Alibaba is a China-based technology company founded on 28 June 1999. This company trades in e-commerce, the internet, and retail and is one of the world’s largest retailers in the world. It provides business-to-business (B2B), business to consumers(B2C), and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) sales services at a very low price. Each type of business company whether a start-up company or a large settled one can buy goods from Alibaba through various pathways. It was founded by Jack Ma and is recognized as one of the biggest capital firms and investment corporations in the world. Also, it was ranked as the fifth largest artificial intelligence company in the world in 2020. Each year, its revenue is increasing by a tremendous amount. Let’s discuss here ‘Who Does Alibaba Use For Shipping?’.
What does Alibaba use for Shipping?
To send your dear ones some gifts or to sell goods for companies for their infrastructures or any technological equipment or to import goods from other countries, Alibaba has provided three methods to provide you with safe and quality shipping.
1. Courier services
Courier is the simplest and easiest way to send small goods and gifts internationally from door to door. You don’t need to step out of the house to pick up your parcel. Courier services are the quickest way to deliver the parcel, and you will have to pay only the amount that they have asked for, no additional amounts will be added like some freight. Couriers are way more expensive than freight if the amount of goods is above 100kg but if less than a hundred, it will cost you at a normal rate.
2. Air Freight
Air Freight is another method to send goods. A plane will be loaded with some amount of goods and will reach your destination in a fast amount of time. Since there is a limited amount allowed in an airplane and the space is not too much, it always remained a question of concern to send goods via air freight. Due to this, the air freight charges are calculated differently.
The calculation is based on which of the two, the actual gross weight ( total weight of the parcel including the packaging and container) and volumetric weight (overall size of the parcel) is greater. Since weight in air freight is six times more than in the sea and after multiplying the dimensions of boxes and dividing them by six if the weight results in a weight larger than the actual weight then the shipment will get charged.
3. Sea Freight
It is the process of shipment of goods via sea. Sailing all over the world takes a huge amount of time and that’s why this is the most time taking shipment method which can take over a month to deliver the goods. To make your goods reach from one destination to another, a freight forwarder [an agent who makes sure that your goods will remain safe throughout the journey and provide an efficient and safest shipment of the goods on behalf of the company or exporter/importer, they are generally available for the shipment of a large number of goods over the world ] is necessary to let you know the position of your parcel and whether it is safe or not.
The cost for the shipment of goods by sea freight is calculated by checking which value is greater, weight or volume, and the cost will depend on the higher value.
Which is better Air Freight and Sea Freight?
1. In terms of price
Sea Freight is much cheaper than air freight, about five to six times.In calculating cost, 1cbm is equal to 1000 kg for sea freight and 6cbm is equal to 1000 kg for air freight. So if you want the shipment to be less costly, sea freight is a good option.
2. In terms of weight
There is limited quantity allowed in airplanes while weight is not a problem in sea freight. If you are increasing the weight of the load in sea freight, the price will not increase that much as if you increase the weight in air freight and the price difference between these two will increase by four to six times.
3. In terms of carbon footprint
Sea Freight release less amount of carbon as compared to air freight. The former released 15 g of carbon dioxide per tonne of cargo moved in a kilometer while the latter released 545g of Co2 per tonne moved in a kilometer. The difference between the two is more than five hundred, so if the company is eco-friendly and wants less carbon dioxide to release, sea freight is a better option.
4. In terms of time-
Sea freight can take up to six weeks to ship the parcel, which is a very long time while air freight can ship within a day or two. If you need the parcels to reach fast for an important job, air freight will be a better choice.
Conclusion
Alibaba earlier partnered with some delivery companies such as FedEx and UPS, but now they have their different shipping methods as discussed above. U.S people got some special privilege of receiving Alibaba’s parcels more quickly than other countries’ people because it has provided a great push in the United States Postal Service and thus USPS( United States Postal Services) agreed to treat Alibaba’s parcels as a priority.
