JD and COLI team up for unmanned convenience stores

China's second-largest e-commerce player JD has linked up with leading Chinese real estate developer China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd, with a goal of opening hundreds of unmanned convenience stores, leveraging the latter's real estate resources across the country.

The space for the new stores will be provided by COLI, while JD will fully integrate its self-developed technology and provide support in operating the stores, leveraging its expertise in supply chain and logistics.

JD is positioned to support COLI to develop a smart city solution in China. The smart city solution will integrate JD's unmanned convenience store solution and an "automated pharmacy" - a vending machine that can hold up to 1,500 boxes of medicine and features smart inventory replenishment.

JD began testing its unmanned convenience store solution at its headquarters in Beijing in October. It offers a complete solution integrating various smart technologies, such as radio frequency identification devices, facial recognition and image recognition.

COLI is also expected to incorporate JD's smart logistics solutions such as autonomous delivery vehicles for last-mile delivery. The vehicles have pre-programmed routes and secure lockers, enabling customers to select a preferred delivery time and location to easily retrieve their purchases.