Steven Wang: The allocation of logistics orders by cross-border e-commerce platforms is becoming increasingly centralized. The platforms' segmented procurement strategy essentially decouples the services offered by various dedicated logistics companies that provide full-chain cross-border services. The platforms then select logistics services based on each company's resources and advantages at specific core nodes, thereby strengthening their control over logistics services.

As platforms' influence over logistics grows, they are increasingly compressing the profit margins of logistics providers, not just domestically but also in upstream and overseas segments. At present, air cargo charter service providers can no longer rely on freight price differentials to make a profit; their main source of revenue now comes from service fees paid by e-commerce platforms for charter operations. Furthermore, platforms are negotiating overseas customs clearance fees down to the cent, making every effort to reduce costs.

An increasing number of networked e-commerce express companies are entering the market and competing fiercely for e-commerce platform orders by offering lower prices, particularly in the last-mile delivery segment overseas. In the future, these companies will become more reliant on orders from e-commerce platforms. Should platforms pull their orders, these companies would face enormous challenges.

Most cross-border e-commerce platforms prefer to operate with a light-asset model, focusing solely on traffic management. However, the future of cross-border logistics requires heavy-asset investment. Whether it’s long-haul transport capacity or overseas customs, warehousing, and distribution, all demand significant long-term capital investment. Sustainable long-term infrastructure development by logistics providers overseas can only be achieved if there are sufficient profit margins to support it. The current high centralization of cross-border e-commerce platforms is expected to further intensify competition in the cross-border logistics market.

END

WeChat Public Account: Cross-border E-commerce Logistics Baixiaosheng