What is the source of JD.com's confidence behind its big moves at the start of the year?

Produced by / Lian Shang Network

Today, major e-commerce platforms are increasingly focusing on merchant resources. As China’s largest brand e-commerce platform, JD.com provides endorsement for merchants, creating a significant advantage in boosting their business. To further support merchants, reduce entry barriers, and lower full-cycle operational costs, JD.com launched the “Chunxiao Plan” in 2023, aimed at high-quality development for merchants.

On March 11, JD.com’s bulletin announced a major upgrade to the Chunxiao Plan, fully supporting high-growth potential quality merchants, further promoting mutual benefits for the platform, merchants, and consumers, and closing the loop on a positive feedback cycle of mutual promotion.

01

JD “Chunxiao Plan” to be upgraded again in 2026

Addressing core pain points for new merchants—“difficult startup,” “lack of management knowledge,” and “uncertain benefits”—the 2026 “Chunxiao Plan” systematically introduces three major initiatives: funding reduction and exemption to cut costs, free AI tools to improve efficiency, and a hundred-billion-yuan advertising subsidy to support growth, providing comprehensive support from onboarding, promotion, to operations. Overall, the new Chunxiao Plan’s main goal is to reduce merchants’ store opening and operating costs, attract more traffic, and improve efficiency in market trend insights, product selection, and launching, enabling newcomers to quickly get on track.

According to the “2024 China Physical Retail Digital Development Report” released by the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, China’s retail digital penetration has reached 67.8%, but digitalization among small and medium-sized physical stores remains below 30%. Behind this gap lie both challenges and opportunities. China has over 40 million small and micro enterprises, with retail stores accounting for about one-third. These businesses face systemic challenges in the digital wave: technical barriers, online operation experience, and capital investment have become major gaps in achieving integrated O2O (online-to-offline) operations.

To encourage more merchants to go online, JD.com continues to deepen its zero-cost trial operation policy. Search “Open Store” on the JD app, and within one minute, you can open a store. New merchants can start trial operations without paying a deposit; after the trial period, they can enjoy the upgraded “full insurance deposit” policy, where successful insurance coverage exempts them from paying 100% cash deposit, enabling seamless transition to official zero-cost operation.

To address the high costs previously borne by merchants, the Chunxiao Plan 2026 significantly reduces merchant deposits. Starting March 1, over 3,000 categories of enterprise stores participate in fee reductions, with nearly 90% of first-tier deposits lowered to 500 yuan, covering categories like fashion, 3C electronics, home appliances, health, automotive, and industrial products; additionally, a new zero-commission incentive is introduced, where merchants meeting transaction targets can enjoy up to one year of 100% commission rebate, allowing merchants to start with zero burden.

In the wave of AI deepening its empowerment of the real economy, JD.com announced that all 14 “Jingmai” AI tools are now free, further lowering the threshold for merchants’ online operations. From the 2025 launch of the “AI Business Opportunity Intelligence Tool” to assist with product selection and pricing, to the upcoming 2026 launch of “AI Smart Order” and “Delayed Shipment Reporting” tools that connect backend fulfillment, AI capabilities continue to evolve. Meanwhile, Jingmai’s service marketplace offers over 30 essential store-opening tools, all free for new merchants—including the original 60k yuan “Jingxiao Zhi 5.0” customer service tool and the official digital human live broadcast tool, which new merchants can use free for up to one year. From onboarding, product management, marketing, to after-sales service, AI technology is deeply integrated into the entire operation process, not only lowering the barrier for novices but also expected to boost overall operational efficiency by 50%.

In recent years, rising traffic costs and uncertain advertising effects have become common pain points for merchants. JD.com will increase its advertising subsidies from the current billion-yuan level to hundreds of billions, with new merchants receiving a 200 yuan threshold-free red envelope upon entry, and a maximum of 5,500 yuan in advertising incentives. Additionally, the platform introduces a new advertising expenditure incentive policy: after reaching expenditure targets during advertising campaigns, merchants can receive up to 12% rebate on incremental cash expenditure, giving merchants more confidence and momentum in their advertising investments.

02

100% Investment Return Guarantee—What Gives JD the Confidence?

The most eye-catching feature of the 2026 upgraded Chunxiao Plan is the “Profit Guarantee Plan.” It states that if a merchant’s promotional ROI( investment return rate) is not achieved, JD will compensate 100% of the shortfall, allowing merchants to invest with greater peace of mind.

This is the industry’s first “100% investment return ratio,” making the “Profit Guarantee Plan” a strong safeguard for JD’s operational support for merchants.

For merchants, the main challenges in online operations stem from:

First, high traffic costs and difficulty achieving ROI. This is the core pain point for merchants and one of the reasons JD launched the “Profit Guarantee Plan.”

