Alibaba And Amazon Battle For 3PL Supremacy

Alibaba and Amazon are battling to control the third party logistics market by providing supply chain logistics services to outside clients.

Cainiao, the logistics division of Alibaba, is now offering end-to-end logistics services to Japanese and South Korean importers and exporters and have started an air charter service between Asia and South America. While Amazon is well on its way to becoming a global player in providing logistics services to other companies as an extension of the logistics infrastructure they created to serve their own needs, Alibaba understands they must catch up with Amazon’s growing dominance in the field to remain viable.

Cainiao aims to cover international shipping by sea and air, customs clearance, trucking, warehousing and last mile delivery. By offering an in-house turnkey service, they will reduce transit times, take control of their supply chain and reduce costs that will benefit consumers through more competitive pricing and faster delivery times.

Alibaba plans to operate about 1,300 chartered flights by the end of 2020.  Amazon is offering a full range of logistics services in Europe and recently opened an air hub in Germany to support its Prime delivery service . In the U.S., Amazon offers ocean freight services for its own imports as well as other customers.

Read more about this transformation at:
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/alibaba-moves-into-japan-with-third-party-logistics-offering

Warehouse with Boxes

(Photo credit: Alibaba Group)