Billionaire without airs, Richard Liu shows his true colors. Most people imagine a corporate tycoon arriving in a suit with bodyguards, stepping out of a luxury car in polished shoes. However, the reality of this billionaire boss is surprisingly down-to-earth, catching netizens off guard.

A netizen recently encountered JD.com founder Richard Liu at the Xiangban Night Market in Fuzhou. He was seen wearing a pink top and white pants, dressed in casual sportswear, seated at an open-air table in a street-side eatery. Only three people accompanied him, and their table was filled with snail noodle soup, crayfish, and milk tea served in plastic bowls.

Surprisingly, it was these common street snacks that brought Richard Liu specifically to the night market. According to onlookers, he thoroughly enjoyed the meal, repeatedly praising the food.

From the photos posted by netizens, Richard Liu appeared very approachable and down-to-earth. He even walked over to the snail noodle soup and crayfish stalls to take photos with each vendor, giving a thumbs-up and smiling naturally.

Born in a rural area of Suqian, Richard Liu has never been one for putting on airs and has always had a taste for street food. Last year, he quietly visited his hometown of Suqian, Jiangsu, to check out the soon-to-open JD.com discount supermarket. He then appeared at a local night market, sitting in a circle with fellow villagers at a street-side eatery, putting his arms around their shoulders and drinking from a plastic bowl of liquor in one go. According to netizens, his face turned red from drinking, but he seemed completely unfazed.

In March of this year, Richard Liu was spotted at a food market in Harbin, apparently there to inspect JD.com's 7Fresh Gourmet MALL, the first of its kind nationwide, located in the Harbin Innovation Market. At that time, he passed by a stall selling bulk liquor. When the vendor mentioned it was homemade sorghum liquor, he immediately became interested, asked for a cup, and drank it in one go without hesitation. This time at the Fuzhou night market, he wasn't seen drinking, but sitting at a street-side stall still showcased his relaxed and casual demeanor.

However, Richard Liu's visit to Fuzhou wasn't just for food tasting; he also had work tasks to attend to. JD MALL's first store in Fuzhou has officially announced its location at the Taijiang Aofeng Plaza and is set to open soon.

It is reported that the store will cover a commercial area of approximately 65,000 square meters, encompassing categories such as home appliances, home goods, and electronics. It will also feature themed experience areas like coffee workshops, gourmet workshops, and DIY e-sports zones, focusing on immersive consumption scenarios.

Last year, Richard Liu made a heartfelt statement: "The past five years have been regrettable for JD.com. It can be said that these were five years of decline, with no innovation, no growth, and no progress. In my entrepreneurial history, these were the least distinctive and contributed the least value." Richard Liu stated that in the future, JD.com plans to launch a super project every year.

As a result, initiatives like JD.com's food delivery service, discount supermarkets, and 7Fresh Gourmet MALL have been launched one after another, with Richard Liu personally promoting them, driving up their popularity.

JD MALL is a key component of JD.com's omni-channel strategy. The first store opened in Xi'an in September 2021, covering a commercial area of 42,000 square meters, with home appliances, electronics, mobile phones, and home goods as its main categories.

JD.com's 2025 financial report shows that by the end of 2025, the number of JD Home and JD Computer & Digital specialty stores exceeded 4,500, JD MALL reached 26 stores, and JD Auto Care stores surpassed 4,000, forming a deeply integrated online and offline retail ecosystem.

JD MALL has not only been included in JD.com's financial reports but has also frequently made appearances in the industry. At the end of last year, Unitree Technology, which gained fame after appearing on the Spring Festival Gala, opened its first offline store at JD MALL. Unitree Technology announced that its first nationwide store would open at JD MALL in Beijing on December 31, marking the first collaboration between JD.com and Unitree Technology.

The store showcases several star products from Unitree Technology, allowing customers to experience the robots in person before making a purchase. The store also supports scanning product QR codes to jump to the official mini-program for self-service ordering, with options for in-store pickup or home delivery by JD.com.

Inside the JD MALL Beijing Shuangjing store, a model of Richard Liu's "three-foot counter" from his early entrepreneurial days in Zhongguancun is displayed, highlighting the importance JD.com places on JD MALL.

JD MALL essentially brings JD.com's online service standards offline. Consumers can either purchase directly in-store or scan QR codes to enter JD.com's mini-program for self-service ordering, choosing between pickup or home delivery, seamlessly integrating online and offline experiences. At the same time, the store offers one-stop worry-free services such as seven-day no-reason returns, price protection promises, and quality guarantees, essentially transferring the e-commerce platform's consumer protection system to physical scenarios.

