Deal between international property portal and Chinese online retailer expected to add 300 million potential new buyers
Late last week, international property portal Juwai.com has announced the cementing of its alliance with Chinese online retailer and Amazon competitor JD.com – a move that will see real estate in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and Australia marketed to JD’s customer base.
The arrangement, which is slated to officially launch this month, will involve Juwai listings appearing on the JD online catalogue. The set-up would allow Chinese shoppers to browse real estate in the same manner as they would JD’s other offerings like shoes, watches, and electronics.
The deal is expected to augment Juwai’s current 2.2 million monthly users with JD’s audience of almost 300 million. JD also specifically requested that Canadian property be included among listings because they see such strong demand for it.
“We are truly excited to be launching this partnership with JD.com, which is not just one of China’s but one of the globe’s most advanced commerce and e-commerce companies,” Juwai CEO Carrie Law said in a news release, as quoted by Global News.
Read more: Canada remains a prime hotspot for Chinese home buyers – report
In recent years, Vancouver and Toronto have become prime destinations for real estate investors from other countries (especially China), with investor immigration alone accounting for over half a billion dollars of economic activity per year.
And while Law wrote in an e-mail to Global News that she “wouldn’t expect Vancouver properties to be predominant by any means,” she noted that the partnership with JD would be “useful in helping sell the Vancouver property that we market on that platform.”
Law stressed that Juwai and JD would focus on “quality rather than quantity,” and will only list units from new developments.
