Alibaba means business
The Cainiao network is a key tool in the armour.
Internet sales platforms consider logistics services to be a differentiating factor that is becoming increasingly important. Thus Cainiao, the logistics arm of Alibaba, has now entered into a partnership with saas-provider Shoplazza to develop a new offering for exporters.
Supply chain bottlenecks are currently making logistics an attractive field of investment for shippers as well as for sales platforms alike. Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Limited – to give the logistics arm of the online giant Alibaba its full name – has now announced the launch of a digital end-to-end e-commerce logistics service specifically designed for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to a recent corporate media release.
For technology and logistics
Ding Hongwei, Cainiao’s head of technology, was quoted as saying in the media release that “logistics is the backbone of all global commercial activities. We consider the launch of our new smart logistics solution for e-commerce merchants and small and medium-sized enterprises to represent a rather decisive step forward to transforming the way businesses market and sell their goods.”
The venture’s portfolio, which includes services such as pick-up, warehousing, transportation, customs clearance and last-mile delivery, and real-time parcel tracking, after-sales service and guaranteed delivery times, will be rolled out in 120 countries.
Cainiao has entered into a partnership with Shoplazza for this project. The software-as-a-service platform specialises in technological e-commerce solutions that focus on a direct-to-consumer (DTC) approach.
The solution requires the activation of an interface. SMEs will use Shoplazza’s logistics system at the corporate level on the one hand, and also gain access to Cainiao’s global logistics network on the other. Merchants who want to expand their business abroad are thus offered logistics services from a single source.
The question now simply remains to see whether the solution actually delivers what it has promised in the run up to its launch.