In the AI era, how should we view the value of list-based product recommendations?

The consumer world is like an endless conveyor belt.

Short - video product recommendations, live - streaming sales, experience posts on Xiaohongshu, TVC commercials, and even AI - generated videos are constantly pushing products in front of consumers. They have indeed lowered the threshold for "seeing products," but further increased the cost of "trusting products."

This is a new type of consumer fatigue. The public is not reluctant to buy, but rather has difficulty determining "what is worth buying." Content platforms are good at creating interest and bringing a product into view. However, when it comes to making a purchase decision after the initial interest, users still need a more stable and reliable way to distinguish which products are truly good and which are just well - advertised.

The "2025 E - commerce List Value and Influence Insight Report" released by iResearch shows that consumers' shopping problems have shifted from "not being able to find" to "not knowing how to choose." 76.64% of users need tools to reduce decision - making costs, and 76.56% of users regard "finding trustworthy and better - quality products" as their top priority. The richer the content, the more difficult the choice; the more diverse the evaluations, the harder the judgment.

In an era of rampant advertising, a list that is not commercially driven and is based on real consumption behavior is taking on the role of "public judgment" again.

JD Gold List was born in this context. It eliminates human intervention from the source and only speaks with real data. After six years of continuous operation, this pure list has won the trust and recognition of consumers.

On December 9th, at the JD Gold List Annual Ceremony held in Shanghai, the person in charge of the Platform Operation Department of the JD Retail Platform Marketing Center said: "The value principle that JD adheres to in making rankings is objectivity and fairness, and being responsible for every user. As the ace IP of rankings, JD Gold List insists on being a list that understands users and is never commercialized, bringing long - term and certain growth to brands."

At the ceremony, the winning products of the 2025 "Quality Gold Award," "New Product Gold Award," and "PLUS Member Selection Gold Award" were also announced. Products from more than 140 brands such as Midea, ASUS, Philips, AfterShokz, Nongfu Spring, and Pelliot won the annual gold awards with their "hard - core quality + high - reputation." These winning products not only made it onto the JD Gold List but are also the popular and trustworthy choices of consumers throughout the year.

The Gold Content of a List: A Choice of 1 Billion Annual Visits

In today's consumer world, lists have become a relatively common phenomenon.

In e - commerce platforms, different categories have their own sub - rankings. On content platforms, influencer recommendation lists, traffic popularity lists, and monthly best - selling lists appear one after another. There is an interesting set of data in the "2025 E - commerce List Value and Influence Insight Report": The overall awareness rate of e - commerce lists among consumers has reached 30%. That is to say, among every three online shoppers, at least one has learned to check the list before placing an order and generally believes that lists help speed up the decision - making process.

The problem is that as there are more and more lists, trust is becoming increasingly scarce. Some lists are more like a "traffic program list," where the products of brands that spend more on advertising are ranked higher. Additionally, the screening criteria of some lists are not transparent. When consumers shop with reference to lists, they often have to spend extra time to judge whether the list is reliable.

This makes the JD Gold List, which solely relies on data, particularly valuable.

JD started making rankings eight years ago, and the Gold List was launched six years ago.

As one of the earliest platforms in the industry to establish a "full - scenario list matrix," JD has now formed more than 15 different types of rankings, covering various aspects such as sales volume, popularity, new products, discounts, reputation, PLUS member preferences, platform subsidies, national subsidies, takeaways, and services. All JD rankings adhere to the principle of never being commercialized. The recently launched JD True List, which emphasizes "recommended by thousands, no false words," is a new addition to the JD ranking system. This has also created a clear perception among users: Check the True List for takeaways and the Gold List for e - commerce shopping.

According to the data released at the JD Gold List Annual Ceremony, in the past year, the overall JD rankings attracted approximately 7 billion visits, making it one of the commonly used and relied - upon shopping judgment tools for users.

However, in JD's extensive ranking system, the JD Gold List is the most difficult one to make it onto.

There is no manual screening, no paid entry, and no room for brands to "buy a higher ranking." Its ranking is based entirely on users' real purchase data, product growth performance, overall online reputation, and long - term brand influence. The data is tracked and ranked dynamically on a monthly basis. The newly added "Quality Gold List" this year also cooperates with the JD Home Appliance and Home Furnishing Quality Laboratory, the JD Supermarket Quality Laboratory, and third - party testing institutions to ensure that "quality" is not just an advertising slogan but a verifiable fact.

This shows that it is the consumers themselves who create this list.

The research data in the "2025 E - commerce List Value and Influence Insight Report" shows that the JD Gold List significantly leads the industry in terms of consumer awareness, user experience, and purchase satisfaction. On average, nearly 7 out of every 10 consumers who use lists for shopping will mention the JD Gold List first. More than 80% of users believe that the JD Gold List can help them find high - quality, well - serviced, and safer products. More than 70% of users are very satisfied with the products recommended by the Gold List. These proportions are far higher than those of other similar lists in the industry. The most recognized reason is its "advertising - free and non - commercial" mechanism.

More importantly, this purity has created a strong leading effect in the consumer list. According to JD's official data, in 2025, approximately 1 billion people placed orders following the JD Gold List. The sales growth rate of products on the Gold List is 12 times higher than that of ordinary products, and the repurchase rate is twice as high.

Although the Gold List cannot make the perfect choice for users, it significantly reduces the probability of users making wrong choices. In today's information - saturated environment, this is a scarce screening ability.

Since its inception in 2020, the JD Gold List has gradually built its own foundation of trust. Its six - year journey is not just about updating the list but also a continuous verification and precipitation of JD's core advantages in "genuine products, strict quality selection, and super supply - chain capabilities."

