Localization, compliance
But speed alone may not be enough to sustain long-term growth. Joybuy's localization also remains a work in progress. "The core strengths of logistics and reliability are clearly there," said Pearce. "But the product range, user experience, and localization still feel early-stage compared with JD's app in China. The copywriting and overall experience also feel more translated than truly localized for UK users."
Ed Sander, a Dutch analyst focusing on Chinese technology and retail, wrote in his China Digital Retail report that parts of Joybuy platform's European interface appear insufficiently adapted to local markets, with product descriptions, navigation, and promotional language at times feeling directly translated from Chinese rather than natively designed for European consumers.
"In the early 2000s, American companies like eBay attempted to establish a foothold in China, competing with Alibaba. The story of how eBay failed is a classic business case of what happens when you don't properly localize. Established players like JD may now be making the same mistakes their American counterparts did 20 years ago," he wrote.
"JD will have to do a much better job if it wants to become a respected and successful platform," he wrote, adding that stronger localization would be key to moving beyond what he described as an early debug experience.
Compliance is another major issue for Chinese e-commerce platforms landing in Europe. Earlier in February, the European Commission opened a formal investigation against the fast-fashion e-commerce portal Shein for its addictive design, lack of transparency in recommender systems, as well as the sale of illegal products, such as child-like sex dolls.
The China-founded Singapore-based firm told the media that it removed the products immediately, banned the sellers, and stopped the sale of sex dolls "regardless of appearance" across its global site. It also said it worked with local and international authorities on investigations into both the buyers and sellers.
Chinese PDD Holdings' global e-marketplace Temu, which offers huge discounts, also faced product compliance investigations by the commission in 2024, one year after it started operations in Europe.
