Huaxia Times reporter Wang Xiaoyu reports from Beijing
Behind the high growth rate of China's express delivery industry is the extremely competitive environment of "internal competition" among express delivery companies, despite the increasingly stable global landscape. This may also be an important reason for newcomers to take global layout and cross-border business as their core competitiveness, and based on this, to expand their layout, and signs of harvest have begun to emerge.
On August 15th, in the first quarter performance report for the 2025 fiscal year released by Alibaba Group, Cainiao, a subsidiary of Alibaba with logistics services as its main business, achieved a revenue of 26.811 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16%. Compared with the single quarter revenue of RMB 24.557 billion for the fourth quarter of the 2024 fiscal year announced in May this year, it also maintained a significant increase. According to Cainiao, the performance growth "mainly comes from the revenue growth and operational efficiency improvement brought by cross-border logistics fulfillment services
Cross border network
According to Cainiao, the current focus of its strategic market is still on "providing high-quality experiences for operators and consumers on Taobao Group and Alibaba International Digital Business Group platforms, while also continuing to provide competitive express delivery, supply chain, and logistics technology services to global merchants and users
In terms of cross-border express delivery, Cainiao has stated that it will continue to make improving the overall service quality a major feature. Especially in terms of cross-border delivery time, we are committed to improving the cross-border speed based on the benchmark of "global 5-day delivery", and accelerating the formation of a variety of high-quality and timely combination products in this quarter to meet the segmented needs of cross-border e-commerce for different route markets such as Europe, North America, South America, Japan and South Korea.
Since the beginning of this year, with the concentration of major sports events such as the European Cup held in Germany and the Paris Olympics, it has also brought a wave of sales boom for cross-border e-commerce companies worldwide. Therefore, many cross-border e-commerce sellers have seized this wave of traffic dividends by stocking up in China in advance.
Cainiao introduced that recently, thousands of sportswear, shoes, hats, sports equipment, and Olympic merchandise were packaged and shipped in the Cainiao and AliExpress Dongguan Europe warehouse area, and then departed for Paris, France by cargo flight.
At present, Cainiao Europe's dedicated warehouse has covered 7 countries including Spain, France, and Germany, integrating functions such as consolidation, distribution, order consolidation, and warehousing. It can place orders in the morning and ship in the afternoon as quickly as possible, ensuring stable delivery time of "global 5-day delivery" packages during competitions and promotions.
Because we have been operating in the field of sports equipment for many years and have a good foundation in overseas markets, after considering the business model and further expanding overseas markets, we started to join Cainiao's full custody model last year. This allows us to focus more on product research and development and production, while sales planning, traffic deployment, and other aspects of the platform will help complete them, "said a business manager specializing in sports equipment production located in the Pearl River Delta region during a communication with a reporter from Huaxia Times." This year, the sports equipment market has been heating up. For companies like us that have strong production links and few product SKUs, the advantages of this model are more obvious, especially in cross-border logistics
The person in charge of the operation of Cainiao International Express's European warehouse said, "With the continuous heating of the 'Olympic economy' in recent times, the order volume of consumers in France, especially in the Paris region, has significantly increased, and the export volume of cross-border e-commerce goods from AliExpress and Cainiao has reached new highs. In July this year, the shipment volume of Cainiao's European warehouse increased by more than 200% compared to May, thanks to the traffic brought by the European Cup and the Olympic Games.
Prior to the opening of the just concluded Paris Olympics, Cainiao delivered the guarantee materials for the construction and operation of "China House" to Paris in advance through international express delivery. These materials departed from Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and flew directly to Paris via Cainiao Airlines' dedicated line. After customs clearance, warehousing, and transportation by Cainiao's local European team, they were delivered to the designated receiving location of "China House".
According to Cainiao, after receiving the material transportation demand from "China Home", Cainiao specially established a special team to provide specialized transportation support for the entire international express delivery chain. Cainiao assigns dedicated personnel to supervise every logistics link, including domestic warehousing, air routes to local customs clearance in Europe, warehousing, and transportation, to ensure the smooth arrival of materials.
As the world's largest cross-border e-commerce logistics company, Cainiao has invested and built its global smart logistics network to cover over 200 countries and regions after years of development. In the fiscal year 2023, Cainiao processed over 1.5 billion cross-border packages, serving 133 million cross-border consumers and over 100000 merchants and brands.
Cainiao stated that as a sports festival, starting from January 2024, multiple sports events such as the Asian Cup, European Cup, and Olympic Games will follow one after another. In fact, the sports economy has spurred more Chinese cross-border enterprises to actively layout overseas markets and improve service quality.
