Alibaba gears up to compete with Amazon on logistics

Amazon isn’t the only e-commerce platform looking to make a major foray into the logistics industry, according to this analysis. Chinese counterpart Alibaba closed a fundraising round on its transport and supply chain subsidiary, Cainiao, today which, although undisclosed, was expected to be well over $1bn, and is likely to emulate the way Amazon has been able generate greater revenues per sale. “This difference can be attributed to Amazon’s closed business model, which involves handling everything from storage to delivery. Alibaba’s business model is more reliant on third-party logistics partners, and is similar to the role of a middle-man.”