Reporting on another strong year of growth, Chinese e-commerce retailer JD.com has had a financially successful 2017 (12 months ending December 31, 2017, FY2017).
The company has been busy with agreements, investments and joint ventures over the past year, which have contributed to a reported US$7.8bn in gross profit, up 43.7 per cent from FY2016.
Fourth quarter results show a spike in technology and content expenses, due to increased investment in AI, big data and cloud-based solutions.
'We are very pleased to report another quarter of strong top line growth, as well as record full year profitability in 2017,' said Sidney Huang, JD.com's chief financial officer.
'In 2018, we will continue to prioritize investments in technology, user experience and expanding the JD ecosystem to bring more value to our customers and business partners.'
In December 2017, JD.com opened its first online fresh food market under the 7Fresh brand. The stores are a mecca of technology and convenience, and integrate both online and offline shopping experiences.
In recent months, the company has expanded its online/offline combination presence in a new joint venture named New Dada, partnering with 163 Walmart stores and 388 Yonghui stores to provide grocery shopping with a one-hour home delivery service.
In FY2017 JD.com’s number of active customer accounts increased by 29.1 per cent to 292.5m users.
