It is revealed that JD.com has entered the short drama and will not sell dramas or advertisements?

Abstract:

On November 10, some media broke the news that JD.com is internally testing an independent short drama product called "JD Drama Chasing Welfare Club", which adopts a free model. The product introduction states that you can "get benefits by watching the drama, buy the same style in the drama directly, and JD will ship it." Actual testing by Observer.com found that the product is indeed a mini program developed by JD.com. It is currently in the testing stage and there is no official announcement in any form. The corresponding e-commerce jump entrance has not yet been found.

Short dramas are one of the fastest-growing traffic scenarios on the Internet today.

QuestMobile data shows that as of May 2026, the number of users of short dramas has reached 851 million, covering 67% of active mobile Internet users; DataEye Research Institute estimates that the total market size of domestic micro short dramas, AI dramas and comics will exceed 121 billion yuan in 2026.

The free model represented by Byte's Hongguo short drama is particularly strong - QuestMobile monitoring shows that its independent App daily activity reached 168 million in July 2026, exceeding the daily activity of the four parent video platforms combined. Recently, Tencent, Taobao, Pinduoduo, Meituan, etc. have also increased their production of short dramas.

Informed sources said that both are free, but JD.com and Hongguo have different paths.

Hongguo gathers traffic with free dramas and mainly relies on advertising to realize monetization. The e-commerce side directs traffic to Douyin stores through advertising and other entrances. The platform itself is not responsible for the supply chain. JD.com relies on its own supply chain and fulfillment system and uses short dramas as a pre-processing step for shopping guides. Users receive coupons in the drama to place orders, which are shipped by JD. The transaction does not jump out of the platform and is directed to product conversion rather than content payment or advertising revenue.

However, "Buy the same model directly in the play" is still at the product introduction level, the function has not yet been implemented, and the conversion effect remains to be seen.

JD.com has no official response to the above news.