Couriers follow path to intelligent deliveries

Workers sort packages at a facility of Yunda Express (Shanghai) Co Ltd during last year's Singles Day shopping festival in Shanghai. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's consumers and couriers are set to benefit from enhanced efficiency and accuracy of deliveries during the Singles Day sales period, with more than 70 percent of the orders expected to be processed through big data intelligent solutions.

Since Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's logistics offshoot Cainiao launched its big data-backed smart solution for fast delivery orders in 2015, the nation's major logistics companies－including YTO Express (Logistics) Co Ltd, Yunda Express (Shanghai) Co Ltd, ZTO Express Inc and STO Express Ltd－have followed the trend to boost delivery efficiencies, said Wang Wenbin, Cainiao's chief technology officer.

As the world's biggest logistics data base, Cainiao plans to enhance delivery efficiency further through its data products during peak days this year.

Wang Wenbin said that compared with a traditional package dealing system that is based on human input, the smart operating product will automatically create the best delivery route, cut redundant processes, increase efficiency by more than 50 percent, and cut annual costs by 80 million yuan ($11.8 million) for a courier company with a daily package delivery amount of 10 million parcels.

Meanwhile, the accuracy rate for human package dealing stays at about 95 percent, which means there will be 500,000 packages that might go astray among every 10 million, causing 1 million yuan of losses in total.

The smart solution is based on an electronic package orders platform, which is a standardized platform that was initiated by Cainiao jointly with 14 major logistics companies in May 2014. It aims at offering both merchants and logistics companies a free accessible platform to track the in-time status of a package, according to the Beijing Times.

In the next couple of years, Yunda is looking to further popularize its electronic orders, aiming to increase efficiency for its soaring package demand, said Lai Shiqiang, operations vice-president of Yunda.

According to Sara Gu, marketing director of courier company STO, as of September, more than 75 percent orders by the courier were placed via electronic means.

A courier rides a tricycle to deliver parcels in the snow before Singles Day shopping spree last year in Beijing. [Photo/China Daily]

Eight years ago, Jack Ma, chairman of China's largest e-commerce group Alibaba, made Nov 11 a festival for single people, and soon the date evolved into an online shopping spree across the nation.

Last year, orders placed during the six-day Singles Day shopping frenzy involved 780 million packages, up 45 percent year-on-year, according to data collected by the State Post Bureau.

The China Express Association and Alibaba's logistics offshoot Cainiao estimated the total number of packages the courier industry is waiting to handle during the Singles Day sales period this year will soar 35 percent to exceed 1.05 billion.

Up to 2.68 million people will participate in Singles Day deliveries, increasing 50 percent from a year earlier, and the handling capacity of vehicles and aviation will surge 59 percent and 40 percent, respectively, according to estimates.

There are about 60 million packages delivered by couriers across China on a daily basis, and Alibaba's Jack Ma forecast the package delivery amount will soar to 300 million per day in the coming decade, with the annual package amount hitting 100 billion across the nation.

The courier industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in China, and its annual growth rate surpassed 50 percent for five years in a row, Xinhuanet.com reported.

"I believe smart logistics is key for further economic growth and globalization," said Ma during a global logistics summit in June.