Powering 11.11 — the World’s Largest E-Commerce Event
Logistics and technology combined serve as the core foundation that support the acceleration of eCommerce activities
11.11 is the largest online shopping event globally and has consistently set new sales record year on year. Last year the gross merchandise value reached US$38.3 billion, double that of Black Friday (US$7.4 billion) and Cyber Monday (US$9.4 billion) combined[1].
With the blurring of geographical boundaries in our increasingly globalised world, customers now have access to a wider range of goods than ever before. In the midst of the e-commerce boom, Cainiao, too, has evolved with the times. Seven years after our founding, we now have the capacity to process more than 100 million parcels every day.
In 2019, we processed nearly 1.3 billion orders during the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, with a global logistics network spanning 224 countries and regions.
“In gearing up for 11.11 each year, technology plays a critical role in the successful execution and delivery of billions of eCommerce parcels worldwide. Today, 90 per cent of our parcels are tagged with electronic shipping labels and this has fast become a de facto industry standard to achieve full visibility. IoT technology has also accelerated the automation of every aspect of the value chain, from sortation facilities, warehousing to customs clearance and last mile delivery, significantly boosting operations efficiency and transforming the industry. This year, we will be marrying cutting-edge technology with a world-class logistics network to create a truly global infrastructure that can bolster the eCommerce boom,” says James Zhao, General Manager of Cainiao Global Supply Chain.
This year, we aim to enhance customer experience in a phenomenal way as communicated by its 11.11.2020 slogan “Delivering the World to You”. The ramping up of global logistics infrastructure in anticipation of explosive growth in eCommerce parcel volume during the shopping festival can be summed up in three key points:
- 700 chartered flights to deliver 90 per cent of cross-border parcels during the upcoming 11.11 global shopping festival
Customers in key European cities such as Madrid, Paris, Berlin and Warsaw will receive their parcels in as fast as three days.
- 3,000 China-bound flights to support delivery of overseas goods to Chinese consumers
This will bring about a 10 per cent increase in delivery efficiency for goods shipped into China. Over 300 million goods from 84 countries and regions are imported to China via Cainiao’s extensive global supply chain network.
To provide a better and more efficient experience for Chinese customers, these overseas merchants have also begun pre-stocking popular products in the warehouses in China. Close to one million goods are being pre-stocked daily in Cainiao’s bonded warehouses in Hangzhou.
- Delivery time reduced by 60% for more than half the cross-border parcels
The use of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, predictive algorithms and big data analytics will empower merchants with demand forecast data and allow them to accurately pre-stock their goods in the right quantity and location in overseas warehouses to eliminate line-haul shipping time for consumers.
Our goal is to streamline the logistics value chain and deliver goods to our global customers within just 72 hours. Ultimately, “Delivering the world to you” will no longer be just a vision, but a reality soon to be made possible by a global smart logistics platform.
[1] https://www.techradar.com/sg/news/singles-day-officially-bigger-than-black-friday-and-cyber-monday-combined
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