Alibaba Group Holding Limited’s logistics arm Cainiao Smart Logistics Network has recently announced its partnership with Yunda Express – a Shanghai-based integrated express logistics service provider – to drive the digitalization of last-mile logistics in Malaysia via a comprehensive network of over 100 collection stations.
The collection stations will be strategically located near communities and business districts across the country, with plans to expand to 500 stations to include West Malaysia by 2022, boosting the total daily parcel handling capacity to about 100,000.
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For added convenience, these stations will operate six days a week from Monday to Saturday, with longer operating hours from 10 am to 6 pm. This will cater to customers’ diversified needs for pick-ups and drop-offs, and facilitate self-pickups within 24 hours for local e-commerce parcels. Merchants and customers in Malaysia will benefit from a more superior and cost-efficient last-mile logistics service.
The new partnership will allow the merchants to tap on Yunda’s direct cross-border parcel network to access a wider overseas market in Singapore, China, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. The end-to-end logistics service spans customs clearance, warehousing, and line haul shipping via sea or air.
The move is in line with the Malaysian Government’s National E-Commerce Strategic Roadmap that is aiming to future-proof businesses by supporting their globalization efforts.
With the rise in e-commerce activities, we are also witnessing a shifting trend in customers’ last-mile delivery preferences. To cater to a more diverse customer base that is also purchasing a wider selection of products online, we are expanding the collection point to provide customers with greater flexibility and convenience. Collection stations offer more advantages compared to other modes of last-mile delivery options such as lockers and pickup points. Here, we are able to offer more space to accommodate odd-sized or larger parcels, longer operating hours, complimentary storage and more convenient locations to ease the collection process. The ultimate goal here is to diversify last-mile offerings to deliver greater customer service and satisfaction.”
~ Au Yeong Shong Kwong, Head of Cross-Border, Singapore and Malaysia, Cainiao Smart Logistics Network
Dato Luke Low Choon Peng on behalf of Yunda adds: “Yunda will be investing over RM 30 million to expand our coverage in Malaysia. Today, our local last-mile logistics network comprises a 3000-strong team, 600 delivery vehicles, and 100 collection points which will be increased five-fold to 500 in the next two years. Most importantly, the use of cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) allows us to leverage smart sorting and last-mile parcel management respectively increase overall productivity, accuracy and reduce operations cost.”
As per reports, the increased technology adoption and internet penetration will enhance the Malaysian e-commerce sector and will push it towards a growth trajectory. As per predictions, with this move, the e-commerce segment in the country is expected to grow about 30% in 2020.
The growth is supported and accelerated by the pandemic and subsequent enforcement of Movement Control Order (MCO) in March which increased consumers’ adoption of online shopping and the growth of adjacent e-commerce logistics services.
