Creating an Inclusive and Collaborative Cross-Border Logistics

Tiered logistics offerings that can tailor to the diverse needs of merchants and consumers

Cainiao Group
4 min readJun 10, 2021

The future of logistics has already arrived. Gone are the days where export merchants have to spend a healthy sum on cross-border logistics in order to tap on the overseas markets while dealing with cumbersome processes and numerous providers along the chain.

With increasing globalization and digital penetration, we envision the world of smart logistics to be one that is inclusive and collaborative.

During Cainiao’s Global Smart Logistics Summit 2021 — breakout forum “Global Parcel Network” held on 10 June 2021, distinguished speakers gathered to discuss how together we can create a more inclusive and collaborative cross-border logistics in the new era.

At the forum, William Xiong, General Manager of Cainiao’s Export Logistics, announced the launch of Cainiao’s tiered logistics products and diverse range of export supply chain solutions that aim to cater to the needs of cross-border merchants and consumers.

William Xiong, General Manager of Cainiao’s Export Logistics

In Xiong’s speech, he mentioned that Cainiao hopes to “help millions of foreign trade merchants achieve a more convenient and fuss-free cross-border logistics to deliver their goods to the world”, and provide cross-border merchants and overseas consumers with various optional logistics services which they can select from in order to meet their unique set of requirements and needs (such as shipping duration and cost).

Today, we are witnessing a new phase in China’s foreign trade as it enters a new norm. In 2020 , China’s cross-border e-commerce exports increased by 40%, a growth rate that outshines the import growth.

“After the pandemic, cross-border e-commerce merchants are raising their expectations for cross-border export logistics when it comes to delivery timeliness and logistics service experience. This will play a key role in giving businesses the competitive edge,” said Tina Wang, Senior Partner at Roland Berger during her session on the “Future Cross-Border Logistics Trends”.

In line with this evolving demand and growth in volume, Cainiao’s has similarly expanded its capacities in order to support merchants’ needs.

According to Cainiao’s Xiong, the current peak processing capacity of Cainiao’s domestic distribution center has exceeded 10 million orders, and its cross-border parcel network business covers more than 200 Chinese cities, and has established collection warehouses in more than 50 cities in China.

In the past two years, the annual compound growth rate of Cainiao’s global cross-border parcel network has reached 80% , compared to approximately 4% growth among the top three players globally. In March 2021, Cainiao’s daily average cross-border parcel volume exceeded 5 million, placing Cainiao among the top four logistics players globally.

Cainiao’s domestic and overseas warehouses, and international logistics capabilities, are driving digital transformation across the industry while continuing to provide cross-border businesses with more diverse export supply chain solutions. Today, Cainiao’s warehouse delivery model has reduced shipping costs by 50% compared to direct delivery, and helped merchants increase sales on Double 11 Global Shopping Festival by 600%.

When the pandemic hit in 2020 and disrupted global logistics and supply chains, Cainiao was able to safeguard its network, and provide inclusive and stable cross-border logistics services to merchants to support their business needs. Among them, “USD5 10-day delivery” logistics service has covered Spain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany and Portugal, with plans to cover 18 countries globally by this year.

Thereafter, building upon the momentum of the “USD5 10-day delivery” offering, we will be introducing the “USD2 20-day delivery” service for deliveries from China to overseas consumers, and together with Cainiao’s domestic and overseas warehouses and international logistics capabilities to provide export merchants with diverse supply chain solutions.

At the same time, smart consolidation will be introduced to 8 more countries including Switzerland, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, Peru, Sweden and Malta, adding to the current list of 20 countries such as Russia, Spain and France.

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Cainiao Group

The smart logistics arm of Alibaba Group. Follow us for content on smart logistics and supply chain management