Cainiao is expanding overseas at a rapid pace, accelerating the construction of North American networks

The straight-line distance from Shenzhen, China to Miami, USA is about 14,443 kilometers, which is a long journey. It is not easy for a package to cross the ocean from China and finally reach consumers in the United States. The transportation process is long and involves many entities. Any problem in any link may affect the smooth delivery of the package.

Ms. Liu, who lives in the United States, once shared such an incident on a domestic social media. An important express package she sent from China to the United States was accidentally lost. At first, she thought it would be easy to find it back, but it was actually difficult to deal with. "In fact, I just wanted to find the courier in charge of this area and tell him that the package was delivered to the wrong address. But no matter whether I called the customer service number, checked the official website, or asked other couriers for help, I could not contact the courier in charge." And when seeking help from domestic courier companies, the response I got was that it would take at least three days to get a result.

This is not an isolated case. Many bloggers have shared similar experiences on major domestic social platforms and short video platforms. Due to the frequent occurrence of such incidents, many bloggers have even begun to popularize how to find lost goods, whether they can be found, and how to claim compensation.

High loss rate, poor information communication, low transfer efficiency, poor customer experience ... These are actually the pain points of the traditional "splicing" logistics model. Overseas consumers and cross-border sellers have been troubled by these problems for a long time. Cainiao entered the international logistics industry with a strong attitude, and since then, international express and cross-border express have entered a new era of quality and speed improvement. Especially in the United States, the main market for sellers, Cainiao's performance is particularly outstanding.

Online shopping in the U.S. is booming, but cross-border logistics is blocked

According to a 2023 report from Security.org, 1.7 million packages are lost or stolen every day in the United States, and more than 620 million packages go missing each year. Further research conducted by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2020 came to similar conclusions, estimating the number of lost or stolen packages to be around 1.7 million per day.

If we dig deeper into the root causes of missing packages, in addition to the external factor of theft, delivery errors and cargo damage are the other two major culprits.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. e-commerce sales will reach approximately $1.119 trillion in 2023, a 7.6% increase from $1.040 trillion in 2022. At the same time, the proportion of U.S. e-commerce in total retail sales will rise to 22.0% in 2023 from 21.2% in 2022. The rapid expansion of online sales has greatly stimulated the demand for international express delivery services.

Although international express delivery giants such as FedEx, DHL, and UPS dominate the US market, their service quality has failed to keep up with the rapid growth of e-commerce sales.

Lost and damaged items happen from time to time, and the handling process is cumbersome, making it difficult for consumers to protect their rights. In addition, express delivery is unstable, and during peak shopping seasons such as "Black Friday" and "Cyber ​​Monday", there is a serious backlog of packages, and many products are delivered much later than expected, which greatly affects consumers' shopping experience and seriously hinders the business of sellers.

A cross-border e-commerce seller recently complained about USPS on social media , saying that his package was only 40 minutes away from its destination, but it took five days to arrive. During that time, the package inexplicably went around from Northern California to Southern California. The logistics delay directly led to a warning for TikTok shop, and the late delivery rate also increased. "I feel like crying when I think about the impact on traffic and order volume."

A more serious case is that a cross-border e-commerce seller triggered platform-related terms due to logistics delays, which ultimately led to the forced closure of two stores.

An organization once conducted a survey on the topic of "What is the biggest concern of cross-border e-commerce sellers in last-mile logistics?" and found that 43% of sellers reported that the most prominent problem was unstable delivery time, which directly led to out-of-stock and affected product rankings; 32% encountered serious problems such as lost and missing items, and could not find logistics tracks, resulting in serious losses.

Moreover, the giants’ service pricing is relatively high. For many small and medium-sized e-commerce sellers, logistics costs have become a heavy burden on operations, limiting their business expansion and profit margins.

According to the 2022 Cross-border E-commerce Logistics Industry Report, logistics costs (including first-leg, last-leg, warehousing, etc.) account for about 25% of the total costs of cross-border e-commerce sellers. In other words, a large part of the costs of cross-border sellers are spent on logistics, but they do not get good service.

Problems such as unstable logistics timeliness, lost or missing items not only cause headaches for sellers, but also greatly reduce consumers' shopping experience.

"It took four days to deliver a package that only took half an hour to get there!" Mr. Liu, who had just arrived in the United States, was shocked by the locals' tolerance for express delivery. He complained, "Is it because these express delivery companies have no competitors that their service is so poor?"

Some netizens have tried to urge the delivery, but the courier company gave various reasons: "Either it's too snowy to deliver, or the zip code is wrong, anyway, they just won't deliver."

Faced with the rapid growth of e-commerce, the US express delivery market urgently needs new models or new competitors to break the deadlock, optimize services and reduce costs to meet the growing logistics needs.

The head is in charge, and the whole chain is under control

In essence, most of the logistics problems encountered by cross-border e-commerce sellers are caused by the "patchwork" logistics model.

Spliced ​​logistics means that different links of cross-border logistics, such as transportation, warehousing, sorting, and distribution, are completed separately by multiple different logistics service providers. Each link is relatively independent and can only be combined to achieve cross-border transportation and delivery of goods. This model currently dominates cross-border logistics due to considerations such as cost, efficiency, flexibility, professional services, and risk control.

However, it cannot be ignored that the shortcomings of this model are also very obvious, such as poor information communication, high loss rate, and lack of collaborative planning, resulting in poor timeliness, etc.

