Give away 100,000 cleaning products for free every week. Is it JD.com's anti-involution "experiment"?

The household cleaning industry is caught in a seemingly calm but extremely difficult stalemate.

On the surface, household cleaning products are essential items that every household needs. However, according to the "2024 Rapid Report on Trends in the Household Cleaning Industry" released by data technology company Nint Rentuo, in a consumer survey on "Which categories would you prefer to choose 'budget alternatives' when shopping online?", the household cleaning category ranked third, with 39% of consumers choosing budget alternatives for household cleaning products.

This indicates that consumers have low loyalty to household cleaning products. They tend to buy from the brand with the lowest price and rarely stick to a specific brand.

"The current household cleaning industry is like running on thin ice. If you don't run, you won't get traffic and won't be able to sell your products. But if you run too fast, you may end up losing money and fall right through the ice," said a person in charge of a household cleaning brand, expressing the helplessness of the industry.

Actually, there have always been three intertwined and difficult - to - solve pain points in this essential product category that everyone buys: First, it's the situation of "high volume, low profit". There is an inverse relationship between scale and profit. Basic categories such as paper products and laundry detergents are traffic drivers, but their profit margins are extremely low or even result in losses, getting trapped in the strange cycle of "the more you sell, the more you lose".

Second, there is a phenomenon of "bad money driving out good" in niche categories. New and high - quality products in niche scenarios such as environmental cleaning, mosquito repellent, and cleaning tools are unknown to the public. However, low - quality products attract consumers with low prices or high - paid exposure, which in turn overdrafts the credibility of the entire category.

Third, there is "ineffective involution" in marketing. Low - price subsidies and live - streaming promotions only attract "bargain - hunters". The repurchase rate is low, and brand awareness is weak. It has fallen into a cycle where the one who subsidizes more leads briefly, but no one makes money, lacking innovative marketing strategies.

These problems not only trouble brands but also actually harm consumers' interests.

Consumers either spend money unnecessarily due to "information asymmetry" or have to use ineffective budget alternatives. Those good products that can solve real cleaning problems are all hidden away and unnoticed. This is the cost of industry involution.

Why can't household cleaning products with better efficacy be sold? Why are consumers unaware of household cleaning products with better efficacy? Can e - commerce platforms help consumers meet their needs in niche cleaning scenarios while making better products well - known to the public?

At JD Supermarket, these problems in the household cleaning industry are quietly changing: It's no longer just a price war. Instead, it's about delivering better products to the right consumers in the right scenarios.

When low prices become the norm, how can good products be noticed?

During major promotion seasons like the 618 and Double 11, what do you usually add to your shopping cart?

Many people would answer without hesitation: tissues, laundry detergents, cleaning agents... These daily consumables are always a good idea to stock up on when they're on sale.

But you may not know that in the paper product market, where everyone is buying, most brands are struggling on the verge of "meager profits". Looking through the financial reports of several listed leading paper product companies, you'll find that their net profit margins are usually only around 1% - 2%, barely making any money.

It's not just paper products; the same goes for most of the household cleaning industry. Many categories have high sales volumes but very thin profit margins. You may want to boost sales on weekends, but the traffic won't pick up. When you use subsidies to attract users, many of them won't come back after the first purchase.

When everyone starts to "compete on price", this competition is no longer about "who can win" but has become a matter of "who can hold on longer".

On the other hand, niche categories with real profit potential, such as cleaning agents with specific functions, are in the embarrassing situation of "being unknown to the public".

Several brand managers in niche categories of the household cleaning industry helplessly mentioned that their products are actually very useful, but consumers always think that "all cleaning agents are similar". They are unaware of specialized cleaning products and prefer to choose cheap and ineffective ones, using one cleaning agent for the whole house. The poor cleaning results lead to misunderstandings about the entire niche category, making consumers think that they can't buy products that can really solve problems with their money.

So, the household cleaning industry is in a dilemma: The major categories that are promoted don't make money but can attract traffic. The promising niche categories seem to have high profit margins, but consumers have low awareness, and it's difficult to increase sales volume.

More realistically, most consumers are used to stocking up on tissues, laundry detergents for half a year or even a year during major promotions. They also buy many combo packs of cleaning agents and cleaning tools at once. This means that unless it's an urgent need, few people will place an order on a regular day.

