On May 30, with 15 days to go until the start of the 2024 Euro Cup, AliExpress, in collaboration with Cainiao, launched the "Euro Cup Special Line." This initiative includes the establishment of an integrated European warehouse in Dongguan, Guangdong, dedicated to handling cross-border goods bound for Europe. The streamlined shipping process aims to further enhance the "global five-day delivery" service, helping merchants capitalize on the surge in traffic.

"The footballs delivered two weeks ago have already sold out, and we've just notified AliExpress to restock," a Cainiao cross-border warehouse worker in the Dongguan European warehouse described the enthusiasm of overseas consumers, showcasing the unique appeal of "the world's most popular sport." Besides footballs, other hot-selling items in the European warehouse recently include sports shoes and apparel from Quanzhou, football trinkets and flags from Yiwu, and atmosphere lights and projectors from Shenzhen.

Image Source: Cainiao

According to data from AliExpress and Cainiao, since the announcement of their official partnership with the Euro Cup, sales of football products on AliExpress in May increased by 80% year-on-year. Spain and France were the top countries for football sales in May, with the volume of packages sent from Cainiao’s cross-border warehouses to Europe increasing by over 300% year-on-year.

As the Euro Cup approaches, AliExpress is also set to launch its overseas 618 shopping festival. AliExpress will integrate Euro Cup-themed promotions such as "shake to win free orders during goal moments" and quizzes to win discount coupons. Additionally, 1,000 Euro Cup tickets will be given away, ensuring high engagement. According to an AliExpress local recruitment specialist, the combination of the Euro Cup and Beckham has tripled inquiries for the 618 promotion compared to last year. "We've never seen such enthusiasm before." Both consumers and merchants are experiencing a "two-way connection" through football.

Image Source: Cainiao

KELME Sports Goods Co., Ltd. from Quanzhou operates a football-related product store on AliExpress. Alma, the head of the company, stated that the announcement of AliExpress sponsoring the Euro Cup has indeed spurred many football fans to place orders. Sales of football-related products in the KELME store have increased by 70%, with the top three bestsellers being football kits, football shoes, and footballs.

Alma is also preparing for the expected surge in traffic once the Euro Cup kicks off: "We definitely need to stock products that meet the demands of this wave of customers, such as professional football jerseys and shoes with higher price points, paired with accessories like socks and wristbands. Additionally, we will offer customized jerseys related to fan emotions, especially since Spanish fans make up a significant portion of our store's customer base. We will design products accordingly."

To handle the peak in orders from the overlapping 618 promotion and the Euro Cup, European cross-border packages will be separated from other flows and consolidated in the dedicated warehouse for independent operations. The four-story Cainiao European warehouse integrates functions previously dispersed across different areas, such as consolidation, sorting, combining, and storage, saving time on inter-warehouse transfers. Once European consumers place an order, the package is transported to the warehouse for processing, ensuring "morning orders, afternoon shipping," and guaranteeing "global five-day delivery" for Euro Cup packages.

"European countries are far away, lacking natural geographic advantages. Hence, we established an integrated cross-border warehouse to speed up processes and, together with AliExpress, completed the stocking of over 100,000 hot items in the European warehouse before June. This ensures that a rich product range is available to ride the wave of the Euro Cup with the help of 'global five-day delivery,'" explained Shan Bo, project manager for Cainiao's international express service for European countries. The European warehouse will initially launch in Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal, with plans to expand to other European countries subsequently.

As the world's largest cross-border e-commerce logistics company, Cainiao’s global smart logistics network covers over 200 countries and regions. In the 2023 fiscal year, Cainiao processed over 1.5 billion cross-border packages, serving 133 million cross-border consumers, and over 100,000 merchants and brands.

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Cross-Border E-Commerce Logistics Baixiaosheng