Currently, there are five main modes of cross-border e-commerce logistics. The first is postal logistics. According to statistics from an uncompleted enterprise, 70% of the parcels of China’s cross-border e-commerce export business are delivered through the postal system, of which China Post accounts for about 50%. Although the postal network basically covers the world, the transportation time is long and the package loss rate is high.
The second is international express delivery, which is mainly handled by the five giants EMS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, and TNT. International express delivery is fast and has a good customer experience, but it is expensive. For example, using IIPS to send a parcel from China to the United States can arrive in 48 hours at the fastest.
The third is overseas warehouses. The seller first stores the goods in overseas warehouses, and then sorts, packs and delivers the goods on a large scale according to the order situation. Although it solves the problems of high cost and long delivery cycle in the era of small packages, it also has problems such as easy pressure on goods and high operation and maintenance costs.
The fourth is cross-border dedicated line logistics. Generally, the goods are transported abroad by air charter, and then delivered domestically in the destination country through cooperative companies. This method reduces costs through economies of scale, but the scope of domestic collection is relatively limited, and the coverage area needs to be expanded.
The fifth is the international service of domestic express delivery. Shentong and SF Express have already laid out cross-border logistics. However, since they are not focused on cross-border business, the overseas market they cover is also relatively limited.
Among the five modes of cross-border e-commerce logistics, the most common are international parcels and international express delivery. International express delivery plays a vital role in undertaking cross-border e-commerce logistics business.