Recently, ZTO Express (02057. HK;ZTO.US), Shentong Express (002468. SZ), Yunda Shares (002120. SZ), Debon Express (603056. SH), JD Logistics (2618. HK), Jitu Express and many other express delivery companies have issued announcements announcing that "the Spring Festival will not close" to meet the delivery needs during the festival and ensure the smooth transportation of epidemic prevention and civilian biological resources.
According to the announcements of several companies, the service time of this year's "Spring Festival without closing" is from January 30, 2022 (28th of the Waxing Moon) to February 4, 2022 (the fourth day of the first month of the first month), with a cumulative duration of 6 days, and other days to provide normal express delivery services.
In terms of cost, some courier companies have introduced specific guidance prices, and the unit price has been raised compared with usual.
A number of courier companies announced that "the Spring Festival will not close"
As the first logistics enterprise in the industry to carry out "Spring Festival delivery", JD Logistics has started to deliver during the Spring Festival since 2013. On December 27, 2021, JD Logistics officially announced that it will "deliver during the Spring Festival" for the tenth consecutive year during the Spring Festival in 2022.
Following the pace of the industry, Shentong Express, Debon Express, Zhongtong Express, and Yunda Express said that this year will implement the "Spring Festival does not close" service.
The Red Star Capital Bureau learned that the Spring Festival holiday in 2021 is the first time that a number of express delivery companies have collectively "not closed" on a large scale and carried out normal dispatch nationwide. This year is the second year of the express delivery industry to have a wide range of "Spring Festival does not close".
Specifically, Debon Express took the lead in announcing the "Spring Festival" on December 14, 2021.
On December 26, 2021, Zhongtong Express and Yunda Express issued a service announcement, announcing that they would provide "Spring Festival non-stop service" from January 30, 2022 (28th of The Waxing Moon) to February 4, 2022 (the fourth day of the first lunar month), and provide normal express delivery services on other days.
In addition, Jitu Express also said that during the Spring Festival in 2022, manpower, transportation capacity and venues will be invested to meet the express mail delivery needs of customers during the festival and ensure the smooth transportation of epidemic prevention and civilian biological resources.
Prices may be increased
There is a courier increase of no more than 1.5 yuan per order
In addition to ensuring that "the Spring Festival does not close", some companies have adjusted the express delivery fees during the Spring Festival.
Among the above-mentioned enterprises, Zhongtong Express issued a specific guidance price: the weight of the express is less than 1kg (that is, the billable weight ≤ 1kg), the increase is not more than 1.5 yuan / single; the weight of the express mail is more than 1kg (that is, the billing weight is > 1kg), the increase in the first quotation is not more than 1.5 yuan / single, and the increase in the re-quotation is not more than 0.3 yuan / kg.
It is worth noting that this is also another explicit statement that the express delivery price will be raised or will be raised after the express delivery company repeatedly raised the terminal dispatch fee before the double 11 in 2021 and claimed to regulate the service price of the express delivery market.
In addition, Jitu Express said that during the Spring Festival, due to the impact of the epidemic, traffic, weather and other factors, the price, timeliness and service scope of express mail will be adjusted.
Shentong Express issued a service announcement saying that this year it has comprehensively upgraded employee welfare, tilted resources to front-line employees in an all-round way, and made left-behind employees happy and at ease through multiple ways such as overtime subsidies, red envelope incentives, living security, humanistic care, and epidemic prevention and control.
Behind the "Spring Festival does not close":
Various express delivery companies compete for operations
In the past two years, the epidemic has promoted the development of the "home economy", and the online e-commerce and express logistics industries have ushered in explosive growth.
On December 31, 2019, the State Post Bureau issued a document emphasizing that all enterprises should make a guarantee plan for delivery services during the festival in advance to ensure that there is "no network, no refusal, and no backlog" during the Spring Festival. Since then, more and more express delivery companies have joined the team of "Spring Festival does not close".
According to data from the State Post Bureau, from 2019 to 2021, the number of postal parcels during the Spring Festival in China has continued to increase, and during the Spring Festival in 2021 (Chinese New Year's Eve to the sixth day of the first month of the first month), the volume of postal parcels in China has ushered in a spurt of growth, and the national postal express industry has accumulated 660 million express parcels, an increase of 260% year-on-year.
"The industry dividend period has passed, and the era of lying win no longer exists." Some insiders said that the market share of the express delivery industry is no longer growing together, but one or the other. In fact, "the Spring Festival is not closed" is also a manifestation of the fierce competition in the express delivery industry.
For the express delivery industry, the purpose of "spring festival not closing" is to optimize services to retain customers.
In this regard, Shanghai Shenyin Wanguo Securities Research Institute said that 2022 is a profit repair year under the slowdown of the "price war" of express delivery companies, and leading enterprises have changed from "price competition" to "service competition". The continuous implementation of "Spring Festival does not close" reflects that express delivery companies pay more attention to the service experience of merchants and consumers, and enhance service reputation and brand image through continuous service during the Spring Festival.
Consumer: Content outweighs form
"Say good not to close, but the courier has been placed at the transfer station"
Theoretically, the ultimate beneficiary of the "Spring Festival without closing" is actually the consumer.
However, according to the Red Star Capital Bureau, many consumers said that the service experience of "Spring Festival not closing" in 2021 is not good. "It has been at the transfer station for 5 days"; "It has been delivered near the home, and no one has been notified"; "The return has not been accepted, and it has been stuck there." There are many complaints on the Internet, and some consumers say that it feels more like a company shouting slogans that "don't close".
In fact, the "Spring Festival does not close" to be truly and efficiently implemented, but also faces many objective factors hindered. Among them, during the Spring Festival, many e-commerce companies need to rest, stores are closed, consumer shopping volume is declining, and the volume of express delivery business is not as large as imagined. In addition, personnel costs are an inevitable problem that "the Spring Festival does not close".
Wang Chikun, a researcher at the Beijing Institute of Understanding, said: "Traditional logistics is a labor-intensive industry, especially warehousing, sorting, last-mile distribution, etc., and traditional logistics relies heavily on labor. At the same time, the express delivery industry generally adopts the franchise model, warehousing, sorting, last-mile distribution, each link may be contracted to partners, and these contractors may subcontract again, subcontracting layer by layer, express delivery companies are not binding on the employees of these links, more out of control of the last kilometer, slightly link employees are unwilling to work overtime, the entire link is broken. ”
In addition, for couriers, work during the Spring Festival should be paid higher, and enterprises are also facing cost pressure if they want to retain couriers during the Spring Festival. In 2022, the "Spring Festival does not close" service, and express delivery companies are still facing many challenges.
Red Star News reporter Yu Yao Shen Mengyun
Edited by Yu Dongmei
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