The "Shu Road Difficulty" of Express Delivery

Image source @ Visual China

Text | Xin Entropy, author | Jiarong, editor| Yi page

"Although the road is difficult, it will be achieved from time to time" - this is the ancient Zhou Dynasty law for the practitioner, that is, the first courier in charge of the postal station and other work. Although the transportation is inconvenient in the agricultural era, mailing items can only be "passed on step by step", and the regulations are not relaxed by half a minute.

With the progress of science and technology and the development of modern society, live streaming with goods is in full swing, and online shoppers are crowded, but the express delivery industry, the foundation of e-commerce development, seems to have entered a dilemma.

The non-delivery of express delivery has become an "unspoken rule of the industry", and home delivery has become a "high-end service" in the industry. It is difficult for consumers to receive goods, and it is even more difficult for couriers to come to the door.

On January 7, the State Post Bureau issued the "Measures for the Administration of the Express Delivery Market (Revised Draft)" for comment, which clarified that if there is no collection, delivery of smart express boxes, express delivery service stations and other behaviors without the consent of users, it will be punished with measures such as ordering corrections, circulating criticism and even imposing high fines.

The introduction of the new regulations will not only affect the delivery method of express delivery, but also face the test of change for the upstream and downstream of the entire industry.

01 Innocent courier

The industry's complaints come not only from customers, but also from aggrieved couriers. As the two roles of the logistics terminal face to face, the customer complains, and the courier has suffering to say.

In 2021, Time Post magazine conducted a questionnaire survey of 1420 respondents, of which nearly 80% said that they had encountered the phenomenon of express delivery being "signed". "Express delivery is not delivered to the door" seems to have become a norm in the industry.

As early as 2018, the State Council issued the Interim Regulations on Express Delivery, which stipulates in Chapter 4, Article 25 of which stipulates that enterprises engaged in express delivery business shall deliver express mail to the agreed delivery address, the recipient or the consignee designated by the consignee, and inform the recipient or consignee to accept it in person. The recipient or consignee has the right to accept the acceptance in person.

However, the reality is getting worse, with the emergence of express stations and smart express cabinets, many people have become accustomed to the fact that their packages do not appear at the doorstep. There are also consumers who are in the middle of the complaint calls of the enterprise platform and the regulatory authorities for their own rights and interests, but the effect is minimal.

In fact, this does not come from the "intolerance" of consumers, who must require hard couriers to deliver to their doors before they are willing to give up, and the point that is more likely to cause contradictions is that they are "not told". Couriers should have been informed in advance that they could not deliver to their doors, and most consumers were unknowingly put into the station or courier cabinet.

This not only does not bring convenience to users, but also brings the time cost on the pickup road, as well as the economic cost of overdue charges. Taking Fengchao, a courier cabinet operator with more than 270,000 outlets in the country, as an example, users need to pay additional storage fees if they exceed a certain amount of long pickup.

As far as the express station is concerned, many netizens complain that because of the nearby delivery address, there may be several different operator stations, and multiple express delivery may need to go to different stations to pick up, and some people say that the stations around them close early and can only wait until non-working days to pick up.

"Every time I go to the station to get a courier, it is more troublesome than going to a physical store to buy, I might as well go shopping near my home, have a shopping experience, and arrange my own time."

Many consumers think that the courier did not deliver the courier to the door because of the word "laziness", and the fact is not so simple.

Talking about the past few years, some people said that "before the express delivery was delivered to the door, unlike now", in fact, this is not a change in service attitude, but from the structural changes in the industry.

Relevant data show that in 2010, the domestic express delivery business volume was 2.3 billion pieces, and the number of employees was 542,000. Last year, the domestic express delivery business volume reached 108.5 billion pieces, employing about 4 million people. Compared with eleven years ago, the volume of express delivery business has increased by 47 times, but the number of employees has only increased by more than 7 times.

This means that each courier now has more than 6 times as much work as it was then.

In addition to the doubling of workload, the courier's labor relations and wage structure also make it difficult for them to have the best of both worlds.

It is understood that at present, in addition to Jingdong and SF, most of the remaining express delivery outlets belong to the franchise model, and the courier is not a contract worker of the express delivery company, but the employment labor of the express outlet franchisee. Therefore, most couriers do not have a basic salary, and all the income can only come from the number of deliveries.

A courier who has worked at U-Speed for ten years said: "According to the normal process, first call to verify whether the consignee is at home, whether it can receive the courier in time, and whether it needs to be delivered to the door, so that the goods do not have to be delivered, and the time cost of the call is not enough." ”

Many couriers said that it is not that they are unwilling to deliver to customers, but that it is "difficult to go to the sky".

Even without a basic salary, couriers still have performance appraisals that need to be completed.

