BEST Inc. Helps Singles’ Day E-Commerce Grow in Southeast Asia with Smart Logistics Service

(Yicai Global) Nov. 10 — When Jollybuyer, an e-commerce site selling casual clothing to Southeast Asia from China, held a live-streaming campaign Nov. 7 for its “Double 11” promotion, more than 30,000 consumers from Thailand visited the virtual showroom, triple the number of usual views. This is how heated the Singles’ Day shopping festival is in Southeast Asia.

Cross-Border E-Commerce Shipping

To help e-commerce vendors prepare for the sales peak of the annual promotion, BEST Inc., a leading integrated supply chain and logistics services provider, started working with Jollybuyer on cross-border shipping solutions two months in advance. With warehouses for cross-border e-commerce clearance in the southern Chinese city of Pingxiang, and end-to-end cross-border logistics solutions and express delivery networks in Thailand, BEST helped Jollybuyer ship tens of thousands of casual wares and handbags directly from its factory in Yiwu, China, to Jollybuyer’s warehouse in Bangkok as early as mid-October.

After seeing rapid and successful growth in its home market of China, Hangzhou-based BEST identified Southeast Asia as the next region for expansion and recognized cross-border logistics between China and ASEAN as a tremendous opportunity. In the past two years, the company has quickly established local express networks in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia.

Earlier this year, BEST also opened up cross-border shipping between China and Southeast Asia, smoothing out the logistics process for many cross-border merchants like Jollybuyer as well as multinational brands.

“We trust BEST for its reliable cross-border service, speedy express delivery service, as well as real-time shipment tracking system,” said Jollybuyer’s founder Vincent Miao. “BEST’s service also optimized our inventory management and shortened our cash cycles, which is vital to peak season operation.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic this year, the e-commerce sector in Southeast Asia has grown substantially. According to a recent report by price comparison and product aggregating website iPrice Group, website traffic for online general department stores in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore rose by 18% in the first half of 2020, compared with the second half of last year.

With the continued e-commerce boom, BEST also accelerated its growth in Southeast Asia. The company serves Southeast Asian e-commerce giants including Lazada and Shopee, whose 9.9 sales event in September doubled BEST’s daily parcel volume.

In the first half of this year, BEST’s express business delivered a total of 25 million parcels in the region, and volume is growing daily.

For the even bigger sales event this week, BEST has prepared more couriers, vehicles, and launched a “Mini Shop” project in Malaysia, turning street stores into temporary stations for picking up and dropping off parcels.

Freight Delivery for Home Appliances

In addition to express delivery, the logistics company also provides door-to-door freight shipping services for many renowned brands.

In Thailand, for example, BEST has been shipping large items such as TVs and electronic heaters for Chinese home appliances giant Haier.

With more than 10,000-square-meter warehouses, four sorting hubs and nationwide delivery networks, BEST’s seamless warehousing to distribution services have increased inventory turnover and helped Haier’s Thailand subsidiary reduce 27% of logistics costs last year.

The home appliances maker saw a surge of its online business, with air conditioners and fridges grabbing the biggest market shares of online sales. According to Haier Thailand, it may collaborate with BEST on warehousing and delivery for more SKUs, as the company expects a major boost in online sales from “Double 11” and future sales events.

Because BEST has connected its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with major e-commerce platforms, merchants using BEST’s delivery service can process their orders in one go, according to Jason Qian, general manager of BEST’s Southeast Asia region.

“Our integrated warehousing and distributing services make inventory management much easier for merchants ahead of big promotions, ensuring shorter delivery time and lower damage rates,” said Qian. “Southeast Asia has been a key focus area of BEST’s global strategy. We will strive our best to earn the trust of local SMEs and cross-border e-commerce platforms with professional and localized services.”