FedEx fast expanding in China
FedEx Express (FedEx), which currently serves 190 cities in China, plans to increase its services to cover 100 additional cities within the next five years.
FedEx Asia Pacific Division president David Cunningham said the company, which served the mainland market through its three gateways - Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing, expected the country to post strong growth in the near future.
'In November, FedEx established a joint venture with Chinese company Da Tian - rated by IATA in 1997 as one of the top five mainland freight forwarders - to help the company enter the local market,' he said.
He added that FedEx was bullish about the growth of the business-to-business (B2B) market.
Statistics show that B2B made up 85-90 per cent of the global e- commerce market last year.
Mr Cunningham said its fourth quarter results (March-May 2000) showed Asia had grown by 29 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
Rajesh Subramaniam, vice-president of e-commerce and customer service, marketing and communications, FedEx Asia Pacific division, said FedEx was ahead of its competitors in the e- business race with its express network and transportation system, distribution centre network, and information system.
The company believed that by combining its three networks, it would have a superior product. 'We doubled our intra-Asia capacity out of Hong Kong in April by introducing an MD-11 service in that sector,' Mr Subramaniam said, adding that previously the service linking Hong Kong to its Subic Bay hub used an A310.
As e-commerce continues to blaze through Asia, B2B would become significant in the near future, he said.
Internet start-up companies in Asia and various global consultants predict an e-commerce explosion in the region.
'Based on the Gartner group's projections, Hong Kong's B2B last year amounted to US$508 million (HK$3.95 billion). The figure is forecast to rise to US$1.8 billion for this year, US$16.8 billion in 2002, and US$33.4 billion in 2003,' Mr Subramaniam said. 'At the end of the day, FedEx's three networks would provide the tools which could be tailored to meet customer demands.'
FedEx recently bolstered its eBusiness tools portfolio by re- branding and enhancing its full range of e-commerce services, as well as its first WAP service for Asian customers. Users can now track FedEx packages, contact its service hotline, locate drop boxes and service centre addresses, and view the latest FedEx news via a WAP mobile phone.
The renamed FedEx eBusiness Tools include FedEx EC-Ship (formerly known as GIVSship); FedEx EC-Inventory Visibility (formerly known as Global Inventory Management System - GIVS), and FedEx EC-Shop (formerly known as Virtual Order Plus).
The company has also launched an eBusiness tool called FedEx EC-Return Management, an automated system enabling merchants to provide integrated return, repair and replacement services to their customers.
FedEx launched its first direct flight between its EuroOne hub in Charles de Gaulle, France, and the AsiaOne hub in Subic Bay last month, reducing transit time and providing later pick-up times. The company has 10 new weekly flights connecting major European and Asian markets, the Middle East and India.
