The so-called overseas warehouse is actually the abbreviation of “overseas warehousing”, which refers to a warehouse for storing goods set up in the importing country (region). The export seller will ship the goods to the overseas warehouse before the overseas customer places an order. After the customer places an order, the overseas warehouse will directly realize local delivery and distribution. Using the overseas warehouse model, cross-border e-commerce export companies can better provide local value-added services to overseas customers, which is not only conducive to the expansion of overseas markets, but also can shorten the order cycle and reduce logistics costs, thereby effectively improving customer shopping experience and increasing customer consumption stickiness.
In recent years, with the rapid development of cross-border e-commerce in my country, the number of cross-border logistics overseas warehouses has grown rapidly. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently more than 300 companies in China that have set up overseas warehouses abroad, with a total number of more than 600, and it is expected that there will be more than 1,000 in 2018. Among them, the vast majority of overseas warehouses are overseas logistics service places for self-operated products of Chinese export companies, which are called overseas warehouse 1.0 version. In recent years, with the rapid development of global cross-border e-commerce, small-value daily necessities B2B transactions are mainly completed through Internet platforms such as Alibaba and Dunhuang.com and international logistics distribution is completed. This type of intelligent warehousing center serving cross-border e-commerce is called overseas warehouse 2.0 version. In addition, a new cross-border e-commerce composite service model has emerged in recent years. Its characteristics are that through the multi-party order coordination and information interaction between international e-commerce platforms and warehousing and logistics service platforms, foreign trade manufacturers and e-commerce sellers, it directly completes the one-stop logistics service of domestic manufacturers’ goods from warehousing and transportation to overseas final delivery to consumers. It is called overseas warehouse 3.0 version, also known as the “B2S2C (business to storage to customer)” model.
The country has also been encouraging the development of overseas warehouses. In June 2015, the Ministry of Commerce issued the “Internet + Circulation” Action Plan to promote 100 cross-border e-commerce companies to establish “overseas warehouses”. At the beginning of 2016, the government work report at the National People’s Congress proposed to promote the innovative development of foreign trade, encourage business model innovation, expand cross-border e-commerce pilots, and support enterprises to build a number of “overseas warehouses” for export products. In May 2016, the State Council issued the “Several Opinions on Promoting the Stabilization and Improvement of Foreign Trade”, proposing to increase support for new foreign trade formats and support enterprises to build product “overseas warehouses” and overseas operation centers.
Currently, my country’s cross-border export overseas warehouses are mainly concentrated in developed countries such as the United States, Germany, Britain, Japan, and Australia. According to the survey, 81% of my country’s self-built warehouse sellers have warehouses in the United States, 50% have warehouses in Germany, and 37% have warehouses in the United Kingdom. Among them, the number of warehouses in the United States accounts for 45% of all warehouses of self-built warehouse sellers. It can be seen that the United States is the largest market for China’s cross-border e-commerce. In addition to sellers using overseas warehouses, my country’s logistics companies such as SF Express, Cainiao Network, Yunda, Yuantong, and Shentong have also established a large number of overseas warehouses abroad. Among them, SF Express has established Eastern European warehouses, Central European warehouses, German warehouses, Russian warehouses, and American warehouses, covering 28 European countries, e-commerce developed countries such as the United States, and e-commerce developing countries such as Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Norway.