David, the person in charge of the household cleaning category at JD Supermarket, and his team have conducted multiple user interviews and found that when 70% of families run out of household cleaning products on weekends, they will prefer to go to offline supermarkets or convenience stores. The online channel has never found a reason for users to wait specifically for a certain day. Consumers won't postpone their cleaning plans for a bottle of laundry detergent. However, the limited shelf space in offline stores means that many cleaning products for niche scenarios are not available, and users' needs are not truly met.

In addition, the repeated marketing investments in the industry have exhausted brands. The established household cleaning company Lüsun once tried subsidies to attract new customers and live - streaming sales, but the results were not long - lasting. Xue Fubao, the deputy general manager of Lüsun, admitted that most of the users attracted by subsidies are just looking for a bargain, and the repurchase rate is usually very low. The sales generated through live - streaming are mainly due to the popularity of the anchor, not the brand.

Some brands, including white - label products, even lower their prices below cost to compete for customers. As a result, no one makes money, and they have to cut costs in packaging or raw materials, leading to a decline in user experience and ultimately the phenomenon of bad money driving out good.

"Most families are busy with work on weekdays, so they have the habit of doing a thorough cleaning on weekends," David said in an interview. "But many families don't know which products can help them solve problems more easily when cleaning."

Based on this user insight, the purchasing and marketing team of the household cleaning category at JD Supermarket began to think: Can we create a sustainable marketing IP around the entire "household cleaning" category and brand resources on weekends when customers clean frequently? In this way, it can not only help users discover good products but also help brands break the curse of "low online sales on weekends and limited access to niche - scenario products in offline stores".

But it's easier said than done. For example, how can you convince brands to invest in a newly launched marketing IP? Cross - brand cooperation requires coordinating the interests of multiple brands. Who will bear the cost of free - trial products and marketing expenses? Can the supply chain keep up? When coordinating multiple departments within the company, who will solve the problems that arise during the process?

When an industry is in a state of "constant subsidies and continuous low profits", perhaps what it really needs is not more intense involution but a new way of thinking and approach. After all, no industry can survive on "losing money" forever.

I thought it was just a free gift, but it's so good. I'll choose your brand from now on.

Wei Wei, who lives in Chongqing, always had a headache when cleaning the kitchen, especially the stubborn oil stains on the range hood. Until one weekend in April 2025, when Wei Wei was buying laundry detergent on JD as usual, she happened to catch the "Weekend Thorough Cleaning" event at JD Supermarket and was provided with a bottle of Lüsun's new range - hood cleaner.

At that time, Wei Wei didn't think much of it, believing that free things must not be very effective.

During the next weekend's cleaning, Wei Wei decided to give the Lüsun range - hood cleaner a try. To her surprise, it worked extremely well. The oil stains wiped off easily, and it didn't hurt her hands or have a pungent smell, nor did it corrode the machine. Since then, she has become a loyal fan of Lüsun. Not only does she buy the range - hood cleaner, but she also switched to buying dish - washing liquid and bathroom cleaners from Lüsun's official store on JD.

This kind of "surprise" is happening in many families. Behind it, the "Weekend Thorough Cleaning" project at JD Supermarket, in collaboration with household cleaning brands, is quietly changing the promotion logic of the household cleaning industry.

One day in April 2025, in Lüsun's production workshop, the machines roared from dawn till dusk, and the workers worked in shifts without a break.

They were rushing to produce 250,000 bottles of green range - hood cleaner. This was an urgent task without any prior plan. Lüsun not only had to produce all the products but also deliver them to 8 major warehouses across the country within just 5 days.

Since its establishment in 1993, Lüsun has rarely experienced such an urgent and large - scale production rhythm.

As an established domestic brand focusing on offline sales, Lüsun usually takes 3 - 6 months to promote a new product, including advertising and live - streaming. It takes about half a year to stabilize sales.

In late 2024, when David approached Lüsun with the "Weekend Thorough Cleaning" marketing plan, Xue Fubao's first reaction was hesitation: "Users get it for free? What if users think our new product is a cheap giveaway? What if we can't sell the 250,000 bottles?"

But David's words woke him up. "We're not just giving it away for free. We're helping you quickly penetrate the target users. Let the entire household cleaning user group experience the unique features of your range - hood cleaner. The subsequent repurchase rate will definitely be more accurate than attracting new customers through advertising," David emphasized.

