Google invested US $550 million in Chinese e-commerce powerhouse JD.com, part of the U.S. internet giant’s efforts to amplify its presence in speedy-growing Asian markets and battle rivals including Amazon and Alibaba. A Survata study reported that Amazon is now dominating Google in product search, and without these customer’s valued data, Google cannot create targeted ads. Therefore, with this partnership, Google will have the chance for stepping up in data monetization, while JD.com’s products can also be promoted on Google for opening up a broad range of possibilities to offer a superior retail experience to netizens across Asia.
One of the themes of this year’s KODW, “Future Retail & Lifestyle”, will talk about how digital technologies can generate structural changes in the industry ecosystem and how to create opportunities under new consumption behaviour.