Another major tech giant has stormed into the short drama sector, why is JD.com stepping into this market?

① The mini-program "JD Drama Welfare Club" has been launched on WeChat. According to the product introduction, this application supports users to get benefits and discounts while watching dramas, and the same products featured in the dramas can be directly purchased and delivered by JD.

② Essentially, JD's move is not to compete head-on with content platforms, but a new experiment centered on scenario-based shopping guidance for e-commerce. However, the realistic problem facing JD is that it entered the market relatively late, and the entry and conversion links still need to be verified.

The short drama track has welcomed another heavyweight player. Following the successive entry of giants such as ByteDance and Tencent, JD has also officially stepped into the short drama field.

At present, JD is conducting internal testing of its independent short drama product "JD Drama Welfare Club". A reporter from *Sci-Tech Innovation Board Daily* noticed that the mini-program "JD Drama Welfare Club" has been launched on WeChat. According to the product introduction, this application supports users to get benefits and discounts while watching dramas, and the same products featured in the dramas can be directly purchased and delivered by JD.

Multiple interviewed experts believe that essentially, JD's move is not to compete head-on with content platforms, but a new experiment centered on scenario-based shopping guidance for e-commerce. However, the realistic problem facing JD is that it entered the market relatively late, and the entry and conversion links still need to be verified.

Scenario-based e-commerce shopping guidance as the core purpose

At present, the interface of "JD Drama Welfare Club" is relatively simple, with only two sections: "Swipe to Watch" and "My". The relevant short dramas on the platform are not original, and can also be viewed on other short drama platforms at the same time.

The function of "direct purchase of the same products in the drama" mentioned in the introduction of "JD Drama Welfare Club" is still in the testing and improvement stage, and there is no e-commerce jump entry for the time being.

"JD Drama Welfare Club" is operated by Beijing Jingdong 360 Degrees E-Commerce Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of JD Group, which is also the certified entity of mini-programs such as JD Shopping and Jingxi.

This is not JD's first layout in the short drama field.

In June this year, JD and Kuaishou jointly launched customized short dramas combining AI and real-person shooting; in August, JD (Zhengzhou) Digital Economy Industrial Park held an AI comic drama creation exchange meeting, proposing to build an industrial ecosystem of "content production + full-domain distribution"; during the Double 11 period, JD also jointly launched a number of titled short dramas with Kuaishou Starlight.

From the perspective of Zhuang Shuai, founder of Bailian Consulting and expert in the retail e-commerce industry, the logic behind JD's layout of short dramas is not complicated. "First, it follows the same logic as the previous layout of short video content: to increase users' online duration. Second, merchants are willing to pay for promotion on short dramas, so the platform can get direct revenue from advertising sharing. Finally, there are also paid short dramas. Therefore, the business model is clearer and more stable than that of short videos." He further pointed out that the current industrial model of short dramas is complete and there is a large amount of content, so e-commerce platforms only need to provide a platform without making more investment in content.

Zhang Yi, CEO of iiMedia Research, also said that the core reason for JD's entry into the short drama track is that short dramas have become one of the most popular application scenarios where netizens spend the most time, which is the most important starting point.

"Essentially, scenario-based e-commerce shopping guidance is the main purpose for JD to develop short dramas, so it is not going to compete head-on with content platforms." Its direction is to attract users with free short dramas and benefits, then guide them to purchase the same products, and leverage JD's fulfillment capabilities. Zhang Yi also mentioned that similar player ByteDance has achieved very good results in promoting live e-commerce through short dramas, which provides a reference path for JD.

Advantages lie in supply chain and transaction closed loop, while the difficulty lies in "arriving a little late"

For JD, its advantages and shortcomings are equally distinct.

Zhang Yi believes that JD's advantage is that its supply chain and transaction closed loop have been built very solidly, but the difficulty is also obvious — it is a little late. "The two giants ByteDance and Tencent have already entered the market. Isn't it a bit late for JD to come in now? I think JD has not done a good job in forward-looking prediction, which is the main problem."

However, in Zhang Yi's view, whether content operation, user retention, entry for the same products in dramas and conversion links can be better implemented in the future is a problem for the next step. The current imperfect entry indicates that JD is still in a low-key debugging stage. At the same time, driven by the growth of the AI short drama market, the supply is exploding rapidly. As long as users are retained and stick to the platform, short dramas are suitable for being combined with e-commerce marketing materials and mass content production.

But he also reminded that objectively speaking, homogeneity, copyright compliance, content quality and commercialization paths all need more verification, especially for e-commerce enterprises. "From the market perspective, the mainstream short dramas now are AI-generated dramas. In a sense, the development and growth space of AI dramas cannot be underestimated."

The industry is standing at the tuyere, and the focus of competition shifts to high-quality content and long-term operation

Behind JD's entry is the rapid expansion of the AI micro-short drama market.

According to iiMedia Research's *White Paper on the Trends of China's AI Micro-Short Drama Industry 2026-2027*, the domestic AI micro-short drama market size reached 18.98 billion yuan in 2025, and is expected to exceed 140 billion yuan by 2030, driving the expansion of related industries such as computing power, IP derivation, and marketing supporting services.

At present, the AI micro-short drama has formed a closed-loop industrial chain covering upstream IP and AIGC technology supply, mid-stream industrialized content production, and downstream multi-channel distribution and diversified monetization. Platforms such as Hongguo Short Drama and Hippo Theater have seized users' minds relying on differentiated production systems and business models.

However, hidden worries in the industry also exist. On the supply side, the mass production expansion has brought about homogenization problems such as formulaic scripts and insufficient picture texture; on the demand side, users' fragmented viewing habits have taken shape, and ad-supported free unlocking is the mainstream monetization model, while audiences' demands for originality and audio-visual quality continue to rise. With the continuous tightening of supervision, the industry has bid farewell to barbaric growth, and the increase in compliance thresholds has accelerated market clearance. The cross-media competition for attention in the cultural and entertainment track is becoming increasingly fierce, and the focus of industry competition is gradually shifting from production capacity input and traffic competition to high-quality content creation, long-term IP operation and overseas expansion. Driven by both supply and demand, the industry will step into a steady growth cycle from the stage of rapid explosion.

For JD, this means that entering the short drama track is both an opportunity and a test.

With the supply chain and transaction closed loop as the foundation, and free short dramas and scenario-based shopping guidance as the entry point, whether JD can take a differentiated path in the short drama track surrounded by giants depends on the implementation effect of its entry polishing, content operation and conversion links. The entire AI short drama industry is also transitioning from the first half of "competing for production capacity and traffic" to the second half of "competing for high-quality content and operation".

This article is from "CLS.cn", written by Huang Xinyi, and published with authorization from 36Kr.