News / E-commerce boom in South-east Asia drives expansion of express networks

Express operators are boosting warehousing and air cargo capacity to handle South-east Asia’s booming e-commerce volumes, despite today’s Singles’ Day shopping festival appearing “muted”.

In recent years, Singles’ Day has become a major showcase for China, and now South-east Asia, with creator Alibaba holding extravagant events, complete with minute-by-minute sales stats. Last year, the day generated $74bn in gross merchandise value.

However, Alibaba reportedly held a “toned down” event this year, following Beijing’s increased regulatory scrutiny of the country’s tech giants, which ...