How JD.com Makes its Money: Revenue Breakdown

How Does JD.com Make its Money?

JD.com is China’s largest retailer by revenue and the country’s dominant direct-sales e-commerce platform, headquartered in Beijing. Unlike Alibaba’s asset-light marketplace model, JD operates like Amazon: it purchases inventory directly from suppliers, stores it in its own warehouse network (over 1,600 fulfilment centres), and delivers it using its own logistics fleet of approximately 400,000 couriers. This vertically integrated model gives JD control over product authenticity and delivery speed — often same-day or next-day across major Chinese cities — at the cost of significantly higher capital requirements and lower margins than pure marketplace competitors.

JD reports in Chinese yuan (CNY/RMB). In fiscal year 2025 (ended December 31, 2025), JD generated ¥1.309 trillion in revenue (~$181B USD at ~7.2 CNY/USD), up 13.0% from ¥1.159 trillion in FY2024. However, despite the revenue growth, operating income collapsed 93% from ¥38.7B to ¥2.8B CNY due to a massive surge in New Businesses segment losses. Net income was ¥19.6B CNY (~$2.7B USD), supported by ¥17.3B in other non-operating income.

JD.com (JD) Business Model

JD earns money through two fundamental channels: product sales (buying and reselling goods) and service revenue (marketplace fees, advertising, and logistics services to third parties).

Product revenue is the dominant channel. JD acts as a first-party retailer — it buys electronics, appliances, food, clothing, and thousands of other categories from manufacturers and brands, then resells them to consumers on its platform. This generates the full retail selling price as revenue but also requires JD to bear inventory risk and fulfil orders from its own warehouses. Gross margins are thin (16%) because JD passes much of its buying scale savings to customers to remain price-competitive, particularly against Pinduoduo (PDD/Temu), which has aggressively targeted price-sensitive consumers.

Service revenue is smaller but faster-growing and higher-margin. It includes: third-party marketplace commissions (merchants pay JD a percentage of sales), advertising fees (brands pay to promote products on JD’s platform), and logistics services (JD Logistics fulfils orders for merchants and brands outside JD’s own marketplace). Service revenue grew 23.6% in FY2025, nearly double the pace of product revenue.

JD’s logistics infrastructure — built over more than a decade at enormous capital cost — has become a standalone business. JD Logistics (listed separately on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange) serves external customers including retailers, manufacturers, and brands who need fulfilment, warehousing, and last-mile delivery across China.

JD.com Competitors

JD.com’s key competitors and comparable public companies in the e-commerce sector include Alibaba, Temu, Amazon, and Coupang. Each of these companies competes for market share, investor attention, and revenue in overlapping segments. See how JD.com stacks up by comparing their revenue breakdown, margins, and growth metrics.

Revenue Breakdown

All figures in CNY (Chinese yuan) millions. FY2025 ended December 31, 2025.

Approximate USD equivalent at 7.2 CNY/USD: FY2025 ~$181.8B, FY2024 ~$160.9B.

Financial data sourced from JD.com SEC Filings.

JD Retail — 86% of Revenue

JD Retail is the core business: the direct-sales e-commerce platform where JD buys and sells products to Chinese consumers. Revenue reached ¥1.13 trillion in FY2025 (+10.9%). Within retail, JD reports two product categories:

• Electronics & Home Appliances (¥605B / 46% of total): JD’s original and still-dominant category. Consumer electronics, smartphones, laptops, televisions, and major home appliances. JD is the preferred platform for premium electronics in China due to its authenticity guarantees and fast, reliable delivery. This segment grew 7.1% in FY2025.
• General Merchandise (¥419B / 32% of total): Clothing, food, beauty products, books, and everyday consumables. General merchandise grew 15.3% in FY2025 — faster than electronics — reflecting JD’s successful expansion beyond its original tech-hardware identity.

JD Retail also earns marketplace and marketing revenue (¥107B, +18.9%) from the third-party merchants who sell on JD’s platform and pay for advertising placements and commissions. This is the most profitable revenue stream within retail as it carries no inventory cost.

JD Retail operating income was ¥51.4B in FY2025 (+25.1%), meaning the core retail and marketplace business is profitable and growing margins.

JD Logistics — 17% of Revenue

JD Logistics operates as a separate publicly listed company (HKEX: 2618) providing supply chain and fulfilment services. Revenue of ¥217B in FY2025 grew 18.8%, driven by expansion of external customers — companies and brands outside JD’s own marketplace that use JD’s warehousing and delivery network. External customer revenue now represents the majority of JD Logistics’ business, demonstrating its transition from an internal cost centre to a genuine third-party logistics provider competitive with companies like SF Express and Cainiao (Alibaba’s logistics arm).

JD Logistics operating income was ¥5.3B in FY2025, down from ¥6.3B in FY2024 — a 16.6% decline as the company invested in expanding its network and acquiring new external accounts.

