A week before the Qixi Festival (also known as Double Seventh Festival), which is China’s Valentine’s Day and falls on August 7 this year, JD has rolled out a new WeChat mini-program that makes it easier to send gifts on the platform.
With JD Gift, the gift-giver selects a gift for any WeChat friend from a special marketplace. This triggers a message to the recipient, who then has to input their shipping information in order to complete the purchase. All of the goods sold via the mini-program are JD first-party products, rather than from third-party flagship stores on the platform.
Before testing the option to purchase physical gifts in 2018, the retailer has been selling e-gift cards for several years. According to a JD survey of over 3,000 people, shoppers appreciate the ability to immediately send a gift and avoid the awkwardness of giving the gift in person.
“We understand that our customers are busy, and want to make it as easy as possible to send gifts to their loved ones,” Xiaohua Luo, head of JD Gift Card.