Yamato, and JD.com to form cross-border partnership

A new partnership between China-based e-tailer, JD.com, and Japan-based package delivery company, Yamato Holdings, will soon enable cheaper and faster delivery of Japanese goods to Chinese consumers, according to a report from Nikkei. As the number-two player behind Alibaba, with an estimated 23.3 percent Chinese e-commerce market share, JD.com is racing to enhance its cross-border services to match those offered by Alibaba’s logistics affiliate, Cainiao, which already works with 49 cross-border delivery partners.

The partnership, set to launch next month, has two major aims: first, to expedite cheaper, cross-border delivery, and second, to grow the business by on-boarding Japanese companies onto JD.com. JD and Yamato will hold joint seminars in Japan to recruit small- to medium-size companies to join the platform, while informing companies of the promotional, marketing and cross-border logistics tools available.

Currently it takes about eight days for a product ordered from Japan to reach Chinese consumers; JD said it hopes to cut this time in half by exploiting the benefits of the Chinese State Council’s new, “E-Commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zones,” and by enlisting the delivery support of Yamato subsidiary, Yamato Global Logistics, and China Post.

According to Dezan Shira & Associates, these January “pilot zones,” which exclusively target cross-border e-commerce-related businesses, were launched in 12 Chinese cities “featuring a slew of preferential tax policies and streamlined customs clearance procedures.” Yamato will make use of the policy’s warehouse model by consolidating and shipping products to a bonded warehouse in Shanghai, where they will then be cleared by customs within 24 hours as part of the “all-year-round, 24-hours customs clearance scheme.”

Once goods are cleared, China Post will take over for last-mile delivery. From click to delivery, the overall process will be reduced to four days from the time a product is ordered on JD.com, or about half the current average.