The reason why the JD Gold List can maintain its relative "purity" lies in JD's strong product screening ability. The unique advantages of the self - operated model and the super supply chain provide a solid foundation of trust for the JD Gold List and the entire JD ranking system.

In an uncertain consumer era, 1 billion annual visits are sufficient to illustrate the value of the Gold List.

The Moment of Gold List Nomination: Let "Good Quality" Be Chosen by More People

In this year's JD Gold List annual gold award selection, only a limited number of brands can make it onto the list, which means that each selected brand is of higher value.

Pelliot is a typical example. Fleece jackets have become a popular category in recent years, but there are not many brands that can meet both the "professional outdoor" and "daily commuting" needs.

Under this new demand for a "mix of functionality and aesthetics," professional brands are often overshadowed by various marketing content. Previously, Pelliot's Mountain 2.0 fleece jacket was included in the JD Gold List, giving Pelliot a long - awaited opportunity to be "correctly understood," and for the first time, bringing professionalism into the public eye.

The reason why the Mountain 2.0 fleece jacket made it onto the annual "Quality Gold Award" list this year is mainly due to the stable quality that has won the praise of a large number of real users. After purchasing and using the product, users have left a large number of real reviews, making its advantages in moisture permeability, fabric performance, and cutting comfort more visible to the public.

Real users bought, wore, and were willing to give positive reviews and repurchase, which led to market recognition and pushed the Pelliot Mountain 2.0 fleece jacket onto the JD Gold List. Subsequently, its exposure rate increased rapidly, forming a positive cycle of "making it onto the list → increased exposure → rising sales → staying on the list stably," fully demonstrating the traffic amplification effect of the JD Gold List. The reviews from Gold List users even became important decision - making references for the brand during the R & D of the Mountain 3.0, which promoted the brand to develop new products that are more popular among users.

Midea also adheres to long - term quality. In the highly competitive home appliance industry, the competition among home appliance brands has shifted to the user experience. At this year's JD Gold List Annual Ceremony, multiple Midea products made it onto the annual "Quality Gold Award" list, directly verifying that the quality - focused approach is more likely to be recognized by the public.

Take the Midea Cool - Saving Ultra vertical cabinet air conditioner as an example. Its main energy - saving function allows it to run continuously for 24 hours while maintaining the same temperature - control effect, saving more than 25% of energy compared to conventional products.

"The JD Gold List can effectively help consumers make quick decisions," said Gu Guangyi, the general manager of the e - commerce operation center of Midea in China. The JD Gold List can provide credibility endorsement for brands and accurately reach consumers. At the same time, to some extent, it helps the industry competition to shift from price - based to quality - based.

In addition, the JD Gold List further enhances the value of brands in the eyes of consumers.

In the high - repurchase category of drinking water, the quality difference of water has long been perceived by consumers but is difficult to prove. Therefore, when multiple Nongfu Spring products consistently appear on the daily JD Gold List, it is essentially an endorsement based on "real consumption behavior."

The triple verification of "real purchase + real use + real evaluation" identifies the advantages of products suitable for most consumers, making them the better choices on the annual "Quality Gold Award" list.

This year, the JD Gold List opened up IP licensing cooperation for the first time and launched co - branded products, further transforming the "invisible quality" into a "recognizable signal."

On the one hand, the co - branded products of the Gold List carry the Gold List logo and exclusive packaging, making the quality symbol more visible. This makes it easier for consumers to build trust. For Nongfu Spring, the concept of "natural good water" can be quickly and accurately perceived by a younger and broader range of users at a lower cognitive cost.

On the other hand, the actual market feedback directly proves the effectiveness of this approach: After the co - branded natural drinking water of Nongfu Spring and the JD Gold List was launched, it obtained the Gold List certification logo and co - branded product packaging. In the month after its launch, it ranked among the top three on the best - selling list, with a year - on - year sales increase of 120%. While achieving a rapid sales breakthrough, the product's positive review rate reached 99%.

For some emerging brands, the JD Gold List is an effective platform to convey brand concepts and showcase the value of new products. In the 2025 "New Product Gold Award" list, there are many eye - catching new brands and innovative products. For example, the AfterShokz brand, whose OpenFit 2 earphones were included in the Gold List, has differentiated features such as an open - ear design, a stable structure, and Dolby sound, which users have translated into evaluations of "comfortable to wear, good sound quality, and stable." This allows new products with sufficient product value to quickly make it onto the Gold List, overcome the initial accumulation stage, and rapidly explode in the market.

These brands from seemingly different sectors are brought together by the Gold List, presenting a unified sense of quality and a kind of beauty recognized by consumers. Therefore, the Gold List shows users the greatest common denominator of the "correct answer," redefining the truly correct aspects of brands into a visible and trustworthy judgment guide.

In the consumer world with increasing information noise, this ability to "re - order the facts" is scarce.

Six Years of the Gold List: Always Non - Commercial, Creating a List That Understands Users Better in the AI Era

In the e - commerce industry, six years is enough for a major transformation. However, the JD Gold List has never changed its direction. It only does one simple thing: without any commercial bias, it testifies for good products based on the real shopping behavior of users, ensuring the fairness and authority of the list.

Users don't have to jump back and forth between live - stream rooms, product review videos, and influencer pitches. They only need to look at the rankings to determine whether a product has been long - term verified by real users.

Each product on the Gold List has undergone strict screening to ensure that it meets high standards in terms of quality and service. For brands, they can only make it onto the list through their own strength. Beyond the exposure rewards, "making it onto the list" has become a long - term pass for good products.

The value of the Gold List is also continuously spreading. Products on the list will receive a weight boost within the platform, gain higher