JD.com’s New Platform Lays Foundation of Real Estate Business

JD.com Inc. has launched a real estate purchasing platform, becoming the latest Chinese e-commerce giant to make a foray into the property market with the backing of their retail expertise and vast pool of consumer spending data.

More than 2,000 housing projects provided by 85 property developers and 35 agencies have been listed on the platform, JD.com announced in a statement. All of the homes, located in 20 cities, are new.

In future, the platform will cover residential, commercial and other types of properties, said Xin Lijun, president of JD.com’s apparel and home furnishings unit, in the Tuesday statement.

The company also hopes to leverage its “sea of spending pattern data” and its internet technology to customize real estate products to better meet consumer needs, the statement said. It added that specialized teams will be formed with developers and agencies so the platform can offer properties for various purposes such as investment and tourism.

The platform has not yet been given an official name, but its Chinese name translates as “JD property channel.”

The launch of the property platform is JD.com’s latest move to tap the real estate market.

A wholly owned subsidiary of the company has been selected to be a technology partner of Beijing’s house renting supervision and management platform, according to a news release on Friday by the city’s housing authorities, meaning JD.com has been granted access to the home rental market.

Chinese e-commerce companies are actively seeking to take a share of the property rental market as the central government encourages cities to offer more housing options to residents amid a shortage of affordable homes.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and the affiliated Ant Financial Services Group, the online-payment service provider backed by its billionaire founder Jack Ma, in August signed an agreement with the local authorities in the eastern city of Hangzhou to use their information verification and credit-scoring technologies to help with the setup of an official online property rental platform.

Alipay, owned by Ant Financial, launched its own house rental business in late September and announced earlier this month that more than 1 million apartments will eventually be offered on its platform, according to previous Chinese media reports.

Contact reporter Fran Wang (fangwang@caixin.com)