Alibaba Group’s logistics arm Cainiao and online grocery business Tmall Supermarket are teaming up to expand fulfilment infrastructure and speed up deliveries, as the Chinese e-commerce giant ramps up its efforts in China’s fast-growing instant commerce battle to fend off rivals such as JD.com and Meituan.
Cainiao will launch new or expand instant commerce warehouses for Tmall Supermarket across 31 mainland Chinese cities by the end of January 2026, it said in a statement on Thursday. Alibaba owns the Post.
The tie-up was expected to bolster Taobao’s Shangou instant commerce business, Cainiao said. It would enable groceries and consumer goods ranging from beverages to cosmetics ordered from Tmall Supermarket via Taobao Shangou to be delivered in as little as four hours, the statement said.
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The move underscores Alibaba’s increased investments as it intensifies its instant commerce drive to compete with Meituan and JD.com. Instant commerce warehouses are purpose-built facilities designed to store fast-moving goods closer to consumers, allowing rapid-order fulfilment and expedited delivery.
Instant commerce is a fast-growing sector in mainland China. Photo: Handout alt=Instant commerce is a fast-growing sector in mainland China. Photo: Handout>
The move was aimed at accelerating Alibaba’s roll-out of such warehouses to build an expansive rapid-delivery network, according to Zhuang Shuai, founder and chief analyst at market consultancy Bailian.
“[Faster delivery] will offer a better experience,” Zhuang said. “And the four-hour delivery time means that [Alibaba] is seeking a balance between fulfilment efficiency and cost.”
Cainiao and Tmall Supermarket would also work together to improve their supply chain, building out a larger network of both standard and instant commerce warehouses to enhance overall delivery efficiency by more than 50 per cent, Cainiao said.
Competitors including Meituan and JD.com are making a similar push to step up their facility construction.
Meituan executive Wang Puzhong said in October last year that the company had built more than 30,000 such facilities at the time, and planned to more than triple that number to 100,000 by 2027.
Rival JD.com is expanding its grocery arm 7Fresh, converting its bricks-and-mortar outlets into dual-use stores and warehouses as it accelerates the roll-out of offline locations.
