Logistics: The Secret Ingredient in China’s E-commerce

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How Alibaba and JD.com accelerate logistics innovation.

阿里巴巴和京东如何加速物流创新。

There’s definitely something going on behind the scenes of China’s ecommerce industry: In no other country in the world is delivering packages to consumers in 24 hours considered standard practice.What’s the driving force behind this logistics service?

中国电子商务行业的幕后必定有一些奥秘：目前世界上没有其他国家把24 小时内将包裹送达消费者作为标准惯例。这种物流服务背后的驱动力是什么？

2 The answer is pretty easy to find.Just look at the Chinese e-commerce market:intense competition,large volumes of packages,and the need to satisfy evergrowing demands from sophisticatedChinese consumers.

2 很容易便能找到答案，只需看看中国电子商务市场：竞争激烈，包裹数量庞大，还要满足成熟老练的中国消费者日益增长的需求。

3 E-commerce in China is three times the size of any market globally,according to eMarketer.According to Alibaba,Cainiao Network and its logistics partners delivered 25.1 billion packages in 2019.

3 根据eMarketer 的报告，中国电子商务规模是全球其他市场的3 倍。阿里巴巴称，2019年菜鸟网络及其物流合作伙伴运送了251 亿个包裹。

4 Peak shopping seasons in China bring dizzying numbers of orders.Last year,during the 11.11 shopping festival,more than 1.3 billion orders were processed within 24 hours by Alibaba’s Cainiao Network.

4 中国购物旺季带来了惊人的订单数量。2019年“双十一”购物节期间，阿里巴巴的菜鸟网络在24 小时内处理了超过13 亿笔订单。

5 Netsunion Clearing Corporationreported that 26.18 billion transactions worth RMB 16.91 trillion (about $2.38 trillion)occurred during the 6.18 online shopping festival from June 1 to June 18,2020.

5 网联清算有限公司称，2020年6月1日 至6月18日的“6·18”网购节期间，有261.8 亿笔交易达成，金额共计16.91 万亿元人民币（约合2.38 万亿美元）。

6 To serve over 1.4 billion citizens and nearly 900 million mobile internet users,retail and e-commerce businesses must innovate.They frequently adopt new technologies like AI,Internet of Things,and automation.

6 要想服务超过14 亿中国人和近9 亿移动互联网用户，零售和电子商务企业必须进行创新。这些企业频繁采用人工智能、物联网和自动化等新技术。

7 To get the edgein a fiercely competitive marketplace,digital commerce giants JD and Alibaba have pushed each other to master the difficult step-child of e-commerce: getting stuff from here to there.

7 为了在竞争激烈的市场中占据优势，电子商务巨头京东和阿里巴巴争先恐后，以图掌控电子商务不招待见且难管教的“继子”：物流。

Logistics with Chinese characteristics

中国特色物流

8 Consumers in China expect logistics services to be on-demand and free,and do not expect to pay extra for these features.This is a contrast to the European and American markets,where consumers pay a premiumfor expeditedservices like Instacartand Amazon Prime Now.The additional fees charged by these companies reflect the high cost of shipping items in developed markets.

8 中国消费者期望物流服务按需配送、一律免费，不愿为这些功能支付额外费用。这与欧洲和美国市场形成鲜明对比，欧美地区的消费者要为加急服务支付额外费用，比如即时送和亚马逊超快配送等。这些公司收取的额外费用反映了发达市场的高昂运输成本。

9 At its core,Alibaba is a marketplace,while JD.com is a retailer.Their business models have huge differences,but in logistics,Alibaba’s Cainiao Network and JD Logistics have both thrown traditional e-commerce logistics business models away and created marketspecific solutions.

9 从本质上说，阿里巴巴是交易平台，而京东是零售商。他们的商业模式存在巨大差异，但在物流方面，阿里巴巴的菜鸟网络和京东物流都摒弃了传统的电子商务物流商业模式，创造了针对特定市场的解决方案。

Alibaba’s Cainiao Network

阿里巴巴的菜鸟网络

10 Alibaba’s Cainiao Network offers an innovative,data-driven platform that helps improve efficiency and customer experience for all supply chain partners.At a high level,it can be summarized as a logistics platform which focuses on freight between warehouses that then use third-party partners to complete last mile deliveries.

10 阿里巴巴的菜鸟网络提供了一个创新型数据驱动平台，有助于提升所有供应链合作伙伴的效率和客户体验。从高层次上讲，可以把菜鸟网络归结为专注于仓库间货运的物流平台，随后这些仓库借助第三方合作伙伴完成最后一英里配送。

11 Alibaba has also invested in these logistics companies in an effort to improve operational efficiency across the entire logistics chain.Cainiao Network offers a data platform that links warehouse operators,distribution centers,and contractors together to ensure that it can support local and international shipments.

11 阿里巴巴还投资这些物流公司，以提高整个物流链的运营效率。菜鸟网络搭建起数据平台，关联仓库运营商、配送中心和承包商信息，以确保平台能够支持国内和国际运输。

12 Automation: Cainiao Network’s smart warehouse in Wuxi has 700 automated guided vehicles (AGVs).Internet of Things technology in the warehouse directs AGVs to drive,load,and unload.

