Logistic Service Development of E-commerce : A case study of AliExpress - an online international trade platform in China

Abstract: Background: as a convergence of business activities and information technology, e-commerce has brought massive changes to the supply chain management. Today, many e-commerce companies choose to cooperate with third party logistic service providers to perform or improve their logistic services. Meanwhile, those e-commerce companies con-sistently affect the operational processes of their logistic service providers. This thesis fo-cuses on the case of AliExpress, which is an e-commerce company that collaborates with third party logistics in terms of their transportation, warehousing, etc. The collaborations have evolved through time, and developed by three stages, each of which aims at having better logistic performances to generate more profits. Aim and purpose: the aim of this research is to analyse the development of logistic ser-vices for e-commerce by partnering with third party logistic service providers in the setting of international trade. By studying the development, the benefits will be identified. Method: the authors used inductive approach to fulfil the exploratory purposes. In order to gather primary data, the authors applied interviews. Company documents, journal papers, articles and books were collected as secondary data respectively. Result and analysis: the authors obtained empirical findings from three interviews. In the findings, the authors depicted the process of logistic service development and comparisons between logistic service development benefits for e-commerce and sellers have been made. In terms of data analysis, the authors used the theoretical framework in conjunction with the findings to answer the research questions. Conclusion: in the final chapter, the authors answered the research questions based on the analysis. The authors conclude that logistic service development for e-commerce has three stages which are: partner with 3PL, work towards channel collaboration and build an e-fulfilment strategy. The benefits of such development are equitable and shared for both e-commerce company and sellers.