Alibaba Group Ready for The Biggest Shopping Day in The World

China’s Alibaba Group said it is ready for the biggest shopping day in the world on November 11, 2018.

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That’s right, Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined can’t even compare to this made up shopping day by Alibaba Group in China called the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival.

The 2017 version of the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival raked in over $25 billion in sales, that is larger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

READ MORE: Record Alibaba 11.11 Global Shopping Festival

Cainiao Network

The manage this day and every other day of delivering goods in China, Alibaba Group’s majority owned Cainiao Network relies on a network of automated warehouses to deliver products to customers.

In 2017, Cainiao delivered over 812 million orders and for this year the company expects to reach another record in order volume.

“Consumers increasingly want faster, better delivery, so that’s what we’re doing. This year, we’re striving to achieve a new high, leveraging the beauty of scale and technology.”

Cainiao Vice President Ben Wang

To handle the delivery aspect, Cainiao has partnered with 15 major Chinese express-courier companies to crunch logistics data so that manpower and transportation are used more efficiently in the 200,000 delivery stations being used for supporting 11.11.

Cross-Border Trade

But it is not all about China as Cainiao prepared for 11.11 Global Shopping Festival to reach more consumers outside China.

In expectation of an increase in cross-border shipments, Cainiao has chartered 51 flights to Western Europe, Russia and Southeast Asia. Also, the company has about 1,000 shipping containers set for buyers in Southeast Asia and other destinations by sea.

The logistics company is even ready for more inbound shipments this year. Cainiao has prepared bonded warehouses across China that cover over 1 million square meters.

Domestic Expansion

2018 also marks the first time that goods ordered during 11.11 are delivered directly from stores to customers. As “New Retail” advances continue to play a role in the Festival, short-distance delivery services will be available in over 280 cities.

But it is the latest technologies of Cainiao in their automated warehouses that make it all work smoothly managing the largest eCommerce market and single biggest sale day in the world.

WATCH: Inside China’s Largest Automated Warehouse

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