Cainiao Network, an Alibaba affiliate, was founded in 2013 to create a logistics information platform that links a network of delivery partners, warehouses, and merchants to make package deliveries faster and more efficient.
Cainiao’s business covers express delivery, warehouse fulfillment, last-mile delivery, rural logistics and cross-border logistics.
Cainiao Network connects 6.1 million delivery routes, 2 million couriers, over 40,000 pick-up stations, 3,000 transportation companies, 30,000 rural villages, and 15 leading express delivery companies.
According to AliResearch, China’s logistics industry has grown by more than 50% for six consecutive years due to the increasing popularity of online shopping and e-commerce. Some 80 million parcels are delivered every day, adding up to 31.3 billion a year.
In March 2017, 81% of the shipping labels used by these express courier firms for orders generated on Alibaba’s China retail marketplaces used Cainiao Network’s standardized structured data format to ensure faster and more accurate delivery to consumers, up from 60% in the same period last year.
It has integrated data with Russia Post, reducing the parcel time from 50 days to 15 days.