Ahead of the 2020 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, AliExpress has invested in its overall customer service and delivery platforms to improve delivery times by up to 30% for shoppers across Europe.
New measures in place are aimed at enhancing the shopper experience to create cheaper and faster delivery fulfilment following changes in consumer behaviour, which shows more people turning to cross-border options for better prices during the coronavirus pandemic.
The changes will see see AliExpress partner with Cainiao Smart Logistics to upgrade its warehouse and over-land express delivery process, whilst they have also launched a cross-border logistics solution dedicated to large items to help shoppers purchase big ticket items like furniture and motorcycles without any hassle, and at affordable shipping prices.
Upgraded warehouse and over-land express delivery to ensure reliability and efficiency
According to the Universal Postal Union’s latest report on the pandemic’s impact on global postal operations, “international flows have been disrupted by the closure of airports… with an increasing number of postal items ‘stranded’ in the ‘logistical no-man’s land’ between sender and receiver.”
In order to ensure smooth logistics during and after the pandemic, AliExpress has been working closely with Alibaba Group logistics arm Cainiao Smart Logistics Network and last-mile logistics partners to significantly shorten the cross-border delivery time. In Europe, for example, Cainiao launched a new international air-freight route in August 2020 to speed up average delivery times between China and Europe by over 30%. Selected goods shipped through the new route can now reach consumers in AliExpress’ key European markets such as Spain and France in 10 working days, with the aim to expand to more European markets in the near future.
Relying on the overseas warehouses in Europe serving AliExpress merchants, the Cainiao intra-Europe trucking network taps advanced algorithms to generate the most-efficient loading plans and transportation routes for its fleet, as well as the optimal number of trucks to deploy in real time.
Tapping on this line-haul network and collaborating with local last-mile delivery providers, AliExpress is able to connect partner warehouses and transport hubs in Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands, achieving three-day delivery in Spain, France and Poland, five to seven days in other European countries.
AliExpress launches new service to help deliver big ticket items like furniture and motorcycles
Big-ticket items like furniture and motorcycles, continue to be a pain point for many manufacturers around the world, as they find it hard to ship directly to retail shoppers.
To address this, AliExpress recently launched a cross-border logistics solution dedicated to large items – products of more than 4 meters in length and width, or weighing more than 300kg. Now, with just one click and at affordable shipping prices, heavy items like beds and motorcycles can be transported to overseas retail shoppers.
Cai Weimin, Overseas General Manager at Zhejiang Bendi Vehicle Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and an AliExpress merchant, said: “We have prepared 3,000 motorcycles for this year’s 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, and they are ready for shipping. We expect these motorcycles to be sold out within one to two weeks.”
Making more types of products available via cross-border marketplaces to address fluctuating purchasing power
The OECD recently projected that increased accessibility to more products at more affordable prices would be a significantly important market development, in the context of reductions in purchasing power from pandemic-related economic fallout.
In line with this, AliExpress has observed that consumers are becoming more cautious in making purchase decisions and turning to cross-border options for better prices.
AliExpress propriety data shows big-ticket items and premium product categories that satisfy consumer demand shifts brought about by COVID-19 have seen sharp lifts in sales.
• AliExpress data shows an overall upward trending on GMV for categories like tablets, electric scooters, mobile phones, and smartwatches, between April and August 2020.
o 50% increase in GMV for tablets
o 225% increase in GMV for electric scooters
o 60% increase in GMV for mobile phones
o 140% increase in GMV for smartwatches
• A stand-out product category, TVs booked an increasing month-on-month GMV throughout April to August 2020, with an overall increase of 67% in GMV.