Alibaba’s Cainiao has announced an open tender worth US$75.4 million (RMB 500 million) for logistics services in a bid to strengthen its global network in 2021, as it anticipates further growth for cross-border e-commerce and trade.
The open tender will be used to expands its network of certified third-party logistics (3PL) partners, which will be segmented into B2C and B2B logistics services.
Also read: Alibaba’s Cainiao to ship same day in 11 Asian countries
For B2C, the logistics arm of Alibaba will be curating a list of Cainiao-certified 3PL partners to provide end-to-end services for e-commerce sellers, including overseas parcel collection, international line-haul, import customs clearance and last-mile delivery.
It is also looking for partners to in fulfilment warehousing that will support overseas warehouse management (storage and inventory management), quality inspection, picking and packing, as well as consolidation of B2C parcels.
Cainiao aims to bolster its entire value chain to provide stability and efficiency to support cross-border e-commerce business for both Alibaba (Taobao, Tmall and Kaola) and non-Alibaba merchants.
In B2B, warehouse and trucking is top of the agenda to support import and export needs, as the company shared “overseas warehouses will have to be located near ports to facilitate efficient transportation.” These warehouses are also expected to provide services for pre-stocking, storage and serve as a container freight station.
Partners supporting the trucking network, meanwhile, will have to be well-equipped with lorries and container trucks to handle transportation of goods between warehouses and to ports.
As a digital logistics platform, Cainiao adopts a collaborative approach by integrating existing industry logistics resources and empowers connected partners with an innovative and open data platform, which improves efficiency along the entire value chain.
It has over 3,000 logistics partners and three million courier personnel on its platform.
The global open tender will encompass key markets including North Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and the US. Deadline for submission is on 15 December 2020.
