In fact, after years of development, e-commerce has long been deeply ingrained in people's daily lives, and consumers have become increasingly accustomed to online shopping. With the rise in online shopping demand, numerous enterprises have emerged in the e-commerce industry. To this day, the competition between new and old players in the e-commerce sector continues unabated. Notably, due to the increasingly fierce domestic competition, going global has become a trend, with various giants setting their sights on overseas markets and setting sail for foreign shores, especially in the e-commerce industry.

Among them, e-commerce giants represented by Alibaba, Pinduoduo, and Douyin have unanimously chosen to focus on overseas expansion. With the successive entry of e-commerce giants into international markets, overseas regions have emerged as new battlegrounds. In recent years, whether it's Alibaba's Alibaba.com, Pinduoduo's Temu, or Douyin's TikTok, they have all been active, and the battle in cross-border e-commerce is equally intense.

Cross-border E-commerce's 'Battle of Logistics'

In recent years, influenced by multiple factors, cross-border e-commerce has entered a fast lane of development, and many cross-border e-commerce platforms have achieved remarkable results. Even now, the enthusiasm for cross-border e-commerce has not waned, and cross-border e-commerce platforms have set their sights on the logistics aspect, beginning to enhance their logistics fulfillment capabilities. Behind the efforts of cross-border e-commerce platforms in logistics, there are multiple factors at play.

From a platform perspective, logistics can become a competitive barrier for cross-border e-commerce platforms, widening the gap between them and other players. In recent years, competition in the domestic e-commerce sector has been fierce, coupled with the gradual saturation of mobile internet traffic dividends, leading to slower growth in new users for e-commerce enterprises. For e-commerce platforms, finding new increments is imminent. In this context, expanding overseas markets has become an important way for domestic e-commerce giants to broaden their sources of increment and cultivate new growth curves.

However, as e-commerce giants venture overseas, competition in international markets has intensified. Facing fierce market competition, cross-border e-commerce platforms have strengthened their competitiveness through a series of measures, one of which is optimizing logistics services. After all, efficient logistics services can become a distinctive advantage for cross-border e-commerce platforms, making them stand out.

From a consumer perspective, consumers have placed higher demands on logistics timeliness. Times have changed. With the development of the e-commerce industry and the improvement of logistics infrastructure, consumers have become increasingly accustomed to online shopping while also demanding higher timeliness, and overseas consumers are no exception. Unlike local logistics, cross-border logistics takes longer, and timeliness has always been one of the important factors influencing consumer decision-making. As cross-border e-commerce platforms enhance their logistics capabilities and improve logistics timeliness, overseas consumers' demands for fast and efficient logistics experiences can also be met.

Temu's Multi-Pronged Approach

Undoubtedly, Pinduoduo's cross-border e-commerce platform Temu has emerged as a dark horse in the field, carving out a niche in overseas markets within just over a year. According to Sensor Tower data, from September 2022 to November 2023, Temu's global downloads surpassed 300 million. These figures underscore the rapid pace of Temu's development in overseas markets. Apart from its low-price advantage, Temu has also made continuous efforts in logistics.

Firstly, Temu ensures fulfillment timeliness through partnerships with overseas express companies. Since its launch in September 2022, Temu has entered 50 countries and regions. As Temu continues to expand its reach, its order volume has continued to climb, posing a challenge to its logistics fulfillment capabilities. To address this, Temu has partnered with overseas express companies to provide quick logistics experiences for overseas consumers. Specifically, Temu has established partnerships with Poste Italiane in Italy, CTT in the Iberian Peninsula, and Mail Alliance in Germany to expand its logistics network in Europe and optimize the logistics experience for European consumers.

