Cainiao Network Sets New Record Delivery Time for 11.11

With all the hoopla about Black Friday and Cyber Monday week sales, the largest shopping day in the world was really on 11/11/2017.

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This promoted day by Alibaba not only had record sales, but it also required a record fulfillment operation. Alibaba Group provided some fascinating details.

Alibaba Group’s logistics affiliate Cainiao Network delivered at least 812 million orders on 11.11—a record that was 23% bigger than last year’s 657 million orders needed to be shipped to consumers.

In addition to its record-breaking volume of delivery orders, the logistics company also set the records for the fastest delivery time. The first package arrived at a consumer located in Shanghai within 12 minutes of order!

It was a minute faster than last year’s 13 minutes. What’s even more impreseeive is that the first 100 million shipments were able to reach their destination upon the third day of its order. This new record was was a half a day faster than last year and a huge gap from 2013’s nine-day mark.

Effectiveness of Fulfillment Centers

“Closing delivery distances alone can largely improve the consumer experience,” Chief Technology Officer Ben Wang.

According to Wang, the fulfillment centers established in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities in China played a crucial role in delivering the packages in a timely manner.

Alibaba uses its vast information of consumer insights to get a clear assumption of which products will likely sell in their targeted areas.

Merchandise was shipped and stored in specific locations to ensure the items will be delivered in the fastest possible way.

“Ultimately, we want to expand this concept overseas,” Wang said. “Predict which products would sell well in those markets and store them there ahead of time.”

Seamless Cross-Border Purchases

According to Wang, Cainiao Network started working directly with China’s General Administration of Customs this year to speed up the entire logistics process.

The company extended its various stress tests even before 11.11 to help ensure that consumers will have the same experiences for cross-border shopping. Wang also said that Cianiao’s warehouses are built to meet the ever-changing market demands and technology development.

Each warehouse is built in a way that it can be easily dismantled and reassembled, thereby adjusting the layout of each warehouse depending on the current business needs.

How do you feel about Cianiao’s record-breaking delivery time? Comment down below and share your thoughts.