??提到中国电商，首先想到两个是：阿里和京东，当然也有人会提到拼多多。不过从快递来说，阿里和京东这两家电商巨头在物流方面走出了两条不一样的道路。阿里打造的菜鸟核心在于建立工具、整合资源，以帮助三方物流公司提升效率，而京东则采取了自建物流的打法。两大电商巨头选择不同道路的背后是不同的核心逻辑。

alibaba v tencent: the battle for china’s e-commerce deliveries阿里巴巴vs腾讯：中国电商的快递之战

when it comes to logistics, chinese tech giants take?divergent?routes

中国科技巨头在物流配送方面采取了不同的打法

in 2019 richard liu told couriers working for jd.com that the chinese e-commerce giant he founded would cancel their base pay after a 2.8bn yuan ($438m) loss the previous year, its 12th consecutive one in the red. riders would make only a commission on deliveries. if the company did not cut back on spending, mr liu warned, it would go bust in two years.

2019年，在前一年亏损28亿元（约合4.38亿美元）且连续12年亏损的情况下，电商巨头京东创始人刘强东宣布将取消快递员的低薪。此后，快递员们只能靠揽件赚取提成。刘强东警告称，如果不削减开支，公司将在两年内破产。

far from?collapsing, two years on jd logistics, jd.com’s delivery division, is on a roll, fuelled by a boom in chinese e-commerce. its parent company’s revenues jumped by 39%, year on year, in the first quarter, to 203bn yuan. on may 26th pinduoduo, an upstart rival that also offers customers delivery by jd logistics couriers, reported quarterly sales of 22bn yuan, 239% higher than a year ago.

两年过去了，在中国电子商务繁荣发展的推动下，京东物流不仅没有破产，反而一路高歌。今年第一季度，其母公司的收入同比增长39%，达2030亿元。5月26日，同样使用京东物流为客户提供快递服务的新晋竞争对手拼多多报告称，其第一季度的销售额达220亿元，同比增长239%。

the state post bureau expects logistics companies to deliver more than 100bn parcels this year, twice as many as in 2018. overall spending on logistics in china is projected to hit 16trn yuan in 2021 and surpass 19trn yuan by 2025. that would make it the world’s largest market.?

国家邮政局预计，今年物流公司将递送超过1000亿件包裹，是2018年的两倍。中国2021年物流总支出预计将达16万亿元，到2025年将超过19亿元。这将使中国成为全球最大的物流市场。

jd logistics is the only large chinese delivery service to grow out of an e-commerce parent. it became a separate entity from jd.com in 2017, in part so that it could take orders from other online retailers.?

京东物流是中国唯一一家由电商母公司发展而来的大型快递公司。2017年，京东物流成为独立于京东商城的实体公司，原因之一是为了接受其他在线零售商的配送订单。

it still delivers the bulk of jd.com’s packages but a large chunk of its revenues now comes from orders outside the group. by owning much of its technology, lorries and warehouses, and directly employing staff, the firm has been able to ensure faster delivery times while monitoring quality.?

京东商城的大部分包裹仍由京东物流配送，但如今京东物流的很大一部分收入来自集团以外的订单。凭借大量技术、货车、仓库以及对快递员的直接雇用，京东物流能够在确保缩短配送时间的同时对质量进行把控。

it operates china’s largest?integrated?logistics system, covering a good’s entire journey and including a fully autonomous fulfilment centre in shanghai and driverless vehicles. the system can also flip into reverse, sending customer feedback to product designers that, jd logistics claims, helps it produce better products and bolster brands.

京东物流运营者最高最大的综合物流系统，覆盖一件包裹的整个运输旅程，包括位于上海的全自动化物流中心和无人配送车。京东物流表示，该系统还可以逆向传递信息，将客户意见反馈给产品设计师，从而帮助其打造更好的产品，并提升品牌价值。

contrast that with cainiao, in which alibaba has a controlling stake. it does not own many of the logistics assets in its network. instead it allows around 3,000 logistics companies employing some 3m couriers to plug into its platform.?

与之形成对比的是由阿里巴巴控股的菜鸟。菜鸟在物流配送网络中并不拥有太多资产。相反，菜鸟是让雇有约300万名快递员的约3000家物流公司接入其平台。

its aim is to integrate and streamline the vast delivery resources that already exist across china, rather than build its own. the company has teamed up with most large logistics services—and taken investments from them as well.?

菜鸟的目标是整合和简化中国现有的大量配送资源，而不是建立自己的配送系统。菜鸟与大多数大型物流服务公司建立了合作，并从它们那里获得投资。

alibaba, for its part, has bought minority stakes in several large operators as a means of exerting more influence over the industry. cainiao is not publicly listed and does not disclose many operational details or, for that matter, how exactly it makes money.

阿里巴巴则购入了几家大型物流公司的少数股权，以扩大对该行业的影响力。菜鸟尚未公开上市，没有披露太多运营细节，也没有透露其盈利状况。

in terms of revenues, both jd logistics and cainiao trail sf express. similarly to jd logistics, that firm operates its own network. it still leads the market in “time-definite” delivery, a service that requires couriers to pick up and drop off parcels on a rapid,?predetermined?timetable. like fedex in america but unlike jd and cainiao, it did not emerge from the tech industry, so lacks its rivals’ technological chops.

在收入方面，京东物流和菜鸟都落后于顺丰快递。与京东物流类似，顺丰快递建有自己的物流网络。它在“限时”快递服务（这种服务要求快递员按照预先确定的时间快速完成取件和配送）方面仍在市场上保持领先。不同于京东物流和菜鸟，顺丰快递与美国联邦快递类似，都并非诞生于科技行业，因此相比竞争对手缺乏技术优势。

in the long run cainiao’s asset-light model may enable it to keep spending in check. but for the time being it, too, is thought to be having trouble containing costs. like its rivals it must fend off new specialist competitors offering cut-price services in areas like cold-chain and last-mile delivery.?

从长远来看，菜鸟的轻资产模式可能更有利于其控制支出。但就目前而言，许多人认为其在成本控制方面也存在问题。和竞争对手一样，菜鸟必须抵御在冷链运输和最后一英里配送等领域提供低价专门服务的新晋竞争对手。

average delivery prices in america have increased by about 5% annually in recent years, according to bernstein, a broker. in china they have been falling at an average rate of 10% for the past decade. as china’s online shoppers get their goods ever more quickly, investors may need to brace for longer waiting times before their logistics returns finally arrive.?

据券商盛博公司的数据，近年来，美国快递的平均价格每年上涨约5%。而在中国，过去十年快递价格平均每年下跌10%。随着中国网上购物者收到快递的速度越来越快，投资者可能需要等待更长的时间才能收到回报。

(黑色标注词为重难点词汇)?

本文翻译：vinnie

重难点词汇：

divergent?[da??v??rd??nt] adj. 相异的；求异的；散开的

collapse?[k??l?ps] v. 倒塌；倒下；崩溃；贬值

integrate?[??nt?ɡre?t] vt. 使…完整；表示…的总和 adj. 整合的；完全的

predetermine?[?pri?d??t??rm?n] vt. 预先确定；预先决定；预先查明

????