China’s JD.com feels pressure as sales of big ticket items slow

© Shannon Fagan

JD.com won’t look back fondly on 2018, what with trade wars, an executive arrested following rape allegations and market valuations being decimated. And now the online behemoth has reported its third-quarter results. Despite a 25% bounce in revenues, investors weren’t satisfied, and The South China Morning Post reports that the company is eyeing a Q4 in line with their lower expectations. It seems much of its problems stem from the arrest of founder Richard Liu Qiangdong, as well as the trade war. But this is all being exacerbated by the rise in competition for China’s online consumers. According to the SCMP, fighting “intense competition” has led to JD losing nearly half its market valuation.