Wildberries推出“海关直送仓”新模式：取消中间转运环节以降本增效

This article breaks down "Customs Direct Warehouse", a new cross-border logistics model launched by Russian e-commerce platform Wildberries:

1. Core model change: Under the traditional model, after customs clearance, sellers must first ship goods to a transit warehouse for repackaging and palletizing before they are sent to platform warehouses. The new model eliminates this intermediate transit step entirely, sending goods directly to platform-designated warehouses after customs clearance and cutting out redundant handling work for sellers.

2. Rollout progress: The service is currently in a pilot phase, available only to a limited number of sellers. Eligible sellers can activate it simply by selecting the container shipping option in their seller backend. The platform plans to expand access to more sellers over the coming months and add new features to improve user experience.

3. Key benefits: The new model speeds up the timeline from customs clearance to product listing, shortens warehouse lead times, and cuts sellers' logistics costs for warehousing and secondary packaging. It delivers particularly significant benefits for sellers that ship high-volume, frequent batches of goods.

Key takeaways for brands expanding into the Russian cross-border market:

1. Industry trends and context: The share of Chinese sellers on Wildberries continues to grow, alongside the overall expansion of Sino-Russian cross-border trade. Logistics efficiency has become a core determinant of cross-border brand competitiveness. Since most cross-border cargo entering Russia is already containerized, the new model aligns perfectly with existing shipping practices.

2. Tangible benefits for brands: By eliminating the intermediate transit step, the new model cuts brands' extra costs for warehousing, secondary packaging and short-haul transportation. It also shortens the lead time for warehousing and product listing, speeds up capital turnover, and improves brands' ability to respond to shifting market demand.

3. Strategic guidance for market entry: Wildberries has been steadily expanding control over its logistics network and moving upstream in the supply chain, with logistics infrastructure as a core strategic priority. Brands entering the Russian market can align with the platform's upgrade trajectory and leverage the new logistics model to boost their own competitiveness.

Key takeaways for cross-border sellers operating on Wildberries:

1. New opportunities from the model: By eliminating intermediate transit, the new model shortens warehousing and listing lead times and cuts multiple logistics costs including warehousing, secondary packaging and short-haul transportation. It delivers particularly large benefits for cross-border sellers that ship high-frequency, high-volume batches, effectively improving capital turnover efficiency and market responsiveness.

2. How to participate now: The service is currently in a pilot phase open only to select sellers. Eligible sellers can activate the new model simply by selecting the container shipping option in their seller backend when creating a shipping order.

3. Upcoming plans and industry insights: The platform will gradually expand access to the service and roll out feature updates to improve experience over the coming months, so sellers should watch for official opening notices. Meanwhile, Wildberries continues to upgrade its in-house logistics system and strengthen supply chain control, allowing sellers to capitalize on efficiency gains from the platform's logistics upgrades.

Key insights for factories supplying export goods to Russia:

1. Alignment with shipping needs: The new model supports full container direct delivery to platform warehouses, which matches the high-volume shipping characteristics of factories perfectly. The logistics cost savings from eliminating transit can give factories greater pricing flexibility and competitive advantage in the market.

2. Guidance for digital and e-commerce transformation: Wildberries has been continuously streamlining supply chain processes and optimizing logistics docking systems, which has steadily lowered the barrier for factories to directly connect to the platform. Factories can consider cutting out intermediate trade links and adopt a direct supply model to increase profit margins.

3. New business opportunities: The share of Chinese sellers on Wildberries is steadily rising, driving continued growth in shipping volume for Sino-Russian cross-border trade. The launch of the Customs Direct Warehouse model will further boost demand for full-container high-volume shipping. Factories serving the Russian market can seize this growth opportunity to expand their cross-border supply business.

Key takeaways for cross-border e-commerce service providers:

1. Industry development trend: Leading Russian e-commerce platform Wildberries is steadily moving upstream in the supply chain and integrating end-to-end logistics links. Platform-operated full-process logistics has emerged as a clear industry trend, as platforms continue to fill gaps in cross-border fulfillment to improve their overall competitiveness.

2. Core customer pain points validated: High costs, long lead times and fragmented transit links were the top pain points for sellers under the traditional cross-border warehousing model. Wildberries' new model directly addresses this pain point, confirming sellers' strong demand for cost reduction, efficiency gains and process simplification.

3. Guidance for business adjustment: Service providers that previously generated revenue from transit warehouse services need to pivot their business strategies promptly. To maintain market competitiveness, they can either integrate with the platform's new logistics model to provide supporting services, or develop differentiated services that the platform does not yet cover.

4. Technology development outlook: Wildberries' logistics network already supports multiple transportation modes, and is integrating new technologies such as unmanned delivery vehicles. The industry continues to advance the implementation of new logistics technologies.

Key insights for cross-border e-commerce platform operators:

1. Industry direction and market demand: It is a clear industry trend that cross-border e-commerce platforms are moving upstream in the supply chain, strengthening control over in-house logistics networks, and filling gaps in cross-border fulfillment to improve overall competitiveness. Meanwhile, sellers have strong demand for simplified logistics processes and lower overall costs, and the pain points of the traditional transit model have become increasingly prominent. Platforms need to optimize their fulfillment processes to meet seller demand.

2. Guidance for operational rollout: After launching the new Customs Direct Warehouse model, Wildberries first opened it to a small group of sellers for a pilot, optimized processes through testing, and then gradually expanded coverage and added new features. This incremental rollout approach effectively reduces risk when launching new models, making it a valuable reference for other platforms.

3. Reference for seller acquisition: By leveraging the trend of growing Chinese seller penetration and launching a new logistics model tailored for Sino-Russian cross-border trade, Wildberries can effectively attract more Chinese sellers to join the platform and improve its competitiveness in seller acquisition. This approach offers a useful reference for other platforms looking to attract Chinese sellers.

Key insights for researchers focused on cross-border e-commerce and logistics industries:

1. New industry development: Leading Russian e-commerce player Wildberries has launched an innovative "Customs Direct Warehouse" cross-border logistics model that completely eliminates the intermediate transit link for cross-border warehousing. It reflects the emerging industry trend of e-commerce platforms moving upstream in the supply chain and integrating end-to-end logistics.

2. Value for business model research: Traditional cross-border e-commerce logistics has typically operated in fragmented, segmented segments. In the new model, the platform leads the integration of links and eliminates redundant intermediaries to achieve cost reduction and efficiency gains. This disintermediated business model offers high research value for studies on cross-border supply chain upgrading.

3. Case background: The launch of this model is rooted in three key contextual factors: the growing share of Chinese sellers on Wildberries, the dominance of containerized shipping for cross-border cargo entering Russia, and the platform's years of investment in logistics infrastructure. It is a representative case of regional cross-border e-commerce upgrading to adapt to local market needs.

4. Directions for future research: The model remains in the pilot phase. Its post-launch performance and broader spillover impact on the industry warrant continuous tracking and research.