When Cainiao entered the market, it did not choose the traditional splicing logistics model, but took a different approach and built a smart logistics network that accurately matched the needs of e-commerce. This network is based on logistics infrastructure such as international trunk lines, air cargo terminals, and distribution centers, and integrates a complete set of digital technology systems to achieve intelligent management of the entire logistics chain.

A year ago, Cainiao officially established this smart logistics network in the Americas, and it has now achieved remarkable results. As of January 2025, Cainiao has covered 90% of the population in California and Florida with local two-day delivery services, and its service in Mexico has become one of the few local express delivery service providers that can provide the fastest delivery within 2.5 days. Cainiao's advantages are not only reflected in its efficient delivery time, but also in its service quality, stability and price competitiveness.

Previously, senior experts in the industry pointed out that the cross-border e-commerce express service launched by Cainiao is the first such product in the industry to be standardized and has significant advantages over first-tier logistics companies. In terms of cost, Cainiao's cross-border e-commerce express delivery can help sellers save half of their costs. In the future, sellers will only need to spend the price of a cup of coffee to send an overseas package.

Cainiao has improved its service quality and speed in North America by investing heavily in technology and logistics networks. In the past year, Cainiao has actively invested in and operated distribution centers in core ports such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, building a solid logistics network foundation. Recently, it has launched technology upgrades for distribution centers in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Chicago, using big data analysis, intelligent sorting systems, and other technological means to optimize the package processing process and significantly improve the package processing efficiency of major e-commerce platforms.

At the Miami distribution center, the daily work scene is like this:

Parcels unloaded from flights in the early morning go directly to the distribution center adjacent to the airport after landing. The distance from the airport unloading port to the distribution warehouse is only one mile, and cross-border goods are sorted as soon as they land. The intelligent sorting system will complete the sorting process within a few hours - parcels sent to downtown Miami are directly loaded into self-operated delivery vehicles, and interstate goods are loaded and departed every morning.

This is a microcosm of Cainiao's North American logistics network. The entire process fits together like a puzzle. It is precisely with this highly coordinated operating model that the ultimate efficiency is achieved.

Matthew Maydak is an important member of the puzzle. As a manager of the Miami warehouse, his most important job every day is to ensure that the global packages that travel thousands of miles can be delivered faster, more accurately, and intact. "If 20,000 packages come in, 20,000 packages must go out. There is no room for negotiation." This is the work standard that Matthew adheres to, and it is also his requirement for the entire team.

Chinese logistics companies are entering the fast lane of going global

In 2015, Cainiao incorporated "globalization" into its core corporate strategy and began to build a global network. Today, in addition to North America, Cainiao has already laid out local networks in many countries in Europe and Southeast Asia .

In the past, European and American logistics giants dominated the international logistics market, and Chinese logistics companies faced many problems such as insufficient brand influence, imperfect international networks, and lack of international operation experience. However, with the rapid development of China's economy, especially the sudden rise of cross-border e-commerce, it has provided a strong impetus for Chinese logistics companies to go overseas.

At the beginning of this year, Wang Lingjun, deputy director of the General Administration of Customs, said that in 2024, China's new cross-border e-commerce business formats will reach an annual import and export of 2.63 trillion yuan, 1 trillion yuan more than in 2020.

As a leader in the industry, Cainiao's globalization strategy plays a key role in promoting the overseas expansion of Chinese logistics companies. Cainiao has spared no effort in building a logistics network. It has actively deployed overseas warehouses and established storage facilities at multiple key nodes around the world. These overseas warehouses are like solid fortresses, allowing goods to be in place in advance, greatly shortening delivery time.

At the same time, Cainiao continues to optimize cross-border transportation routes, ensuring efficient and stable cargo transportation by increasing the number of charter flights and signing direct volume agreements with airlines. For example, on the China-US logistics route, Cainiao has significantly shortened cargo transportation time through precise planning and operation, providing customers with faster services.

Innovation is another magic weapon of Cainiao's globalization strategy. The services launched by Cainiao , such as "Global 5-Day Delivery" and " 10-Day Delivery for $ 5 ", are like a bombshell in the international logistics market. When Cainiao launched the global "5-Day Delivery" service, the above-mentioned expert commented: "In the past, sellers had to select international express delivery, but now the entire international express delivery industry has to follow Cainiao's example."

These services have greatly improved logistics efficiency and made cross-border shopping more convenient. In the past, consumers often had to wait for a long time when shopping across borders, but now these services provided by Cainiao have greatly shortened the waiting time and greatly improved consumers' shopping experience.

In addition, Cainiao has launched customized logistics solutions for different markets and customer needs. In the European market, in response to the local high requirements for environmental protection and service quality, Cainiao provides green and environmentally friendly logistics packaging and high-quality delivery services, winning recognition from local customers.

Today, the global logistics industry is undergoing profound changes, and Cainiao is undoubtedly a pioneer in this change. It has taken the lead in breaking through traditions, continuously increasing investment , and carefully building a large and efficient overseas logistics network, bringing unprecedented vitality and vitality to the entire cross-border logistics field.

The logistics system built by Cainiao has greatly improved the timeliness of transportation and has truly achieved high efficiency and stability. At the same time, on the basis of strict cost control, it has relieved the burden of logistics costs for Chinese cross-border export merchants and laid a solid logistics foundation for global e-commerce platforms. With its cost-effective logistics services, it has stood out in the fierce international market competition.

What surprises will Cainiao bring to the cross-border e-commerce industry in the future? It is really exciting!

Rookie