Liu Qiangdong stated that selling Maotai cannot make as much money as Maotai Group.

On September 16th, Liu Qiangdong stated at a JD wine tasting event that retailers do not add as much value to the industry as brand owners, and those selling Maotai cannot make more profit than Maotai Group. Liu Qiangdong said that in 2006, when he decided to start selling large appliances online, all of his investors opposed the idea. "They said, 'Amazon is so strong, even in the US, and they don't sell large appliances online'." "But I said we could do it," Liu Qiangdong said. "I found that the profit margin for selling appliances was as high as 17%-18%, while appliance suppliers, brand owners, including companies like Midea, Gree, and Haier, had very low net profits." "The net profit in the appliance industry was just over one percentage point, but retailers could make as much as six percentage points in net profit." Liu Qiangdong emphasized, "I have always believed that the value of retailers in the industry is actually greater than that of brand owners. The result showed that retailers in this industry make more money than brand owners, just like one day selling Maotai wine can make more money than Maotai Group, then that industry will definitely have serious problems." "In 2009, JD entered the appliance market, and by 2016, after six whole years, JD Group became the largest national appliance business," Liu Qiangdong said.