SINGAPORE – Local express logistics company Ninja Van is expanding its service to include transporting items that require refrigeration, like fresh fruit and sashimi, in addition to the parcels and other typical online order deliveries.
The initiative, announced at a press event on April 8 at its headquarters in Kay Siang Road, near the Tanglin area, is part of the company’s expansion plans marking its 10th anniversary.
Depending on the size of the deliveries, Ninja Van will use cooler boxes that will be loaded into their fleet of smaller vans or full-sized refrigeration trucks to make the deliveries.
In what is known as cold chain logistics, products are shipped at temperatures of between minus 25 deg C and 4 deg C. Ninja Van believes that it can do this cheaper and better than existing solutions for food and pharmaceutical industries. This is because it is tapping the scale of its existing e-commerce logistics business, where the company has close to 1,000 vehicles making 100,000 deliveries across Singapore daily.
Ninja Van said its scale and service coverage enable the company to cluster the deliveries, like going to multiple locations on a single trip to transport such items, rather than making point-to-point deliveries. This lowers the cost of the service.
Mr Lai Chang Wen, Ninja Van’s chief executive and co-founder, told the media that it can deliver fresh sashimi “at close to e-commerce prices” to consumers.
He said Ninja Van has started the cold chain logistics service in Singapore and Malaysia, where there are about 20 businesses on board. Eventually, he expects the service to contribute 10 per cent of the company’s revenue and 50 per cent of the total profit.
Also announced at the event was the launch of a service that helps businesses restock their stores. The service gives businesses more flexibility as the amount of stock sent to their outlets can be smaller, and they can choose how often to restock.
This, according to Ninja Van’s spokesman, means that businesses can use less space to hold inventory in their outlets.
Mr Ray Chou, country head of Ninja Van Singapore, said with its new services, the company is not only removing the hassle of shipping for its customers but also unlocking “substantial savings for them through logistics optimisation”.
In March, Ninja Van, which counts Alibaba Group Holding among its backers, said it was putting its plan to be listed on the stock exchange on hold until profitability improves.
