Alibaba starts Delivering Tea via Drones in China

Alibaba is currently testing its new drone delivery process in China with a 3 day pilot program and it is delivering ginger tea via drones.

The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has now started its testing phase of delivering packages by drone. Finally the dream of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is coming true through this new drone delivery process by Alibaba.

Alibaba’s major online marketplace is Taobao (via TechInAsia) which has now partnered with Shanghai YTO Express in order to run a test program from February 4th to February 6th. According to Alibaba 450 of its lucky customers will get the chance to have their goods delivered by drone.

The item that will be delivered during test run is ginger tea which is used to treat menstrual cramps. These packages are said to weigh less than 340 grams and will be delivered within one hour. Moreover the customers must live within a specified radius of specific distribution sites in in Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai.

You will also be surprised to learn that another famous logistics firm in china, SF Express had its own fleet of scooters, airplanes and vans also started an internal drone delivery program back in 2013.

Even Zookal began to deliver text books through mini unmanned aerial vehicles in 2013 and the famous TacoCopter by Skycatch that delivered Mexican Food. However the pilot program by Taobao and YTO’s looks to be the first public campaign.

All happy and excited customers out there need to realize though that this drone delivery program is a seriously limited trial. A company spokesperson stated that this drone delivery program is an effort which will deliver unique and innovative shopping experiences to the consumers on Alibaba’s e-commerce ecosystem which is world famous now. 

Well talking about this campaign it is very clear that the campaign is clearly more about style than substance, but the fact that Alibaba is testing this drone delivery method is quite significant and is clearly a sign of the future. Alibaba also held the world’s largest IPO last year. Plus the drone delivery process that was started by Amazon in 2013 was nothing more than a stunt but now Amazon is testing unmanned aerial vehicles to deliver goods. 

Well if this drone delivery system works well for Alibaba then we could see a new way of goods reaching customers at their doorsteps. While the other delivery methods are slow due to the nature of their mode, the drone system will be pretty fast and efficient in reaching its destination.

This speedy delivery of goods by Alibaba or other online e-commerce companies will definitely benefit these companies a lot along with the customers. Customers will no longer have to wait for their ordered goods any more as the delivery would be made within an hour.

Let’s hope now that this drone delivery system succeeds and Alibaba adopts this mode of delivery for good and eliminate the disadvantage to customers of waiting for their ordered goods. So everyone in China lookout for the Alibaba drones!