Free shipping, faster delivery: Chinese e-commerce giants JD.com, Alibaba lock horns in logistics
- JD.com has lowered its free-shipping minimum order by almost half, while Alibaba’s Cainiao is expanding express delivery to more cities
- Delivery charges and service quality are key factors determining success in China’s heated online-shopping competition, according to analysts
Delivery has emerged as the new battleground for China’s e-commerce giants, as they jostle to win local consumers with faster and cheaper shipping services, in a sign of an intensifying competition in the sector amid weak consumer spending.
JD.com, the Beijing-based e-commerce company founded by Richard Liu Qiangdong, on Wednesday lowered its free-shipping minimum order to 59 yuan (US$8.2) from 99 yuan. It marked the first time in eight years that the company has updated its free-shipping policy after a hike in the minimum qualifying amount in 2016.
Subscribers to the firm’s JD Plus service, akin to Amazon Prime, are now entitled to unlimited free delivery, compared with five free deliveries a month previously.
The move comes as Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Alibaba Group Holding, has rolled out same-day and next-day door-to-door delivery in 300 Chinese cities, as well as half-day express delivery in eight major cities, including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Foshan, Huizhou and Chengdu.
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