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

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How Alibaba and JD.com accelerate logistics innovation.

阿里巴巴和京東如何加速物流創新。

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?

中國電子商務行業的幕后必定有一些奧秘：目前世界上沒有其他國家把24 小時內將包裹送達消費者作為標準慣例。這種物流服務背后的驅動力是什么？

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，只需看看中國電子商務市場：競爭激烈，包裹數量龐大，還要滿足成熟老練的中國消費者日益增長的需求。

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 根據eMarketer 的報告，中國電子商務規模是全球其他市場的3 倍。阿里巴巴稱，2019年菜鳥網絡及其物流合作伙伴運送了251 億個包裹。

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 中國購物旺季帶來了驚人的訂單數量。2019年“雙十一”購物節期間，阿里巴巴的菜鳥網絡在24 小時內處理了超過13 億筆訂單。

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 網聯清算有限公司稱，2020年6月1日 至6月18日的“6·18”網購節期間，有261.8 億筆交易達成，金額共計16.91 萬億元人民幣（約合2.38 萬億美元）。

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 要想服務超過14 億中國人和近9 億移動互聯網用戶，零售和電子商務企業必須進行創新。這些企業頻繁采用人工智能、物聯網和自動化等新技術。

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 為了在競爭激烈的市場中占據優勢，電子商務巨頭京東和阿里巴巴爭先恐后，以圖掌控電子商務不招待見且難管教的“繼子”：物流。

Logistics with Chinese characteristics

中國特色物流

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 中國消費者期望物流服務按需配送、一律免費，不愿為這些功能支付額外費用。這與歐洲和美國市場形成鮮明對比，歐美地區的消費者要為加急服務支付額外費用，比如即時送和亞馬遜超快配送等。這些公司收取的額外費用反映了發達市場的高昂運輸成本。

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 從本質上說，阿里巴巴是交易平臺，而京東是零售商。他們的商業模式存在巨大差異，但在物流方面，阿里巴巴的菜鳥網絡和京東物流都摒棄了傳統的電子商務物流商業模式，創造了針對特定市場的解決方案。

Alibaba’s Cainiao Network

阿里巴巴的菜鳥網絡

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 阿里巴巴的菜鳥網絡提供了一個創新型數據驅動平臺，有助于提升所有供應鏈合作伙伴的效率和客戶體驗。從高層次上講，可以把菜鳥網絡歸結為專注于倉庫間貨運的物流平臺，隨后這些倉庫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 阿里巴巴還投資這些物流公司，以提高整個物流鏈的運營效率。菜鳥網絡搭建起數據平臺，關聯倉庫運營商、配送中心和承包商信息，以確保平臺能夠支持國內和國際運輸。

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 自動化：菜鳥網絡在無錫的智能倉庫擁有700 臺自動導引車。倉庫中的物聯網技術指揮自動導引車行駛、裝卸。

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 最后一英里配送解決方案：位于社區和大學校園的包裹取件處稱為菜鳥驛站，占阿里巴巴中國零售市場配送包裹總量的10%。2020年3月，由于新冠疫情期間及之后對非接觸式交付的需求激增，包裹取件總數同比實現三位數增長。菜鳥近日宣布，將在中國100座城市新增3 萬個社區站點。

JD Logistics

京東物流

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 京東物流提供端到端物流服務，包括貨物送到倉庫和最后一英里配送。它的物流服務可供線上和線下企業使用，甚至可供那些不在其電子商務平臺上銷售的企業使用。品牌商和企業可以使用京東物流配送貨物，而無須自己投資物流。

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 與亞馬遜不同，京東物流向其他企業提供服務時，不收取更高費用。亞馬遜向不在其平臺上購物的消費者送貨時，向企業另收取高達75%的費用，因此亞馬遜正在接受美國聯邦貿易委員會的調查。

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

16 京東物流與菜鳥網絡一樣，正在利用自動化和5G 技術提升物流效率。

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，京東的智慧物流基礎設施已將高度自動化的“亞洲第一”物流園區網擴展到28 座，以擴大當日或次日達配送服務覆蓋率，尤其是在低端市場。這些園區實際上是加快包裹配送的訂單履約中心。

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

18 三座新建的園區分別位于河北省廊坊市、山東省德州市和河南省鄭州市。

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 位于珠江三角洲的東莞園區占地50 萬平方米，面積相當于70 個足球場，每天可處理約160 萬筆訂單。

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，京東物流還在北京推出了首個5G 智能物流園區。這里的智能設施采用實時監控系統，對倉庫進行檢測分析，實時跟蹤叉車和運貨板的位置和路線。如果出現異常情況，智能技術會向操作員預先報警。

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 阿里巴巴和京東通常都向消費者承諾，訂單將在短短幾小時內送達。如果沒有持續創新，這一目標無法實現。

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 這兩家中國電商巨頭的優勢在于其物流網絡經受了中國諸多購物節的大規模壓力測試，配送量在其他電子商務市場聞所未聞。中國各大購物節期間，幾天內在線訂單量經常高達數百億，世界上沒有其他電子商務市場能夠達到這種規模。阿里巴巴和京東已利用這些大型購物活動，加速形成了針對特定市場的解決方案。

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、倉庫、分揀中心和取件站點之間運送數百萬個包裹，5G、數據和自動化是必備技術，以確保物流服務既送達包裹又讓客戶滿意。供應鏈領軍者應將中國電子商務視為一個變化標志，借此可知如何在通常被視為完全成熟的行業里進行創新。 □