping experience is not enough to reverse JD.com's current public opinion field.

JD.com, Alibaba, and Pinduoduo are currently the three leading e-commerce platforms in China. As the only e-commerce platform company with revenue exceeding one trillion yuan in 2023, JD.com's profit margin is only over 2%, which is some distance from Alibaba's 7.6% and far from Pinduoduo's 24%.

External threats and internal troubles persist. In recent years, Liu Qiangdong has retreated behind the scenes and rarely appeared, but whenever he does, it puts the company in the spotlight of public opinion. While the company is promoting layoffs and optimizing internal management, it is also giving frontline employees salary increases of 20% to 100%, and the topic of "brotherhood" has become a hot topic in the industry.

Jokes aside, commercial competition still relies on strength.

Admittedly, whether it's proactive optimization or passive response, JD.com's adjustment this time also reflects the company's awkward situation.

Under internal and external troubles, relying on old methods may be difficult for JD.com to survive in the next phase of competition.

Will Liu Qiangdong's return lead JD.com, which has more than 510,000 "brothers," in a new direction?

01

Not everyone can be called a "brother."

The "wolf culture" originated from Huawei.

After many company founders and executives visited Huawei, they hoped to replicate Huawei's "wolf culture" in their own companies.

One tells ten, ten tells a hundred, and thus, the trend of intense competition has spread across various industries.

It is undeniable that Huawei's internal competition is even more intense than that of internet giants. However, when promoting the "wolf culture," have they provided adequate compensation?

Let's look at the data. In 2023, Huawei had 207,000 employees with an average salary of 878,000 yuan. Even if averaged, their base is still higher than the ceiling salary of most companies. Huawei has the confidence to promote the "wolf culture," and its employees are happy to compete. As long as the money is there, everything is negotiable.

Returning to JD.com.

In 2018, Liu Qiangdong publicly stated that JD.com would not dismiss any employees, but the company's recent layoffs have undoubtedly contradicted this statement. Combined with the company's high revenue and low profit situation, market concerns about the company's financial situation and future development have also increased, and the topic has fermented further.

However, the news of a 20% to 200% salary increase for frontline employees is a positive sign in the public opinion field.

According to the financial report, JD.com had over 517,000 employees in 2023, adding more than 120,000 employees in the two years when the industry was reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Looking at the breakdown by department:

- Procurement: 23,687 people

- Warehousing: 70,451 people

- Delivery: 355,018 people

- Customer Service: 27,157 people

- R&D: 14