Cainiao reveals logistics preparations for 11.11
Cainiao has revealed the special logistics arrangements that have been made in preparation for this year’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival. During this year’s 11.11 online sale event, Cainiao (the logistics affiliate of Alibaba) estimates that more than 1.7m delivery personnel, 400,000 vehicles, 5,000 warehouses and 200 airplanes will be deployed by its logistics partners to handle deliveries on the busiest day of the shopping calendar.
According to a statement sent by Cainiao to Post&Parcel today (29 October), this year’s 11.11 festival is shaping up to be the most international ever with more than 5,000 international brands from 25 countries joining the sale, selling directly to consumers in more than 200 countries and regions through Alibaba’s China and international marketplaces.
In order to handle the international deliveries, Cainiao has launched what it describes as a “Hassle-free Logistics Service” – enlisting the support of 49 cross-border delivery partners who have set up 16 dedicated cross-border delivery routes and 74 warehouses that can support 4 million package deliveries a day.
Cainiao reported that it has also made arrangements for faster customs clearance for cross-border packages via bonded warehouses while integrating logistics data sharing with local customs in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Guangzhou.
“The massive number of delivery orders generated from this great online shopping event really pushes us
and our delivery partners to do our very best,” said Cainiao Chief Technology Officer Ben Wang.
“By leveraging big-data technology and our extensive domestic and international logistics network, all of us stand ready to deliver world-class logistics services to our customers once again this year.”
Cainiao’s logistics information platform connects and coordinates a network of more than 3,000 logistics
partners in China and abroad, including delivery firms, warehouse operators and cross-border logistics
companies. Collectively, these service providers operate more than 176,000 delivery stations across China.
The company reported that it has also established more than 300,000 pick-up stations where consumers can take delivery of online-ordered goods in more than 190 Chinese cities.
In its statement today, Cainiao said that it has leveraged its big-data technology to develop new logistics applications. These applications include: an eWaybill systems that shares shipping information among delivery firms, customers and merchants; a digitized parcel sorting solution, which helps logistics workers to sort packages to optimal delivery routes, reducing errors and enhancing efficiency; and parcel forecasting applications to help delivery firms to beef up its facilities ahead of time.
For last year’s 11.11 festival, Cainiao helped its partners coordinate the delivery of 278 million packages
in the days after the annual sale event. That was nearly 10 times the average daily volume of 30 million
package deliveries generated on Alibaba’s China retail marketplaces last year.
