A Trailblazer Pioneering New Business Models and Taking it from 0 to 1 and 1 to 100
Beibei thrives on identifying new opportunities for continual business innovation in the logistics sector
Never settling for a business-as-usual way of working, Beibei thrives on identifying completely new opportunities, in both existing and new markets, to open up new revenue streams and create new business models for the organization.
As the General Manager for the global supply chain import business, she leads an impressive 630-strong team, with 15 direct reports. To which, she humbly attributes her success to her team, “Leading such a large team is possible thanks to my capable team of direct reports who are overseeing different aspects of the business. This meant that I only have to focus on managing my direct team by giving strategic direction to guide them to achieve the best outcome for the organization.”
Having been with Cainiao for six years out of the organization’s seven years of establishment, Beibei can be considered as one of the pioneers who have laid a strong foundation for the business which is bolstering its current globalization push.
She recounted one of her earlier B2C projects that helped to shift the needle for Cainiao on Tmall (Alibaba’s eCommerce platform), “Our team spent 1.5 years converting a large majority of Tmall merchants to adopt Cainiao’s logistics services. We adopted a systematic approach to prove our logistics capabilities to these merchants and eventually got their buy-in. The provision of end-to-end logistics service from warehousing to cross-border and last mile logistics was especially compelling for large-sized merchants who can now focus on their retail business without worrying about their logistics network. Today, I am proud to share that we have achieved almost complete penetration on Tmall platform.”
Powering New Business Models and Consolidating Market Position
Beibei crystallizes the essence of her role into two parts — taking a new business model and growing it from 0 to 1, effectively laying the groundwork and establishing the fundamental framework that paves the way for growth in the near future; and subsequently taking it from 1 to 100 to consolidate its market positioning for sustainable and viable growth in the long run.
In the area of 0 to 1 projects, Beibei has launched a comprehensive logistics service to support overseas merchants who are expanding into the Chinese market. Today, over 800 merchants benefit from Cainiao’s implementation of big data on its smart logistics platform, and leverage Cainiao’s central warehouse facility, end-to-end supply chain management, and local delivery services across all the retail platforms that they are selling on.
Most recently, she is working on the Hainan Island duty-free zone project. This is a place where domestic visitors can shop for duty-free products without travelling overseas. In July 2020, the Chinese government tripled the annual limit for such purchases, to RMB 100,000 (US$15,500) per person, and removed a cap of RMB 8,000 for any single product as part of its free-trade port plan. In early January 2021, Hainan’s duty-free sales averaged RMB 180 million (US$28 million) a day, more than three times the level a year earlier.
However, as a relatively nascent market, there aren’t as many mature logistics players to partner with. This meant that the Hainan project required a completely different management approach to what Cainiao typically adopts in other mature markets via third-party partnerships. Beibei has to launch a wholly Cainiao-managed end-to-end logistics infrastructure and further develop it as Cainiao’s core capability to support the unique logistics requirements for duty-free products, ranging from customs clearance operations, warehousing solutions to logistics delivery.
In recent years, the Chinese government has placed significant focus to drive the growth of the Hainan duty-free zone. However, prior to Cainiao’s entry, most merchants were handling their own logistics without a form of standardization.
Most importantly, duty-free products tend to fall in the category of luxury goods, which meant that they would require more delicate handling and logistics procedures to protect the integrity of the parcels.
“The nature of these goods — that they are duty-free and luxury items, meant that we cannot simply replicate and adopt previous logistics standard operating procedures used for regular goods. We had to customize a logistics flow to cater to the unique needs of the merchants, their respective goods, and keeping in mind the current systems used by the Hainan customs authorities for a more seamless integration.”
A Versatile and Dynamic Leader
Beyond her responsibilities in driving innovation within the supply chain business, Beibei is often roped in for other ad-hoc projects that tap on her versatility and dynamism.
Last year, during the peak of the pandemic, Beibei was tasked to ensure the successful transportation of over 500 million personal protective equipment (PPEs), test kits and ventilators to 150 countries and regions as part of relief support provided from Alibaba and Jack Ma Foundations, as well as to United Nations and imports to support domestic needs.
Then, Beibei led a team which achieved a rapid turnaround time despite numerous coordination across internal and external teams over many time zones.
Her advice for like-minded folks who have a desire to join Cainiao, “It is important to have a curious mind, while keeping your sights on your end goal and vision as you charge towards it.” It is this sense of curiosity that will continue to fuel one’s drive to push through challenges to achieve success.
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