Secondly, Temu is continuously building overseas warehouses to shorten logistics time and improve delivery efficiency at the end-user level. Overseas warehouses are storage facilities established in overseas markets, serving as intermediaries between domestic goods and overseas consumers. After placing an order, goods can be shipped directly from overseas warehouses, saving logistics costs, significantly shortening the distance for transshipment and delivery, and enhancing the end-user logistics experience. Therefore, building overseas warehouses is a good option for cross-border e-commerce platforms to improve logistics efficiency. It is understood that Temu has initiated the construction of overseas warehouses and plans to build new warehouses in both the eastern and western regions of the United States.

Thirdly, Temu has introduced a maritime logistics model to ensure logistics reliability. Previously, cross-border e-commerce platforms mostly used air transport for product transportation, which is fast but costly. Maritime transport, on the other hand, can significantly reduce cross-border logistics costs compared to air transport and is more suitable for transporting large items, helping Temu expand its product offerings. To this end, Temu has partnered with world-renowned shipping companies such as Matson, ZIM, CMA CGM, Maersk, and COSCO Shipping to address cross-border e-commerce logistics issues through fast maritime vessels.

However, it must be noted that improving logistics capabilities is not easy. Even though Temu has been continuously enhancing its logistics capabilities to provide overseas consumers with a good logistics experience, both the establishment of overseas warehouses and the improvement of logistics services require time and financial investment, which are not accomplished overnight. Therefore, Temu cannot relax its efforts in logistics.

Alibaba.com's 'Striving for Perfection'

As everyone knows, Alibaba.com is Alibaba Group's global trade platform and one of the world's largest B2B online trading markets. In recent years, Alibaba.com has been quite active. Earlier this year, Alibaba.com introduced a semi-managed service, providing merchants with a new B2B procurement experience featuring fixed prices, punctual delivery, and guaranteed after-sales service. Moreover, Alibaba.com continues to strengthen its logistics capabilities to optimize merchants' logistics experience.

Firstly, Alibaba.com has specifically integrated logistics routes to address the shipping challenges of certain products. Currently, most cross-border e-commerce platforms operate across various product categories. Due to the diverse range of products, transporting goods like electrical items and cosmetics can be complicated, especially for international shipments, making it difficult for cross-border sellers dealing in these special products to ship them. Based on this, Alibaba.com Logistics has integrated over 30 specialized routes specifically for long-standing 'shipping-difficult' special categories such as electrical, liquid, cosmetic, and heavy-bubble goods, to provide merchants with dedicated transportation services to address their 'shipping-difficult' issues.

Secondly, Alibaba.com continuously strengthens its logistics network to reinforce its existing logistics advantages. In fact, Alibaba has been laying out its overseas e-commerce strategy for a long time and has been intensifying the construction of cross-border logistics networks to enhance its logistics capabilities for overseas e-commerce. Relevant data shows that Alibaba.com's logistics services have over 26,000 shipping routes in more than 220 countries and regions worldwide, enabling fast land, sea, and air multimodal transportation.

Although Alibaba has a solid foundation in logistics, it continues to invest more in this area. For instance, Alibaba.com launched its logistics sub-brand Alibaba.com Logistics in March 2022 and opened the Yiwu Central Warehouse in February last year to cope with the busy orders at the beginning of the year and the high-frequency logistics needs of small and medium-sized cross-border merchants. It is reported that Alibaba.com will also introduce multiple central warehouses in East and South China to further enhance its logistics capabilities.

Although Alibaba.com boasts strong logistics capabilities, it also faces challenges. In fact, competition in the cross-border e-commerce sector is fierce, and there are already a number of seasoned players with formidable strength in the industry. In recent years, a new wave of players has entered the cross-border e-commerce field, intensifying competition. Facing both old and new competitors, even Alibaba.com, which has been deeply rooted in the industry, cannot afford to be complacent. After all, cross-border e-commerce is not just about logistics but a comprehensive competition. Alibaba.com still needs to continually refine and upgrade to gain an advantage in the second half of the competition.

