当京东举起镰刀

Core Viewpoint - The ongoing controversy surrounding "choose one" practices has resurfaced during this year's Double Eleven shopping festival, with JD.com being accused of imposing price restrictions on merchants, particularly targeting Midea for alleged price violations [1][2][3]. Group 1: Incident Overview - JD.com recently fined Midea 5 million RMB for price violations, claiming that Midea's prices were significantly higher than those on other platforms [4][5]. - Following Midea's appeal, JD.com retracted the fine and lifted the freeze on the funds, but the incident raised questions about JD.com's pricing policies and practices [6][7]. - JD.com has implemented new operational requirements for major brands during Double Eleven, including prohibiting them from offering better deals on competing platforms, which has been interpreted as a form of "choose one" pressure [7][8]. Group 2: Pricing Policies and Merchant Impact - JD.com's new pricing management rules, effective October 16, require merchants to ensure their prices on JD.com are not higher than those on other channels, with severe penalties for violations [9][10]. - Merchants face significant fines for pricing discrepancies, with reports indicating penalties could reach ten times the purchase price for violations [10]. - JD.com employs a "gross profit protection" strategy, ensuring that the platform retains a certain percentage of profits, which can lead to merchants subsidizing JD.com's profits during promotional events like Double Eleven [11][12]. Group 3: Competitive Landscape and Challenges - The competitive landscape for JD.com has intensified, with rival platforms like Tmall and Douyin reporting substantial growth in sales and user engagement during the Double Eleven period [16][18]. - JD.com's sales report for the Double Eleven period lacked key metrics such as GMV and the number of brands achieving significant sales, indicating potential struggles in maintaining market share [17][18]. - The company's reliance on government subsidies has raised concerns about sustainability, as these subsidies may become standard across platforms, limiting JD.com's competitive edge [18][19].