Buying from multiple Alibaba suppliers can be cheaper for your business, but paying for each supplier to ship internationally can quickly increase your logistics costs. Combining Alibaba orders allows you to send different purchases to one warehouse in China and arrange them as a consolidated international shipment.
This is especially useful when sourcing products from suppliers in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Yiwu, Shanghai, and other Chinese manufacturing and trading hubs.
How to Combine Alibaba Orders
The process is relatively straightforward:
- Place your Alibaba orders: Buy your products from different suppliers and confirm the quantities, product details, and delivery schedules.
- Get a China warehouse address: Before suppliers ship, arrange a consolidation warehouse where all your orders can be received.
- Send the address to suppliers: Ask each Alibaba supplier to deliver your goods to the same warehouse in China.
- Track each order: Keep your Alibaba order numbers and domestic tracking numbers so the warehouse can identify each package.
- Warehouse receives your goods: Your packages are checked and recorded when they arrive.
- Consolidate the orders: Once the required packages arrive, suitable shipments can be combined, repacked, and prepared for international freight.
- Ship internationally: The combined cargo can then be sent by air freight or sea freight to your destination.
Why Combine Alibaba Orders?
Instead of paying separate international shipping charges for five or ten suppliers, consolidation gives you the option of managing the cargo as one shipment.
It can also reduce the number of packages and tracking numbers you have to manage. For businesses buying different products for the same destination, this can make the entire import process easier to organize.
However, consolidation does not guarantee lower costs. Warehouse fees, repacking, cargo volume, customs charges, and the chosen freight method all affect the final price.
Air Freight or Sea Freight?
Air freight is useful when your combined Alibaba orders are relatively small or you need faster delivery.
Sea freight is generally more suitable for larger and heavier consolidated cargo. LCL allows you to share container space when your goods do not fill a complete container, while FCL may be suitable for larger volumes.
What to Tell Your Alibaba Suppliers
Give each supplier clear instructions before they dispatch your order. Provide the correct warehouse address and any customer or reference number required to identify your packages.
Also ask suppliers to provide domestic tracking information after dispatch. This helps the warehouse match each incoming package with the correct Alibaba order.
How Travo.ng Can Help
Travo.ng can help coordinate the logistics involved in combining Alibaba orders, including supplier collection, China warehouse receiving, cargo consolidation, freight planning, and delivery arrangements.
If you are purchasing from several Alibaba suppliers, you can organize the orders around a single consolidation plan instead of arranging separate international shipments for every supplier.
Before shipping, provide your supplier locations, product types, number of packages, estimated weight and dimensions, and final destination. This makes it easier to determine the most suitable way to consolidate and transport your Alibaba purchases.
