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• The robotic shops, branded "Ochama," are located in the cities of Leiden and Rotterdam
• The Chinese e-commerce giant poses a challenge to U.S. e-commerce giant, Amazon
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com opened two stores in the Netherlands that will have robots manning the stores while preparing and delivering packages.
The "robotic shops," branded Ochama, are located in the cities of Leiden and Rotterdam and highlight JD.com's first physical foray into Europe and its ambitions to expand beyond China.
The Chinese e-commerce giant poses a challenge to U.S. e-commerce giant, Amazon, which has launched its cashier-less grocery stores called Amazon Go in the U.S. and Amazon Fresh in the U.K.
JD.com allows users to order food, beauty products and home furnishings via the Ochama app. They can then go to the store where automated vehicles and robotic arms will pick and sort orders or deliver them to their homes. When a shopper gets to the store, they can scan a barcode on their app and their orders will be carried to them via a conveyer belt.
The Chinese e-commerce company said it plans to open two further stores in the cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht in the Netherlands.
JD.com still makes most of its revenue from China, but in recent years, it expanded its presence overseas.
The company operates an online shopping site called Joybuy.com for international customers. It has an e-commerce joint venture in Thailand and it's also the largest shareholder of Vietnamese shopping platform Tiki.
Picture Credits: Data Driven Investor