E-COMMERCE

By FedEx | July 8, 2026

Chinese e-commerce businesses are exploring growth opportunities in new markets, but the challenges of cross-border logistics can be daunting for many. For thousands of sellers on Alibaba.com, new market expansion has proven easier with FedEx’s digital tools and trade expertise.

• New markets such as Europe and South America offer rich growth opportunities for China’s e-commerce export businesses.
• Alibaba.com’s decade-long alliance with FedEx has enabled platform sellers to take advantage of these opportunities and scale operations efficiently across borders.
• With FedEx’s fast and reliable global air network, e-commerce capabilities, and customs clearance expertise, Alibaba.com sellers can streamline fulfillment at every step.

As trade barriers rise and geopolitical dynamics shift across the Trans-Pacific corridor, China’s e-commerce sellers are accelerating their global expansion efforts to new markets. For hundreds of thousands of sellers on Alibaba.com – one of the world’s largest B2B e-commerce platforms – the map of opportunity is being redrawn.

Emerging markets such as Europe and South America are stepping into the spotlight. Alibaba.com’s sales growth in Europe has repeatedly reached new highs, with year-over-year order volumes rising by 57% in 2025. Another promising region is Latin America, currently the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce market.

But reaching customers online is only the first step in entering new markets. Sellers also need to navigate the complexities of cross-border logistics, from complying with fragmented regulations to preparing customs documentation. Delays in cross-border fulfillment could impact customer satisfaction, making it harder for sellers  to win repeat business and establish a foothold in these markets.

Alibaba.com’s decade-long alliance with FedEx has enabled sellers to overcome these hurdles. As sellers diversify into new markets like Europe, they’re leveraging FedEx’s trade expertise and digital tools to streamline cross-border operations and gain a competitive edge.

How smart shipping integration drives efficiency

In traditional cross-border order management, sellers often need to switch between multiple systems – e-commerce platforms, logistics providers, and payment gateways – while re-entering the same information. This manual process is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to human error.

For Alibaba.com sellers, these tedious workflows are becoming a thing of the past.

As a one-stop platform for global e-commerce, Alibaba.com has integrated with FedEx at the system level, enabling the automatic synchronization of logistics instructions, customs declarations, and order data. Orders placed on the platform can be converted directly into FedEx waybills, with a flexible range of end-to-end services available to support seamless dispatch and shipment tracking.

This e-commerce platform integration helps simplify fulfillment and improve operational efficiency. As sellers venture into new markets, this efficiency becomes critical for scaling operations and managing cross-border complexity.

Serving global customers with fast, reliable shipping

In cross-border e-commerce, timely delivery matters. Sellers need to move goods across continents and reach customers quickly. Slow shipping doesn't just affect the delivery experience – it can also reduce the likelihood of repeat purchases and shape customers’ overall perception of a platform.

On Alibaba.com, many sellers rely on FedEx’s cross-border logistics solutions to deliver the speed and convenience customers expect. Thousands of online orders from the platform are shipped through FedEx’s global network each day, with Europe emerging as a key export destination.

Powered by FedEx’s extensive Asia-Europe air network, Alibaba.com sellers can deliver to major European markets with both efficiency and resilience. FedEx currently operates 26 weekly flights connecting Asia Pacific (APAC) to Europe, including the recent addition of five weekly flights from China to the FedEx European Hub in Paris. This enhanced connectivity supports a range of flexible, time-definite delivery options, enabling businesses to provide a consistently reliable fulfillment experience even as demand grows.

Taking the complexity out of customs clearance

One vital and often underestimated bottleneck in fulfillment speed is customs clearance. For instance, Europe’s regulatory landscape is far from uniform: customs rules, Value-Added Tax (VAT) rates, and compliance requirements vary significantly from country to country.

This complexity grows quickly as sellers scale into multiple markets, raising the risk of errors or gaps in customs documentation. Any resulting delays in customs clearance can lead to additional costs, late deliveries, and strained customer relationships.

Through FedEx’s alliance with Alibaba.com, sellers on the platform can streamline compliance with global regulations. By leveraging the customs expertise of FedEx’s global operations team, Alibaba.com sellers don’t need to study every country’s regulations in detail.

FedEx’s experts support sellers with comprehensive customs clearance guidance, helping them stay compliant with the latest requirements across different markets. With less time spent on navigating regulatory complexity, sellers can focus on strengthening core capabilities such as customer insights and go-to-market strategies.

A partner that powers cross-border e-commerce growth

Beyond simply moving packages, small businesses expanding into new markets need logistics support that helps them compete and scale effectively. As FedEx’s ongoing integration with Alibaba.com shows, the right logistics tools and trade expertise can help sellers anticipate common challenges and reduce inefficiencies – paving the way to successful cross-border growth.

Since collaborating with Alibaba.com in 2014, FedEx has become the cross-border logistics provider of choice for many sellers. Backed by reliable delivery, compliance support, and seamless shipping capabilities, sellers are better positioned to capture growth opportunities wherever they emerge next.