12 自动化：菜鸟网络在无锡的智能仓库拥有700 台自动导引车。仓库中的物联网技术指挥自动导引车行驶、装卸。

13 Last mile delivery solutions: Package pickup stations located in neighborhoods and university campuses,called Cainiao Post,account for 10% of total packages delivered in Alibaba’s China retail marketplaces.In March 2020,the total number of package pick-ups saw three-digit growth year-on-year,due to surging demand for contactless delivery during and after Covid-19.Cainiao has recently announced that it will add 30,000 new community post stations in 100 cities in China.

13 最后一英里配送解决方案：位于社区和大学校园的包裹取件处称为菜鸟驿站，占阿里巴巴中国零售市场配送包裹总量的10%。2020年3月，由于新冠疫情期间及之后对非接触式交付的需求激增，包裹取件总数同比实现三位数增长。菜鸟近日宣布，将在中国100座城市新增3 万个社区站点。

JD Logistics

京东物流

14 JD Logistics offers end-to-end logistics,including both freight-to-warehouse and last mile delivery.Its logistics services are available to online and offilne businesses,even those that do not sell on its e-commerce platform.Brands and businesses can use these services to deliver products,without investing into their own logistics.

14 京东物流提供端到端物流服务，包括货物送到仓库和最后一英里配送。它的物流服务可供线上和线下企业使用，甚至可供那些不在其电子商务平台上销售的企业使用。品牌商和企业可以使用京东物流配送货物，而无须自己投资物流。

15 Unlike Amazon,JD Logistics does not charge its clients higher fees for servicing other businesses.Amazon is being investigated by the FTCfor charging businesses up to 75% more when shipping to a consumer who purchased on a non-Amazon platform.

15 与亚马逊不同，京东物流向其他企业提供服务时，不收取更高费用。亚马逊向不在其平台上购物的消费者送货时，向企业另收取高达75%的费用，因此亚马逊正在接受美国联邦贸易委员会的调查。

16 JD Logistics,like Cainiao Network,is leveragingautomation and 5G technology to enable logistics at speed.

16 京东物流与菜鸟网络一样，正在利用自动化和5G 技术提升物流效率。

17 JD’s smart logistics infrastructure has expanded its highly automated “Asia No.1” logistics parks network to 28 parks in 2020 in a bid to increase sameor next-day delivery service coverage,especially in lower-tier markets.These are essentially fulfillment centers that can speed up parcel delivery.

172020 年，京东的智慧物流基础设施已将高度自动化的“亚洲第一”物流园区网扩展到28 座，以扩大当日或次日达配送服务覆盖率，尤其是在低端市场。这些园区实际上是加快包裹配送的订单履约中心。

18 The three new parks are in Langfang,Hebei province; Dezhou,Shandong province; and Zhengzhou,Henan province.

18 三座新建的园区分别位于河北省廊坊市、山东省德州市和河南省郑州市。

19 The park in Dongguan,in the Pearl River Delta,is 500,000 square meters,equal to the size of seventy football fields,and can fulfill about 1.6 million orders per day.

19 位于珠江三角洲的东莞园区占地50 万平方米，面积相当于70 个足球场，每天可处理约160 万笔订单。

20 JD Logistics also launched its first 5G-powered smart logistics park in Beijing in October 2019.The facility implemented real-time monitoring systems that detect and analyze the warehouse,tracking the location and routes of forklifts and pallets in real time.The technology provides preemptivealerts to human operators if something abnormal arises.

202019 年10月，京东物流还在北京推出了首个5G 智能物流园区。这里的智能设施采用实时监控系统，对仓库进行检测分析，实时跟踪叉车和运货板的位置和路线。如果出现异常情况，智能技术会向操作员预先报警。

The secret sauce

秘方

21 Both Alibaba and JD.com often promise consumers that their orders will be in hand in as little as a few hours,a goal which would be impossible to meet without consistent innovation.

21 阿里巴巴和京东通常都向消费者承诺，订单将在短短几小时内送达。如果没有持续创新，这一目标无法实现。

22 The two Chinese titans have the advantage of stress testing their logistics networks on a massive scale during China’s multiple shopping holidays,which see delivery volumes unheard of in any other e-commerce market.There is no other e-commerce market in the world that regularly generates tens of billions of online orders in a few days,as happens in China during the various shopping festivals.Alibaba and JD.com have used these massive shopping events to accelerate market-specifci solutions.

22 这两家中国电商巨头的优势在于其物流网络经受了中国诸多购物节的大规模压力测试，配送量在其他电子商务市场闻所未闻。中国各大购物节期间，几天内在线订单量经常高达数百亿，世界上没有其他电子商务市场能够达到这种规模。阿里巴巴和京东已利用这些大型购物活动，加速形成了针对特定市场的解决方案。

23 In order to move millions of packages between brands,warehouses,sorting centers,and collection points,5G,data and automation are necessary to ensure that this undertaking ends with customer happiness and package delivered.Supply chain leaders should look to Chinese e-commerce as a barometer of how to innovate in what is often seen as a totally mature sector.■

23 要在品牌商、仓库、分拣中心和取件站点之间运送数百万个包裹，5G、数据和自动化是必备技术，以确保物流服务既送达包裹又让客户满意。供应链领军者应将中国电子商务视为一个变化标志，借此可知如何在通常被视为完全成熟的行业里进行创新。 □