Nippon Group and Alibaba to collaborate on Chinese eCommerce shipping
Japan’s Nippon Express Co. has announced that it will work with eCommerce titan Alibaba Group Holding to ship Japanese goods to China for roughly 30 percent less than rival Japan Post Network Co.
Nippon will transport goods from companies operating on Alibaba’s TMall online shopping platform to China, with a separate Alibaba affiliate delivering products to consumers’ homes.
TMall controls some 60 percent of China’s online retail market. Nippon aims to handle half of all purchases from Japanese companies which are made on the platform and bound for the Chinese mainland.
According to Nikkei Asian Review, Japan Post ships 90 percent of online purchases to China via airmail, but a recent 30 percent fee hike looks set to reduce traffic to the service.
In recent years, Japan has seen an influx of Chinese tourists keen to purchase the island’s consumer goods. The phenomenon has ultimately led to increased demand for Japanese goods in online marketplaces, and Nippon is eager to capitalise on the trend.
By 2020, China’s international eCommerce retail market is expected to expand to US $245 billion — a twelvefold increase on 2014 figures.
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