SF Express and Alibaba end data dispute

Delivery giant SF Express has restarted transportation services for online retail giant Alibaba after they ended their dispute over data sharing.

The standoff, which began last week, came to an end after the intervention of China’s State Post Bureau.

The dispute started when Alibaba’s Cainiao logistics arm told Alibaba sellers on May 30 to use other couriers in response to SF’s decision to stop sharing the information.

SF was reported as saying it would continue to guard its core competitiveness and hopes other operators would “be vigilant against Cainiao dipping its finger in courier companies’ core data”.

Cainiao said the delivery firm’s decision to stop sharing data could lead to “confusion” and could lead to losses for sellers and customers. The instruction to stop using SF was temporary, it added.

The dispute also pits some of Asia’s wealthiest business tycoons against each other; SF Express founder Wang Wei is reputed to be China’s third-richest man following a 75% surge in the price of the company’s shares in February. The price of the companies fell 3.7% recently in the aftermath of the dispute.

Data sharing is a key element of Alibaba's logistics strategy. It aims to make its supply chains as fast and efficient as possible by being able to access and analyse as much information and data as possible.

In contrast, US rival Amazon is attempting to make its supply chain operation more efficient by taking control of the process itself through investment in logistics and transport infrastructure and assets.