Alibaba.com launches shipping service for 10 million products

CHINA`s largest trading website Alibaba.com has begun to bundle warehousing, shipping and logistics into a single service, with pre-inspection options on goods as diverse as crude oil, beverages or machine parts.

The service on its AliExpress platform, "Fulfilment by AliExpress", allows for single product and bulk shipments. It combines orders into one cost-reducing international shipment from different suppliers to saves small shippers up to 30 per cent.


Further discounted rates can be applied to UPS, EMS and China`s Express Mail Service, with more carriers to be added in the future.


Its shipping and logistics partner, GELS Enterprise Shanghai Co Ltd, will handle the service holding the buyers` order at its secure warehouse until authorisation is given for shipment, within a prescribed time.


The option to contract GELS to inspect goods in the holding period will allow for matching the buyer`s original order, and any obvious signs of damage. All orders can be tracked either directly or online.


Alibaba.com launched its transaction-based wholesale platform AliExpress in April 2010. Currently, there are more than 10 million listed products from more than 40 categories on the platform.


The company sales in the first nine months of 2010 totalled CNY4.4 billion (US$613 million).