What surprised Lüsun even more was that the purchasing and marketing team at JD didn't just talk about "selling more products". To make the new product meet users' needs, David's team and Lüsun's team revised the product more than 20 times, striving for perfection in almost every aspect, just to make users fall in love with it at first use.

"We started planning in October 2024, and the product was launched in April this year. We spent more than 6 months preparing. This long - term preparation was to achieve a concentrated explosion during the Weekend Thorough Cleaning event," Xue Fubao emphasized.

The results far exceeded expectations. All 250,000 bottles were sold out in two days during the weekend event. The new product jumped to the top of the range - hood cleaner category in 7 days and gained 400,000 new users within a month.

Even more unexpectedly, there was a "long - tail effect". 30 days after the event, Lüsun's new range - hood cleaner remained stable. The user satisfaction rate exceeded expectations. In the product reviews, customers reported that the product "really doesn't hurt hands, doesn't have a pungent smell, and doesn't corrode the range hood". Its sales volume was still 20 - 30% higher than other products during the off - season (June - August).

"It's like achieving the sales target of the past six months in just one month," Xue Fubao said with a smile.

Similarly, the e - commerce team of Vinda initially expected only a 5% increase in sales volume for the Weekend Thorough Cleaning project. OMO mainly hoped to solve the problem of low efficiency in attracting new customers.

"Facial wipes are a trendy product, but users are still used to using towels. We thought we could achieve a 5% increase through this event," a relevant person from Vinda's brand e - commerce team mentioned.

However, the purchasing and marketing team at JD Supermarket proposed that the potential users of tissues and facial wipes highly overlap. Could they let each user experience a facial wipe for free? A good product can speak for itself and drive repurchase. By targeting the scenario of face - washing and cleaning on weekends, users could try facial wipes for free when stocking up on tissues.

With a tentative attitude, Vinda gave it a try. Unexpectedly, after the Weekend Thorough Cleaning event, the daily sales of Vinda's facial wipes increased by 197% compared to the previous period, and it even entered the top 10 in the industry.

What pleased Vinda the most was not the sales volume but the quality of users. Since participating in the Weekend Thorough Cleaning event at the end of June, the number of new customers in July increased by 100% compared to the previous year. In addition, the popularity of facial wipes also drove up the sales of other products. The sales of wet wipes for toilets increased by 20 - 30%, and the user penetration rate of kitchen wet wipes also increased significantly.

For OMO, the Weekend Thorough Cleaning project at JD Supermarket overcame the dual problems of "slow sales growth for new products" and "difficulty in re - activating old customers".

OMO's quick - wash laundry detergent is a new product targeting "quick cleaning on weekends", with the main selling point of "washing clothes clean in 15 minutes". However, it didn't achieve the expected sales volume at the beginning. After participating in the Weekend Thorough Cleaning project, JD Supermarket helped OMO's quick - wash laundry detergent reach all household cleaning product users. By allowing users to try it for free, the new quick - wash product quickly expanded its user base, and users also made a large number of repeat purchases after the event.

OMO's parent company, Unilever, also achieved a breakthrough in user growth, with a 35% increase in new customers and a 44% increase in old customers.

Many users wrote in the review sections of the official JD stores of brands like OMO and Vinda: "I thought it was just a free gift, but it's so good. I'll choose your brand from now on." Unconsciously, these consumers have changed from trial - product users to loyal repeat customers.

For users, the Weekend Thorough Cleaning is not about getting freebies. It's the combination of products and scenarios that stimulates their purchasing needs. David and the purchasing and marketing team found that the most important feedback from users for the Weekend Thorough Cleaning project is convenience. Before cleaning on weekends, users can open JD, buy their usual paper products and laundry detergents, and get range - hood cleaners, wet wipes for toilets, and cleaning tools for free, meeting all their cleaning needs in one stop.

While the household cleaning industry is still struggling with "low prices, traffic, and repurchase", JD's model of "scenario penetration + self - operated synergy" not only brings innovative growth opportunities for household cleaning brands but also finds an "anti - involution" path for the industry.

Why does JD give away 100,000 household cleaning products for free every week?

"My three - ply tissue doesn't break even when wet!"

"Mine only costs two cents. Who can beat the cost - effectiveness?"

"Mine has passed skin tests"