Alibaba’s Cainiao launches $76m open tender for global logistics partnerships

Cainiao Smart Logistics Network, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group Holdings, announced the launch of its 2021 open tender offer valued at 500 million yuan (US$76.4 million) as the company looks to accelerate its cross-border ecommerce business.

Photo credit: Reuters

The global open tender will be open to markets including North Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and the US. The deadline for bids is on December 15.

The open tender is segmented into business-to-customer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) logistics services. The offer will also be used to expand the network of Cainiao-certified third-party logistics partners.

Cainiao’s decision to offer an open tender comes days after the logistics firm struck a partnership with Ethiopian Airlines to introduce a cold chain for transporting temperature-sensitive medicines from China to the rest of the world.

It is also in talks with Chinese vaccine makers regarding the supply of Covid-19 vaccine logistic services.

In the B2C area, the company will curate a list of Cainiao-certified third-party partners to provide end-to-end logistics services for merchants, spanning overseas parcel collection, international line-haul, import customs clearance, and last-mile delivery.

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The Alibaba unit is also looking to select partners for its global fulfillment warehouse network for overseas warehouse management, quality inspection, picking, and packing. It is looking for partners as well for a global consolidation warehouse network to bring together its B2C parcels.

In the B2B area, Cainiao aims to strengthen its warehouse and trucking network to support businesses’ import and export needs.

The bid requires overseas warehouses to be located near ports and be able to provide services for pre-stocking and storage and also serve as a container freight station.

The company said that the partners that will be supporting the trucking network would have to be well-equipped with lorries and container trucks to handle the transportation of goods between warehouses and ports.

Founded by Alibaba and a consortium of Chinese logistics companies, Cainiao operates a logistics information platform that provides links to a network of contractors, warehouse operators, and distribution centers that support domestic and international shipments.

Similar startups in the logistics space include the Full Truck Alliance that recently raised US$1.7 billion from investors that include SoftBank and Tencent.