For the logistics strategy of the emerging markets of cross-border e-commerce, the Russian market is taken as a representative, because Russia is the cross-border e-commerce market with the greatest growth potential at present, and the core market of Alibaba’s “AliExpress” is in Russia. However, Chinese cross-border e-commerce encounters many problems in Russia, and the most direct problem is the cross-border logistics problem in Russia, especially the timeliness of logistics and after-sales service. At present, Chinese cross-border e-commerce sells more low-value-added light industrial products to Russia, among which the most sold are household appliances and household equipment, followed by building materials.
For Chinese cross-border e-commerce to have greater development in Russia, it must solve the problem of cross-border logistics, because products such as household appliances are difficult to ship using the traditional parcel model. In addition to the practicality of logistics, overseas postal companies will also have certain restrictions on value. Therefore, the best way to solve the logistics problem in Russia is to build overseas warehouses, but building overseas warehouses in Russia has very large market risks. A real case is that the overseas warehouse of a Chinese cross-border e-commerce company in Russia was directly confiscated due to tariff issues. This requires finding solutions from a higher level, such as building overseas warehouses through negotiations between the Chinese and Russian governments, or building overseas warehouses through Alibaba’s large commercial platform.
Russia’s overseas warehouses are somewhat different from those in Europe and the United States. Russia’s overseas warehouses are more like a cross-border comprehensive service solution platform, including warehousing, tax payment, product certification and after-sales service. It also has certain requirements for the selection of categories. Products must be of relatively high single product value, and seasonal products cannot be included. It is more suitable for large and heavy products of brand companies.