Over the past year, Cainiao has continuously improved its end of pipe fulfillment services in Spain, France, Mexico, Brazil, the Middle East, and other regions, driving a significant increase in order volume. Taking Spain as an example, thanks to its self operated express stations and innovative logistics solutions, Cainiao has expanded its local express delivery business to the Balearic Islands and Canary Islands, further optimizing the efficiency of terminal delivery on the outer islands; In France, Cainiao focuses on laying out its local express delivery network, with logistics infrastructure such as self pickup points, overseas warehouses, and distribution centers. The express delivery network covers most cities and regions in France.
Express delivery to sea
Previously serving as a platform for express delivery companies, Cainiao has now personally entered the express delivery market competition. Cainiao Express stated that in the domestic express delivery field, this quarter, Cainiao Express is based on improving its self operated network capabilities and exploring high-quality service tracks such as e-commerce retail express delivery, reverse express delivery, and professional retail markets, creating more distinct differentiation advantages.
But at the same time, Cainiao also regards the "landing" of its express delivery business overseas as a long-term goal, and Hong Kong, as the world's most developed air cargo hub port, has become a training ground for "going global". In mid August, Cainiao announced the official launch of local express delivery services in Hong Kong, launching B2C one-stop e-commerce logistics solutions and C2C "Cainiao EASY" service.
According to Cainiao, Hong Kong's e-commerce is booming and the market requires more efficient and flexible logistics services. To further accelerate localization construction, improve logistics efficiency and customer experience. Since 2018, Cainiao has established a self operated logistics network covering Hong Kong, including over 10000 square meters of distribution centers, more than 700 self pickup points, and local delivery fleets.
For local e-commerce sellers in Hong Kong, Cainiao has created a B2C one-stop e-commerce logistics solution that integrates various collection methods such as door-to-door pickup, self delivery to warehouse, and self pickup point delivery to meet the personalized needs of different merchants. At the same time, with its self operated warehouse and distribution network covering the whole Hong Kong, Cainiao has made a promise of "next day delivery" for the entire Hong Kong area. The deadline for different delivery methods varies, with the latest deadline being 10 pm, and it can be delivered to self pickup points or consumers in Hong Kong the next day.
Cainiao has launched the "Cainiao EASY Shipping" service for Hong Kong consumers. With over 700 self pickup points covering the entire Hong Kong self operated logistics network, we have successfully built a 300 meter parcel circle, which means there is a station within 300 meters of leaving the house, allowing Hong Kong citizens to easily achieve freedom of express delivery. It is reported that consumers can quickly send packages from the nearest Cainiao pickup point through the Cainiao Hong Kong app. The entire shipping process, from filling in shipping information, weighing to completing payment, takes at least 10 seconds. After arranging the shipment, consumers can grasp the logistics dynamics anytime and anywhere on the APP and enjoy more intelligent logistics services.
Cainiao has also made a time commitment of "next day delivery" throughout Hong Kong, with a daily cut-off time of 4 pm. In terms of price, the self pickup shipping fee starts from HKD 15, and the home delivery fee starts from HKD 22, providing cost-effective services.
On August 15th, Cainiao announced a partnership with iHerb, a leading global online retailer of health products, to leverage its advantages in the warehousing and distribution supply chain, expand iHerb's warehousing and distribution business in Hong Kong, and meet the growing demand for iHerb products from consumers; At the same time, through the Cainiao Hong Kong fulfillment center and global logistics network, we aim to enhance iHerb's fulfillment efficiency in the Asia Pacific region and achieve more efficient warehousing and distribution.
Currently, iHerb has settled in the Cainiao Hong Kong Fulfillment Center located at Hong Kong International Airport. This logistics infrastructure is only 500 meters away from the Hong Kong International Airport cargo terminal and 2 kilometers away from the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge. The close linkage between the Cainiao Hong Kong fulfillment center and the ground operation center for air freight services on the 4th floor of the same location also helps iHerb save on short haul logistics costs and improve logistics operational efficiency.
In order to improve space utilization and work efficiency, Cainiao has also provided iHerb with an automated picking solution for top and bottom picking. With Cainiao increasing its support for iHerb's operations in Hong Kong, the fulfillment center will have the ability to process up to 15000 orders for iHerb every day.
Currently, in addition to iHerb, Cainiao has partnered with various platforms including Kicks Crew MyFood、Skechers、 Hong Kong Cat, 91APP and other well-known e-commerce platforms and brand merchants have cooperated to provide tailored logistics solutions for local delivery services in Hong Kong.
In addition to providing e-commerce parcel delivery services globally, Cainiao continues to solidly promote its digital supply chain services for various brands. This quarter, Cainiao upgraded its overseas warehouse service capabilities to adapt to the changing trends of the industrial and supply chains. Cainiao's supply chain services in the domestic market have also actively responded to changes in market demand, further optimizing cost structures and enhancing market competitiveness.
According to Cainiao, it will continue to expand its global logistics network along a long-term strategic layout this quarter, including accelerating the construction of overseas local express delivery networks in Europe, North America, and other places.