Responding to the Increasing Demand for Chinese Exports of Large-Sized Goods, Cainiao Rolls Out an Overseas Warehouse Solution

Not long ago, the headline of a special New Year program on CCTV News featured Cainiao's overseas warehouse in New Jersey, USA. As the program highlighted, this cross-border logistics approach, characterized by stockpiling through overseas warehouses, has become the preferred choice for Chinese merchants venturing into global markets.

Being the largest global producer and exporter of furniture, China has witnessed its home furnishing brands swiftly conquer foreign markets in recent years. This success can be attributed to their trendsetting designs, competitive pricing and superior quality. However, the transportation of bulky goods, such as furniture, has long been a hurdle in the cross-border logistics sector. To expedite their international growth, Chinese home furnishing enterprises must exercise discernment in selecting reliable partners amidst the crowded cross-border logistics market.

In recent years, LINSY, a well-known national furniture retail enterprise, has swiftly penetrated international markets, emerging as a top contender in the overseas expansion of Chinese home furnishing brands. Wang Peiyao, the 4PL Project Director at LINSY’s Digital Innovation Logistics Center, emphasizes the heightened requirement for logistics fulfillment assurance when it comes to brand internationalization, and Cainiao's overseas warehouse supply chain services provide LINSY with reliable support for constructing a robust global supply chain. The reporter learned from Cainiao that they have established a global partnership with LINSY, becoming their primary cross-border logistics provider. Under the agreement, Cainiao will offer comprehensive overseas warehousing solutions, including first-mile, overseas storage, and last-mile services, to LINSY in key international markets such as the United States. Currently, Cainiao is responsible for delivering over half of LINSY's exported furniture to overseas customers. Li Ting, the Sales Director of Cainiao's Overseas Warehouse Supply Chain, revealed that large-sized items, including home furnishings, automotive parts, and sports and fitness equipment, are highly sought-after in cross-border e-commerce exports, accounting for over 50% of the total inventory volume in Cainiao's overseas warehouses.

Catering to the burgeoning export needs for large-sized Chinese goods, Cainiao has launched a specialized solution for overseas warehouses. This initiative, powered by Cainiao's proprietary Global Intelligent Warehouse System (GIWS), enables full visibility throughout the warehouse operations, ensuring real-time data transmission to domestic merchants from intake to dispatch. Moreover, Cainiao's Big Data team utilizes advanced simulation packing algorithms to handle the intricate and diverse dimensions and shapes of large-sized products. Through this approach, they can maximize the loading efficiency of ocean freight containers by up to 15%, helping customers reduce costs and enhance efficiency. At present, Cainiao operates three overseas warehouse clusters in the United States, covering a total area of nearly 300,000 square meters. Among them, the customized overseas warehouse in New Jersey is equipped with state-of-the-art functions such as high-rise racking systems, clamp forklifts and Bluetooth printers. These customized facilities significantly enhance the operational efficiency of handling large-sized goods, ensuring that products are stored within 48 hours and achieving a timely outbound rate of over 99.9% within 24 hours. For instance, in the US market, consumers can receive goods dispatched from Cainiao's overseas warehouses as soon as the next day.

Foshan, home to LINSY, is hailed as the world's furniture capital. In the Nanhai District alone, more than 3,000 furniture companies thrive, generating an industrial output value of around 40 billion RMB. When describing the collaboration between LINSY and Cainiao, Li Yun, the Secretary-General of the Furniture Industry Association in Nanhai District, used the phrase "a powerful alliance". She sees Cainiao and LINSY as pioneers in discovering a logistics model that is tailored for Chinese furniture companies going global. "I anticipate that their wealth of experience will be brought back to Foshan, igniting the growth of the entire furniture industry cluster."

The hurdle of shipping large-sized goods internationally has been conquered. Sun Ting, the General Manager of Overseas Warehouse Supply Chain at Cainiao Group, emphasized, "Enabling Chinese businesses and brands to expand globally has always been the core value of Cainiao's overseas warehouses. Cainiao will continue to leverage its mature operating and digital expertise from domestic operations to benefit the overseas warehousing industry, providing cross-border merchants an end-to-end overseas warehouse solution that covers multiple product categories."

Cainiao has the largest cross-border e-commerce warehouse network globally. Up to this point, Cainiao has developed and operated over 40 overseas warehouses worldwide, offering end-to-end overseas warehouse supply chain services for Chinese cross-border merchants.