Dive Brief:

• JD.com has raised US$2.5 billion toward expanding its subsidiary JD Logistics, the South China Morning Post reported. CEO of JD Logistics Zhenhui Wang intends for the funding to aid in enhancing the company's smart supply chain network.
• With the recent funding, the company is now valued at $10.9 billion. The company currently maintains a majority share of 81.4%.
• While JD Logistics is a standalone subsidiary, it will continue to support both JD.com’s e-commerce business, as well invest in automation, drones and robotics to aid in logistics technology.

Dive Insight:

Thanks to its own logistics network, JD.com has successfully differentiated itself from Alibaba, its competitor in Chinese e-commerce sales. Embracing innovation, JD already relies on drones, which it uses to reach outlying rural areas. Further, the company is working to open unmanned stores operated by facial recognition software.

JD.com's willingness to embrace technology at early-adopter speed is what sets it apart from other e-commerce sellers within the same market. While Alibaba is known for having a greater international reach — in part due to its booking collaboration with the Maersk Line — JD is preferred by many in-country due to its direct-sales platform, from which shoppers avoid the third party sellers that dominate Alibaba. 

Now, with billions more in available funding, the logistics subsidiary of the company is set to expand still further, primarily through advanced technology methods at warehouses and detailed refinements to its already advanced delivery methods.

JD.com's continued success and tech-savvy sets the company up to be a fierce competitor in the e-commerce space, and could develop to be one of Alibaba's top challengers.