Recently, according to an exclusive report by Sky News of the UK, JD.com is considering bidding for the century-old British online retail giant The Very Group at a valuation of about 2 billion pounds (approximately 2.68 billion US dollars / about 18.3 billion yuan).

This is not a tentative "feeling out", but JD.com's third frontal charge on the European battlefield. The previous two - bidding for the electronics chain Currys in 2024 and negotiating with Argos under Sainsbury's in 2025 - both ended in failure. This time, JD.com clearly does not intend to leave itself a way out.

The Very Group, a British retail veteran dating back to 1923, is far from an ordinary online traffic platform. It is one of the largest comprehensive online retailers in the UK, with its main brands Very and Littlewoods, covering nearly 2,000 brands in electronics, home, fashion, beauty and other fields, and providing consumer financial services such as "buy now, pay later" and revolving credit loans through its own Key Pay platform. With an annual revenue of about 2.1 billion pounds, it is among the top echelons of UK e-commerce. There are about 4.4 million active customers, with a high-stickiness user pool.

More crucially, The Very Group is currently controlled by the American private equity giant Carlyle Group. After taking over from the Barclay family in 2025, Carlyle has officially started the sale process, with the overall valuation locked at around 2 billion pounds. For JD.com, this is not buying an e-commerce company, but getting a "full access pass" to the UK consumer market, including 4.4 million highly sticky customers, a mature consumer finance license, a supply chain network of nearly 2,000 brands, and a century-old local brand awareness.

On the surface, this is a merger and acquisition; at a deeper level, it is a crucial leap for JD.com to shed the "pure 3C digital platform" label. The Very Group's advantageous categories are highly concentrated in fashion, beauty, home and toys - which highly coincide with JD.com's strategic pursuit of the high-margin fashion industry in recent years.

JD.com's 2 billion pound bid for The Very Group is another strategic charge after repeated probes in the UK market. From 2.2 billion euros for Germany's Ceconomy to 2 billion pounds for The Very Group, JD.com has invested more than 20 billion yuan in Europe. This is not throwing money around, but using real money to blaze a bloody path to the core of the European consumer market.

Source: Cross-border E-commerce Cross-border House