Cainiao, the logistics affiliate of Alibaba Group, has opened an online supermarket distribution centre in Chengdu, in south-western China, to provide next-day delivery services for Tmall supermarket products, and plans to further expand the service across the country over the coming months.
The Tmall online supermarket sells groceries, pantry items and other non-perishable fast-moving-consumer goods. According to a Nielsen Corporation report in April 2015, online grocery shopping has become the preferred retailing option in the Chengdu region, with high usage throughout China. About 46% of China respondents said they would like deliveries of online groceries straight to their homes.
The new supermarket distribution centre will initially provide next-day grocery deliveries to Tmall Supermarket users in Chengdu and Chongqing, and will gradually expand delivery services to other regions in south-western China.
The Chengdu centre is Cainiao’s sixth supermarket distribution centre, following similar facilities in Tianjin, Shanghai, Suzhou, Guangzhou and Jinyi. The logistics company also revealed plans to increase the number of supermarket distribution centres to seven, with a new centre in Wuhan to cover the provinces of Hubei, Henan and Hunan, as well as rural areas.
This distribution network will enable next-day deliveries of grocery products ordered online on Tmall Supermarkets to be delivered to more than 250 cities in 25 Chinese provinces, covering a customer base of more than 100 million. Residents in 50 of those cities will be able to enjoy same or next-day delivery service by the end of 2015, according to Alibaba Group.
“As Chinese consumers increasingly embrace the idea of buying groceries online, Cainiao aims to give consumers a convenient and smooth logistics experience by having their orders delivered within a day or even within hours,” said Duan Zhiguo, head of supermarket logistics department at Cainiao. “Cainiao attaches great importance to the development of a strong and flexible logistics network in China, in order to support the growing demands of our consumers.”
Cainiao operates an open platform and works with other players in the logistics industry. By partnering up with local and international logistics and delivery firms, Cainiao is able to develop a comprehensive warehouse and logistics network and provide customers with more efficient delivery services.
