This week, Alibaba Group is back in the news with a string of announcements, including an investment in a Chinese express delivery company and the introduction of a voice-recognition retail system that lets customers correct their orders.

The e-commerce giant said it has led a team of investors, including its logistics arm Cainiao Network, to fork out USD$1.38bn (£1.04bn) for a 10% equity stake in Shanghai-based ZTO Express. The move aimed to beef up first- and last-mile delivery services to support Alibaba's New Retail focus, which melded both offline and online retail experiences.

To drive this strategy, and improve experience for consumers as well as merchants, it pointed to the need for further investment in smart supply chain, retail technologies, advanced logistics, and mobile payments.

The investment also would help build up Cainiao and ZTO's warehouse management, cross-border logistics, and smart technology offerings.

ZTO's founder, chairman, and CEO Lai Meisong said: "The growth of e-commerce and New Retail in China demands more efficient express delivery and expanded logistics services. This partnership will enable us to expand our selection of high-quality service offerings both in China and internationally."

Noting that China's logistics industry was highly competitive, Cainiao's president Lin Wan added that the investment would facilitate joint development of new products between the two companies to "accelerate digitalisation" of the local industry.

Alibaba, however, did not provide specifics on what these might entail. It also did not name other investors involved in the deal, but said the transaction was expected to close early next month.

Incorporated in 2015, ZTO's express delivery services are used on e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and JD.com. It operates 75 sorting hubs and a fleet of more than 4,200 trucks.

Machine Lets Customers Correct Their Orders

Alibaba this week also has introduced a speech-recognition ordering system that it says is able to understand requests even when customers change their minds about the items they order.

Developed by Alibaba's artificial intelligence (AI) research unit, DAMO Academy, the 'intelligent speech interaction' technology allows diners at a restaurant to place and correct their meal orders repeatedly, and see the updated order reflected within seconds on the screen. Alibaba said the ordering machine would be able to catch all changes and update these "immediately".

The system was designed based on the research unit's spoken language understanding (SLU) technology, which involved both speech and natural language processing.

Its speech interaction software would capture and assess various voice and visual features, such as the person's speaking pace, pauses between words, pronunciation, facial expressions, and breaths taken. A 'reinforcement-learning model' then makes allowances for revisions and intent detection.

Alibaba explained: "For example, a customer might say: 'I want to order two large cups of cappuccino. Oh, please make them with less sugar and decaf. To go. And, sorry, that should be three cups of cappuccino, two large and one small.' The smart ordering machine will then display the full order as two large cups and one small cup of decaf cappuccino, all with less sugar than usual and note that it's for takeout."

Alibaba Machine Intelligence Technologies' head of intelligent speech interaction, Yan Zhijie, added that the speech-interaction software could be used in different environments, such as food and beverage ordering, customer service, voice commands for home appliances, and in smart cars.

With its ability to understand multiple layers of speech, Yan said the application would significantly improve customer experience and enable merchants to run their businesses more efficiently.

Alibaba said the smart ordering machine was slated to be available in the market over the next few months and aimed for deployment in cafes and restaurants. It added that the software, which currently was available only in Chinese, would be available via its cloud platform.

Going Green with AI in Logistics

In a separate announcement, Cainiao has unveiled a 2020 blueprint to reduce its carbon footprint over the next couple of years.

To be implemented across its parent company Alibaba Group, the green initiatives aim to improve material recycling, packaging, route planning, and delivery tactics.

Specifically, by 2020, Cainiao said it will apply AI algorithms to drive smart routing in 40,000 villages that will shorten the average delivery journey by 30% in rural areas. It also plans to roll out new energy vehicles across 100 cities in China.

In addition, it will extend the use of e-shipping labels to 40 billion parcels by 2020, following its introduction in 2014.

Alibaba Green Logistics 2020 will be rolled out across a number of businesses within the company and includes pledges from e-commerce sites Tmall, Taobao, and Xianyu to increase their use of recycled packaging. Food delivery service, Ele.me, also will urge customers to place orders without requesting disposable cutlery.This content was originally published in RetailTechNews.