On the supply chain side, JD MALL adopts a factory-direct procurement and bulk order model, bypassing middlemen and delivering products directly from production to consumption. This not only reduces circulation costs but also maintains price competitiveness. For categories like electronics and home appliances, which involve high transaction values and emphasize experience, offline stores can effectively reduce costs related to delivery, installation, and after-sales service, improving overall operational efficiency.

With the peak of internet traffic红利, online customer acquisition costs continue to rise. At this point, tapping into offline traffic still offers some growth potential while also complementing JD.com's offline service chain. This allows JD.com to reach users in下沉 markets not yet covered online while activating existing traffic through physical experiences, achieving two goals at once.

However, JD MALL is also reaching into the broader offline retail market. Last year, JD Group formally reached a strategic cooperation with China Resources Land, announcing that JD MALL's first store in Hong Kong would be located in the China Resources Bayview Centre Building in Wan Chai, expected to open in 2026.

According to China Resources Land, Hong Kong's first JD MALL will be located on the second floor of China Resources Brim28 Bayview Hub, positioned as a combination of "trendy + tech + mid-to-high-end."

In June of last year, JD.com and China Resources Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Shenzhen, with Richard Liu in attendance. The two parties agreed to collaborate on multiple areas for expansion in Hong Kong and overseas markets. As a subsidiary of China Resources Group, China Resources Land provided crucial support for JD MALL's property选址, while JD.com leveraged its supply chain advantages and digital capabilities to jointly create a new retail landmark in Hong Kong.

It is worth noting that besides JD MALL, JD.com has been aggressively targeting Hong Kong's offline market. On August 15 last year, JD.com completed its acquisition of Hong Kong's Kaibo Food Supermarket. At the same time, JD.com implemented a低价 strategy, launching a three-day store-wide 20% discount promotion from August 16 to August 18, attracting massive crowds.

In addition to JD MALL, JD.com has also launched JD Discount Supermarkets. Since starting in August last year, JD.com has opened nine stores in Hebei, Jiangsu, Anhui, Beijing, and other locations, with expansion efforts accelerating. JD Discount Supermarkets follow a large-store model, with single-store areas exceeding 5,000 square meters and over 5,000 SKUs, of which approximately 20% are自有 brands.

At the end of March this year, a JD Discount Supermarket opened in Wanda Plaza in Suzhou, Anhui. Last year, JD.com and other companies jointly acquired 48 Wanda Plazas, located in 39 cities across China. Most of these plazas are situated in core commercial areas with high foot traffic, making them prime retail spaces. If the JD Discount Supermarkets perform well, this model can be replicated more quickly in the future.

In fact, expanding into offline markets has become a top priority for internet platforms, with Meituan, Alibaba, and JD.com all making significant efforts. Since last year, these three giants have陆续 rolled out hard discount supermarkets offline, with several stores already opened this year.

Meituan's Happy Monkey and Alibaba's Super Box NB have both targeted South China as a key进攻方向, focusing on offline community discount formats. In January, Alibaba's Super Box NB entered the South China market, choosing Dongguan as its first stop and opening two stores. On March 28, Super Box NB simultaneously opened two stores in Guangzhou's Huangpu District and Panyu District. On April 11, Super Box NB also opened its first two stores in Foshan.

On April 17, Meituan's Happy Monkey opened its first South China store in Amber City, Dongfang Plaza, Foshan's Chancheng District, with plans to expand to more stores in Foshan within the year.

The offline布局 by internet giants like Meituan, JD.com, and Alibaba essentially translates the infrastructure accumulated online over the past decade—such as supply chains and fulfillment networks—into offline operations. For traditional supermarkets, this represents a降维打击.

The biggest痛点 for traditional hypermarkets are分散采购, weak bargaining power, and slow inventory turnover. In contrast, these giants have established direct procurement systems with upstream brands and原产地 online, offering broader毛利空间. Most importantly, online apps引流 to offline stores, while offline stores沉淀 new customers back to the apps, creating a closed online-offline loop.

Over twenty years ago, a young man from Suqian started his business by renting a small counter in Zhongguancun. With Richard Liu's relentless determination, he built what is now JD.com.

Now in his fifties, Richard Liu could theoretically step back like other founders. Yet, he remains频繁奔走在一线, almost as if he were still that young man in Zhongguancun.

However, times have changed. Traffic红利 are fading,消费趋于理性, and AI is reshaping every aspect of retail. Can Richard Liu lead JD.com to break through once again? We shall wait and see.