1. **TikTok Indonesia's E-commerce Business Merges with Tokopedia, Officially Returning on December 12**

On December 12, TikTok officially announced a strategic e-commerce partnership with Indonesia's GoTo Group. TikTok Indonesia's e-commerce business will merge with GoTo Group's e-commerce platform Tokopedia to form PT Tokopedia. TikTok will hold a 75% stake in the joint venture, and the merged Tokopedia will be controlled by TikTok. TikTok has committed to a long-term investment of over $1.5 billion in PT Tokopedia. Additionally, TikTok announced that its Indonesian e-commerce business will officially resume operations on December 12.

Source: TikTok

2. **Alibaba Injects $634 Million into Lazada**

On December 12, according to Alternatives.pe, Southeast Asian e-commerce giant Lazada received an additional $634 million in capital from its parent company, Alibaba Group. This brings Alibaba's total investment in its subsidiary to over $1.8 billion this year. The funding comes as Alibaba continues to evaluate and adjust its strategy. Meanwhile, the revenue of its international digital commerce division increased by 53% year-on-year in the second quarter of fiscal 2024. Alibaba also stated that Lazada's subsidiary is preparing to raise funds.

Source: Alternatives.pe

3. **Amazon US Adds Two Important Metrics to Inventory Report**

On December 12, Amazon US announced the release of two new important metrics in the "Amazon Inventory Report" to help sellers fully understand their inventory status and suggest subsequent actions to ensure sellers maintain healthy inventory levels to maximize sales and profits. The two metrics are "Inventory Level Indicator" and "Historical Supply Days."

The Inventory Level Indicator classifies the sellable inventory levels of sellers' ASINs into four categories: out of stock, understock, healthy, or overstock. Historical Supply Days is a retrospective metric in days used to identify products that have had consistently low inventory levels and need to pay a super low inventory fee.

Source: Amazon Global Selling

4. **Alibaba International Station to Host First B2B Trade Promotion in Southeast Asia**

On December 12, it was announced that Alibaba International Station will host its first B2B trade promotion in Southeast Asia. The promotion, named "Southeast Asia New Year Stocking Festival," will run from December 18 to January 29, 2024. During this period, Alibaba International Station will launch a wide range of logistics subsidies targeting the Southeast Asian market. It is estimated that over 60% of goods shipped to Vietnam will be delivered free of charge with platform subsidies, and more than half of the goods shipped to Indonesia will enjoy a 50% discount on logistics costs.

Source: 36Kr

5. **UPS Adds 400 New Parcel Delivery Points in the UK**

On December 12, it was announced that UPS has partnered with multiple smart locker providers in the UK to add 400 new parcel delivery points, expanding its UPS Access Point® network. For example, providers like Quadient and OOHPod will offer more delivery options to consumers through smart lockers, and Paypoint and Parcelly stores will join the UK's shipping and collection service network.

After successfully integrating into the UPS Access Point® network, recipients can choose to have their packages delivered to the nearest location when they are out, and then collect them from nearby lockers or selected stores. For senders, they can utilize the daily collection services of stores and lockers, reducing the need to arrange for drivers to pick up packages.

Currently, UPS has 400 self-service lockers and over 5,000 stores in the UK, with more than 35,600 similar service points across Europe, making delivery services more convenient. The number of self-service locations is expected to continue to increase by the end of 2024.

Source: Ebrun

6. **Lege Overseas Warehouse Adds New Facility**

On December 12, Lege Overseas Warehouse announced the opening of a new warehouse located at 2795 Paradise Road, Tracy, California. The warehouse has a storage area of 200,000 square feet and 25 loading docks, and it will open on January 1, 2024. The new warehouse mainly provides FBA transfer, overseas warehousing, and dropshipping services. For last-mile services, it has deep cooperation with local logistics providers such as FedEx, UPS, and Amazon Shipping to offer discount rates. The area has few large warehouses, ensuring more stable and reliable courier capacity during peak seasons.

Source: Lege Overseas Warehouse (Lecangs)

7. **First National Standard for Cross-Border E-Commerce Overseas Warehouses Released**

On December 12, the launch meeting for the national standard "Requirements for the Operation and Management of Cross-Border E-Commerce Overseas Warehouses" was successfully held. This is the first national standard in the field of cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouses, marking a significant milestone.

Currently, China has over 2,000 overseas warehouses with an area exceeding 16 million square meters. There are more than 40 standards in the field of cross-border e-commerce, including national, industry, local, group, and enterprise standards, but there has been no national standard specifically for overseas warehouses. The new standard for the operation and management of cross-border e-commerce overseas warehouses will enrich the content of national standards in this field and provide a reference for future standard-setting, laying the foundation for the development of new foreign trade models like overseas warehouses.

Source: Hangzhou Daily

8. **Guangzhou Customs Supervised Cross-Border E-Commerce Retail Import Lists Increase by 44% Year-on-Year**

On December 12, Guangzhou Customs released data showing that in the first 11 months of this year, the customs supervised a total of 760 million cross-border e-commerce retail import and export lists, a year-on-year increase of approximately 44%. Among them, there were 59.209 million cross-border e-commerce retail import lists and 700 million cross-border e-commerce retail export lists.

During the Double 11 shopping festival this year, multiple cross-border e-commerce import and export sites within the Guangzhou Customs district experienced peaks in supervision, with a total of approximately 38.847 million lists supervised, a year-on-year increase of 51.9%.

Source: Guangzhou Customs

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