New Businesses — 4% of Revenue

The New Businesses segment encompasses JD’s diversification efforts beyond its core retail and logistics operations, including international expansion, JD Property (logistics real estate), and other emerging ventures. Revenue surged 157% to ¥49.3B in FY2025 — but this growth came at a severe cost: the segment’s operating loss exploded from -¥2.9B in FY2024 to -¥46.6B in FY2025, a ¥43.7B swing that nearly entirely offset JD Retail’s ¥51.4B operating profit. This is the primary reason total company operating income collapsed 93% year-over-year.

JD.com (JD) Income Statement

Approx. USD at 7.2 CNY/USD: FY2025 Net Income ~$2.7B, Operating Income ~$0.4B.

JD.com (JD) Key Financial Metrics

• Gross Margin: 16.0% — Consistent with a direct-retail model where JD bears inventory costs. Gross margin has been gradually improving from 13.6% in FY2021, reflecting the growing share of higher-margin service revenue (marketplace fees, advertising, logistics services).
• Operating Margin: 0.21% — Collapsed from 3.34% in FY2024, almost entirely due to the ¥46.6B operating loss in the New Businesses segment. JD Retail’s standalone operating margin was approximately 4.6% — healthy for its business model.
• Revenue Growth: +13.0% — Strongest annual growth since FY2021, driven by General Merchandise acceleration and JD Logistics external expansion.
• Net Margin: 1.77% — Higher than operating margin because ¥17.3B in other non-operating income (investment gains, interest) cushioned the operating loss.

Is JD.com Profitable?

JD.com is profitable at the net income level but barely profitable at the operating level in FY2025. Net income was ¥19.6B CNY (~$2.7B USD), but operating income was only ¥2.8B CNY (~$390M USD) — a 93% collapse from FY2024’s ¥38.7B operating income.

The collapse was caused by the New Businesses segment, which reported an operating loss of -¥46.6B in FY2025 — roughly the same scale as JD Retail’s ¥51.4B operating profit. Without New Businesses losses, operating income would have been approximately ¥49.4B — consistent with FY2024 and actually growing.

Net income significantly exceeded operating income because JD earned ¥17.3B in non-operating income (gains on investments in portfolio companies, interest income). This income can be volatile year-to-year.

Where Does JD.com Spend its Money?

• Cost of Revenue (¥1,099B / 84% of revenue): Primarily the cost of purchasing inventory sold directly to customers — the biggest cost in a first-party retail model. JD’s buying scale (¥1+ trillion in annual procurement) gives it strong supplier leverage, but cost of goods still dominates the P&L.
• Selling, General & Administrative (¥184B / 14% of revenue): Warehouse operations, fulfilment labour, marketing, and corporate overhead. SG&A jumped ¥57B year-over-year in FY2025, largely reflecting increased investment in the New Businesses segment and international expansion.
• Research & Development (¥22B / 1.7% of revenue): Technology development including JD’s e-commerce platform, AI-powered logistics systems, autonomous delivery vehicles, and internal enterprise software.

JD.com (JD): What to Watch

1. New Businesses losses — The ¥46.6B operating loss in FY2025 is the most critical financial issue. Investors need to understand whether this represents temporary investment spend with a clear path to profitability, or structural losses from expansion into markets where JD lacks competitive advantage. Management’s guidance on New Businesses investment timeline is essential.
2. Competition with PDD/Pinduoduo — Pinduoduo’s Temu model has captured price-sensitive Chinese consumers. JD is responding by launching its own low-price and group-buying features, but this risks cannibalising higher-margin sales. How JD navigates the price competition without destroying its premium positioning is the central strategic challenge.
3. Service revenue mix — Marketplace, advertising, and logistics services collectively grew 23.6% in FY2025 and carry much higher margins than product revenue. As service revenue grows toward 25–30% of total, JD’s blended margins should expand structurally.
4. JD Logistics external revenue — JD Logistics’ ability to compete as a standalone logistics provider against SF Express, Cainiao, and other carriers will determine whether the ¥1T+ invested in physical infrastructure ultimately generates adequate returns.
5. Chinese consumer macro — JD’s revenue is almost entirely dependent on Chinese consumer spending. Policy stimulus, property market stabilisation, and youth employment trends in China directly affect the demand environment.

JD.com (JD) Financial Summary

JD.com (JD) is a Chinese e-commerce and logistics company that generated ¥1.309 trillion CNY (~$181.8B USD) in total revenue in fiscal year 2025 (ended December 31, 2025), up 13.0% year-over-year. JD Retail accounted for 86% of revenue, with Electronics & Home Appliances (¥605B) and General Merchandise (¥419B) as the primary categories. Net income was ¥19.6B CNY (~$2.7B USD), though operating income collapsed 93% to ¥2.8B due to a ¥46.6B operating loss in the New Businesses segment. Gross margin was 16.0%, consistent with JD’s direct-retail, inventory-holding model. For a deeper look at JD.com’s revenue breakdown, business segments, and financial performance, review the detailed analysis above.