Cross-border e-commerce sellers will have various service providers when choosing logistics. How should merchant companies choose which one is “suitable for themselves”? How many cross-border logistics methods are there? Let’s take a look!
1. Traditional postal parcels.
Traditional express parcels, namely postal parcels, also known as postal parcels, have the characteristics of wide coverage and cover more than 230 countries and regions in the world, and can be shipped almost all over the world.
2. International express.
Mainly refers to UPS, FedEx, DHL, through self-built global networks, these international express companies use powerful IT systems and localized services all over the world to provide overseas users who buy Chinese goods online with excellent logistics experience.
3. Domestic express.
With the increasing popularity of cross-border e-commerce, domestic express delivery has also gradually carried out international business, mainly EMS, SF Express and “Four Links and One Delivery” (Shentong, Yuantong, Zhongtong, Huitong, Yunda).
EMS’s international business is relatively mature and can directly reach more than 60 countries in the world because it relies on postal channels. SF Express has also opened express delivery services in the United States, Australia, South Korea, Japan and other countries, and has launched cross-border B2C services in mainland China.
4. Dedicated line logistics.
The dedicated line logistics model refers to a logistics model in which a cooperative company transports goods to the destination country through a dedicated channel for distribution. It mainly covers three types of dedicated lines:
Air freight dedicated line: This refers to a dedicated air channel from China to a certain country. It is a door-to-door transportation service, including distribution and tax. It has the highest cost in dedicated line logistics and is suitable for fast sales and fast replenishment.
5. Overseas warehouses are shipped one by one.
Overseas warehouses are logistics warehouses where cross-border e-commerce sellers first prepare goods in advance in the destination country. After users place an order on the merchant’s e-commerce website or a third-party store, the goods are directly shipped to the overseas warehouse to the customer, which can improve the logistics timeliness and bring customers a high-quality logistics experience.
Differences between overseas warehouses:
E-commerce platforms directly operate overseas warehouses: E-commerce platforms or merchants who use platforms to directly operate overseas warehouses can obtain more traffic, such as the Amazon platform; but there will still be problems such as high storage costs and inability to specify warehouses for shipment;
Contracting a third-party overseas warehouse: Compared with the logistics model of e-commerce platforms directly operating overseas warehouses, merchants can flexibly use overseas warehouses according to product characteristics, and orders from multiple platforms can be shipped from the same warehouse. Shipping from overseas warehouses is more conducive to cross-border e-commerce sellers to improve the overall logistics service level.