Smart logistics to bring cost benefits

Chinese online retailers are ramping up their efforts in intelligent logistics operations by using drones, robotics and driverless vehicles for parcel delivery, aiming to bring down costs and transform the logistics industry.

The country's second-largest e-commerce player JD has been leading the utilization of automation technologies to solve the last-mile delivery problem, the costliest part of overall parcel delivery costs.

It plans to build 150 operational sites for drone deliveries in Sichuan province, using robots and automated cars to speed up the process. JD CEO Liu Qiangdong said the sites are expected to open within three years and drone deliveries could help reduce freight costs by 70 percent.