Second, high return rates. Categories like clothing, bags, and footwear have high return rates. High return rates not only increase logistics and packaging costs but also impact search rankings due to lower store scores.

The “Profit Guarantee Plan” precisely addresses these pain points. It attempts to reduce merchants’ trial-and-error risks in advertising by platform-backed guarantees, encouraging them to try online store opening, and solving operational difficulties encountered along the way.

JD’s confidence in offering a “100% investment return guarantee” fundamentally comes from its built-in “profit explosion” logic, supported by technology, algorithms, and support mechanisms.

Specifically, JD’s confidence mainly derives from three aspects:

First, AI tools enhance merchant operation efficiency. The upgrade introduces 14 free AI tools such as AI product launching and dispute resolution; plus tools like Jingxiao Zhi 5.0 and digital human live broadcast tools; these help merchants reduce labor costs and improve operational efficiency from store opening, product listing, live streaming, to customer service.

Second, JD forms a “dual insurance” with hundreds of billions in advertising subsidies and expenditure incentives. The subsidies increase from billion-yuan to hundreds of billions, with new merchants receiving a 200 yuan threshold-free red envelope and up to 5,500 yuan in total incentives; the expenditure incentive policy rewards merchants for reaching ad spend targets with up to 12% rebate on incremental cash expenditure, boosting confidence and growth potential.

Third, building an ecosystem closed loop to assist merchant growth and create long-term value. The core goal of the “Chunxiao Plan” is to attract new merchants and help them grow. Data shows that in the past year, the plan has attracted millions of new merchants, with orders from small and medium-sized merchants nearly doubling year-over-year. For the platform, merchant retention and GMV( total transaction volume) growth are far more valuable than short-term costs. The “100% guaranteed investment return” promise reduces merchants’ concerns and attracts more to join.

JD dares to launch the “Profit Guarantee Plan” because it has transformed “uncertainty” into “certainty.” Through AI-driven efficiency improvements, hundreds of billions in subsidies, and ecosystem flow, it uses “certainty guarantees” to rebuild trust with merchants, ultimately achieving a win-win situation.

03

Quality e-commerce builds stronger trust credentials for merchants

Under the new e-commerce logic, the traditional zero-sum game of “traffic monetization and winner-takes-all” is no longer sustainable. The core of a thriving ecosystem must shift from “big stores bullying customers” to “internal symbiosis”—that is, platform and merchants forming a “community of shared destiny,” jointly cultivating sustainable incremental growth. This requires the platform to shift from “rule maker” to “service enabler,” leveraging technology tools, data sharing, and traffic benefits to lower the operational thresholds and uncertainties for small and medium merchants.

When merchants gain assured growth opportunities, they will be more willing to invest in innovation and user experience, which in turn enriches the platform’s supply. This “mutual growth and coexistence” cycle can resist external competition and ensure long-term ecosystem health and vitality.

JD’s 2026 “Chunxiao Plan” support for merchants goes far beyond visible cost reductions; it relies on JD’s established “brand trust” and “efficient logistics” as two core barriers in the e-commerce field. This unique model provides small and medium merchants with a clear growth path from “traffic” to “retention.”

On one hand, for merchants lacking brand recognition, joining JD.com itself means gaining the platform’s “quality endorsement.” JD’s users generally have high purchasing power and high repurchase rates, and their trust in the platform directly transfers to merchants, reducing customer acquisition costs and trust-building time.

On the other hand, JD’s own brand recognition advantage helps merchants with good quality but low visibility to be discovered more quickly by consumers, fostering sustainable loyalty and greatly reducing the initial “discovery and recognition” mental costs for quality merchants.

In JD’s “more, faster, better, cheaper, and省” consumer mindset, “good” is at the core. Merchants operating on JD are naturally perceived by users as “quality merchants,” helping them escape price wars and achieve brand premiums. Moreover, JD’s long-term logistics service standards, such as “211 Timely Delivery,” significantly enhance fulfillment efficiency. These high-quality logistics services improve shopping experience, reduce returns caused by slow or damaged logistics, and protect merchants’ profits.

Under the “Chunxiao Plan,” merchants can achieve a leap from “selling goods” to “building a brand.” The high-quality attributes of JD’s users mean that conversion rate(CVR) and average order value(AOV) are usually above industry averages, making profitability easier.

Within JD’s ecosystem, merchants are no longer just “sellers,” but become trusted “quality e-commerce” providers relying on platform’s authentic product reputation and efficient fulfillment, gaining long-term stable growth. The 2026 “Chunxiao Plan” optimizes elements of “trust” and “efficiency,” and this unique model allows more POP merchants to grow into “quality e-commerce” at lower costs and faster speeds, achieving true sustainable development.