As the date for the European Union to scrap its tariff exemption for cross-border parcels valued under 150 euros (July 1st) draws near, demand for overseas warehouses is experiencing a significant surge.

It has been learned that on the first day of its 2026 overseas 618 shopping festival, the cross-border e-commerce platform AliExpress, owned by Alibaba, saw the proportion of orders shipped from its local European warehouses in key markets like Spain, France, and Poland exceed 50% for the first time, overtaking cross-border direct shipments.

Data obtained from Cainiao further reveals that its European overseas warehouse outbound volume surged by 32% year-over-year in the first three months of this year. Taking the French warehouse operated by Cainiao for a major platform as an example, its overall storage utilization rate in the first quarter was already nearing full capacity.

Industry insiders in e-commerce have indicated that as the EU tightens tax policies on low-value parcels, the small parcel model reliant on cross-border direct shipping is facing rising customs clearance costs and compliance pressures. Shifting the fulfillment process forward to local European warehouses has become a new strategic choice.

Major Chinese e-commerce exporters, including AliExpress, SHEIN, and Temu, are all accelerating their local European warehouse and logistics network deployments.

The tax exemption for low-value parcels was once a key driver for the rapid expansion of cross-border e-commerce. However, since 2024, countries including the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, Vietnam, and Brazil have either implemented or proposed to cancel similar small parcel duty-free policies.

Following the U.S. cancellation of the "de minimis" exemption for Chinese goods in April 2025, overseas warehouses saw a wave of increased demand as companies sought to mitigate external uncertainties.

Cainiao reported that its global order volume processed through overseas warehouses grew by 32% year-over-year in 2025.

Bruce, Cainiao's Global Supply Chain Country Manager for Singapore & Malaysia, noted that brand clients expanding overseas are aggressively shifting their demand from cross-border direct mail towards utilizing overseas warehouses.

Overseas warehouses refer to storage facilities established or leased in a target market country by transnational companies. Goods are shipped in bulk to these locations for storage, and then local sales orders are fulfilled directly from the warehouse, handling tasks like sorting and dispatch.

Logistics professionals in the cross-border sector explain that establishing overseas warehouses in target markets can significantly improve delivery speed, enabling same-day or next-day shipping after a consumer places an order, whereas cross-border direct mail typically takes several days or longer.

For larger brands, the overseas warehouse model offers a superior customer experience, with fulfillment that is both efficient and reliable, thereby supporting sales growth.

After AliExpress pioneered its semi-managed service model in 2024—which provides logistics and warehousing support—it quickly expanded into an "Overseas Managed" model. Under this framework, merchants only need to connect their inventory in overseas warehouses, while the platform handles marketing, user operations, and local fulfillment. This is viewed as a crucial service model for localized operational management.

It is understood that over the past six months, AliExpress has accelerated the development of its warehousing and delivery system in Europe, which currently covers Spain, France, and Poland, with an official warehouse in Germany also under construction.