China’s JD.Com Brings eCommerce Platform to EU and UK

Chinese eCommerce giant JD.com has launched a shopping platform in Europe.

Joybuy, which debuted Monday (March 16), serves six European countries, including the U.K. and Germany, along with the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

“The UK and Europe have some of the savviest shoppers in the world, and we’re bringing our decades of retail and logistics experience to the UK and Europe to change the way people shop online for the better,” the company said in a news release.

“By owning the process from the warehouse to the front door, we’re making same-day delivery the new standard. Our investment in the UK and across Europe is focused on ensuring that when a customer clicks ‘buy’, they know the product will be delivered to their door with the quality, speed and reliability they deserve.”

A report on the launch by CNBC notes that this move shows JD trying to challenge not only Amazon, but Chinese companies like Temu and AliExpress that now operate in Europe. The report added that Joybuy stresses its ownership of much of its product lineup.

“We’re a first party retailer, we’re completely different to every other retailer based on our customer proposition,” Matthew Nobbs, U.K. managing director of Joybuy, told CNBC.

“So we don’t do any de minimis business. We’re a retailer, first, and foremost for brands, and that’s our core,” he added, in reference to the rule in some countries that exempts some lower-cost items from tariffs.

JD’s expansion comes as eCommerce shopping continues to grow, accounting for 16% of retail sales in the closing quarter of 2025.

As covered here recently, this growth is not only connected to technology adoption but also to changing consumer financial conditions. Research from PYMNTS Intelligence shows that financial pressure is guiding how people choose where and how to shop.

According to this data, 30% of consumers reported making an online retail purchase in the previous 30 days, a 13% year-over-year increase. During the same period, participation in in-store retail fell by six percentage points, which suggests that at least some consumer activity is shifting from physical locations to digital channels.

“For many households, online shopping offers practical advantages when budgets are tight. Digital channels make it easier to compare prices, search for promotions and evaluate alternatives across merchants,” the report said.

PYMNTS Intelligence research also shows that financially stressed consumers are more likely than their low-stress counterparts to buy groceries online, suggesting that digital commerce is becoming a tool for households to manage spending decisions.