Uniqlo's JD store mysteriously closed. Is Taobao putting pressure on us?

There is still no final investigation result on the farce in the Sanlitun fitting room, and the news from Uniqlo has become a hot topic again.

On the evening of July 20, UNIQLO's official flagship store on JD.com announced that it would withdraw from the JD.com platform after operating for one month. Japan's Fast Retailing Group, the company that owns the UNIQLO brand, said that "there are still many areas in this cooperation that need further discussion and improvement", and decided to terminate the cooperation first.

JD.com’s official response expressed regret and understanding for “Uniqlo’s adjustment of its e-commerce business strategy” and said it was open to future cooperation opportunities.

The incident happened suddenly. JD.com and Uniqlo just signed an entry agreement in April this year, and JD Group Chairman Liu Qiangdong personally attended the press conference.

JD.com stressed that Uniqlo's decision to close stores was due to the company's "e-commerce business strategy adjustment" rather than doubts about the value of the JD.com platform.

"The sales of Uniqlo's official flagship store on JD.com in the first month reached twice its expected target. This proves that JD.com has an advantage," a JD.com employee told The Paper.

Currently, in addition to its official website and JD.com flagship store, UNIQLO also has a Tmall flagship store, which was established in 2009. Before entering JD.com, Tmall had always been UNIQLO's main online platform in China, and its official website was even directly connected to the Tmall flagship store. UNIQLO is also one of the first brands to be snapped up during the annual Double 11 shopping spree.

There were rumors that Alibaba and Uniqlo had a very close relationship. After learning that Uniqlo was going to enter JD.com this year, Tmall even tried to "dissuade" it several times.

After the news of Uniqlo closing its flagship store on JD.com was announced, Zhang Chuan, a senior Internet figure and partner of Linear Capital, commented on his WeChat Moments that this was strange. He also quoted a rumor that Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma and SoftBank's Masayoshi Son may have invested in Uniqlo.

Alibaba has not responded to this rumor. However, an analyst told The Paper that Alibaba’s pressure on Uniqlo is reasonable. “The top-selling stores on Tmall are still the miscellaneous brands that migrated from Taobao, and the big brands it promotes do not bring enough sales, which is also related to the brands’ online and offline strategies. But Tmall is still willing to use recommended positions and event resources to win over big brands, and even sign exclusive agreements. In addition, unlike JD.com, which started out as a 3C company, Tmall’s original advantage lies in the clothing category, and it cannot lose this advantage in the competition with JD.com, so putting pressure on and winning over Uniqlo is also building a team for itself.”

As for whether Uniqlo will continue to cooperate with other online channels in the future, Fast Retailing Group responded that "there is no plan in this regard at present."

Fast Retailing also added that the Uniqlo JD flagship store will continue to provide after-sales services to consumers until August 31.

In recent years, there have been many news reports about brands opening online stores, but it is rare to hear about brands closing online stores. As early as 2012, the affordable luxury brand Coach closed its online store on Tmall after testing the waters for two months. However, Coach responded at the time that this was a short-term project and that it was viewed as a way to accumulate experience in building its own online store. At the end of that year, Coach launched its own online store.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.