TikTok's 'Steady and Sure' Approach

Cross-border e-commerce is gaining momentum, and TikTok, as one of the 'Four Dragons of Going Global,' has already achieved remarkable results. According to the latest data on TikTok's e-commerce business released by data research firm Yipit Data, TikTok's global e-commerce GMV reached approximately $13.6 billion in 2023, with Southeast Asia contributing over 90% of this value. In the new year, TikTok e-commerce has reset its GMV target at $50 billion. Undoubtedly, TikTok has high hopes for its e-commerce business. Behind TikTok's full-throttle expansion into e-commerce lies its improved logistics capabilities.

In terms of delivery, TikTok is actively partnering with local logistics providers to enhance delivery efficiency in target destinations. Given the large number of regions TikTok has entered, it is challenging for cross-border e-commerce platforms to establish their logistics companies in every region. However, consumers' demands for delivery timeliness remain unchanged. For all cross-border e-commerce platforms, including TikTok, partnering with local logistics providers is an effective way to improve delivery efficiency and rapidly enhance consumers' logistics experience.

For instance, in 2022, TikTok Shop partnered with Thai logistics company Flash Express to provide package delivery services for sellers. In 2023, TikTok Shop established a new partnership with Royal Mail in the UK to introduce the Click&Drop service for merchants on the platform.

In terms of warehousing, TikTok is accelerating its warehouse construction to strengthen its logistics fulfillment capabilities and ultimately provide consumers with a superior logistics experience. Warehousing is a crucial aspect of cross-border e-commerce logistics, and TikTok, which has logistics shortcomings, has also accelerated its layout in this area. It is understood that TikTok has not only established inventory warehouses in China but also evaluated and selected capable third-party overseas warehouses on the market, introducing TikTok Shop's officially certified overseas warehouses for cross-border e-commerce.

Whether it's domestic or cross-border e-commerce, logistics is essential. However, due to its relatively short history in e-commerce, TikTok's logistics shortcomings are also evident. Even though TikTok is accelerating its logistics layout, it still faces pressure. For example, partnering with third parties can quickly improve TikTok's local delivery speed but does not effectively enhance its logistics capabilities. If the partnership breaks down, consumers' logistics experience will naturally be affected.

The Inevitability of the Logistics Speed Race

Judging from the current situation, focusing on logistics has become a common choice for all cross-border e-commerce platforms, as evidenced by the various logistics initiatives undertaken by Temu, Alibaba.com, and TikTok. In fact, not only cross-border e-commerce platforms but also domestic e-commerce platforms attach great importance to logistics capabilities. All these developments indicate that the invisible logistics speed race has already begun.

Firstly, competition in the cross-border e-commerce industry continues to heat up, and logistics is poised to become a breakthrough point for cross-border e-commerce platforms to differentiate themselves. As more players enter the cross-border e-commerce field, market competition intensifies. Furthermore, as cross-border e-commerce platforms develop towards full-category operations, the similarity between platforms increases. Facing fierce competition and homogenization, differentiation becomes the key for cross-border e-commerce platforms to stand out. Logistics, as an essential aspect of e-commerce, can enhance platforms' competitiveness and optimize consumers' logistics experience through improved logistics, achieving multiple benefits.

Secondly, an efficient logistics experience can enhance user satisfaction, encourage repeat purchases, and drive the continuous growth of cross-border e-commerce platform businesses. Both domestic and overseas consumers share the same logistics demands: speed and reliability. Besides price, logistics timeliness has always been one of the critical factors influencing consumers' decision to repurchase. As Temu, Alibaba.com, and TikTok continue to invest in logistics, their logistics timeliness will improve, enhancing consumers' logistics experience and ensuring a steady stream of orders for cross-border e-commerce platforms, leading to better development.

In summary, the current cross-border e-commerce industry has embarked on a new round of logistics speed competition, with both veterans and newcomers gearing up for full-speed ahead. With the continuous improvement of logistics capabilities among various players, overseas consumers can expect to experience more efficient and faster logistics delivery services.