If each order is delivered to the customer, it will greatly reduce the efficiency of delivery, and the courier will not be able to complete the performance and will face fines if the speed is slowed down. At present, different companies in different regions of the market, the courier delivers a single courier fee for the goods, about 1 yuan in income. The express delivery into the smart express cabinet is not costless, mostly between 3 and 5 corners per piece, and the courier needs to bear it himself.

Is delivery home worry-free? A courier said: "The customer is not at home, we do not dare to put the door, a word is gone, the responsibility is also our back." "Therefore, choosing to put into the express locker and the station is the best policy, at least there will be no complaints because of the loss of goods."

In such a situation, most couriers choose to deliver the goods faster and not the quality of service. The consignee's sense of experience and the efficiency of the courier seem to be difficult to complete, and there are more characters trapped by this dilemma.

02 The business of the transit station is difficult

To say that customers and couriers still have some independent choices, then the "middleman" express cabinet and express station are "against the current boat does not advance or retreat".

Once upon a time, the appearance of express delivery cabinets and stations made people rejoice, thinking that they could be relieved of the trouble of receiving express delivery. As the express cabinet faces revenue problems, it begins to be free for a limited time, the express station is limited by the operation of the store, the distance is inconvenient, and people find that it has a more serious problem, that is, it is almost difficult to let the courier take the initiative to deliver to the door.

The heart of convenience does not bring convenience.

As far as Fengchao is concerned, the model of "two-end charging" between users and couriers has long been criticized. "New Entropy" found that the State Post Bureau had promulgated the Administrative Measures for Smart Express Box Delivery Services in October 2019, which stipulates that "the use of smart express boxes to deliver express mail shall obtain the consent of the recipient, and after delivery, the express mail storage period and other information should be promptly informed".

However, as far as Fengchao's own operating process is concerned, the delivery of express mail does not require the "recipient" to agree to this step, and the courier needs to be consciously notified. In addition, some users have complained that Fengchao has not received the entry notice, resulting in the need to pay expensive detention fees, and many fresh products purchased online have rotted in the express locker from time to time.

From the perspective of profit model, the revenue of express cabinet operators mainly includes the time-out of goods stranded at the user end and membership fees, courier-side entry charges and advertising fees. At present, many urban communities have set off a tide of "boycott express cabinets", so that some communities can no longer see the figure of Fengchao.

If the express delivery door-to-door becomes the mainstream because of the legislation, the income of the user side and the courier side will be affected by instability, and how will Fengchao respond? Is it to reduce prices or open up new growth points?

In SF's annual report, the introduction of Fengchao is "the last kilometer of deep ploughing", but at present, the "last kilometer" has also become fengchao's mission to be completed.

The feedback from users on the express station is mostly concentrated in the distance and business hours. It is understood that since most of the express stations belong to the franchise model, there is no unified commuting time. Many stations are mostly closed at 7-8 pm, and the doors are also opened after 8:30 in the morning, which is indeed inconvenient for most office workers.

The profit model of the express station business is mainly divided into receiving and sending express. The cost of receiving the parcel is mostly 3-5 corners, paid by the courier, and the income of the courier is mostly 5 yuan per piece. Considering the cost of rent, labor, water and electricity, many station franchisees also need to use the flow of people sending and receiving couriers to operate other businesses such as community group buying to achieve break-even.

In April last year, the official of Cainiao Station posted on the WeChat public account platform that "today began to deliver free goods to the door in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou", but it was limited to Taobao Tmall packages, and the subsidy was given by Taobao Tmall. However, whether subsidies are sustainable and when they will be rolled out nationwide remains questionable.

Fengchao and Cainiao have undoubtedly become a "solution" for the courier when they are trapped in the inability to come to the door. However, if the relevant policies are introduced, these transfer stations will undoubtedly usher in a big test.

03 Cloak yourself with new services

Even if the current regulations are only at the stage of drafting for comment, the sea surface of the industry is already turbulent, and some enterprise platforms have smelled "opportunities to take advantage of".

"How hard it is to raise the delivery fee, how difficult it is to deliver to the door."

The delivery fee does not go up, and the root cause comes from the price war between the courier companies. According to data from the State Post Bureau, the price of express delivery tickets in the industry has dropped from 20.65 yuan in 2011 to 9.8 yuan of the overall average unit price of express delivery in the first half of 2021, which has dropped by half in ten years.

But you know, if it is not a last resort, no merchant is willing to fight a "price war", and this battle is just "seizing market share" so simple? In fact, there is a dilemma behind it.

Business flows drive logistics. According to iResearch statistics, e-commerce parts in domestic express delivery account for more than 80%. It can be seen that e-commerce plays a supporting role in the express delivery industry, but enjoying this dividend also means that it will be subject to this.

Jingdong has Jingdong Logistics, Vipshop signed a contract with SF, Pinduoduo brought Jitu to the market and acquired Best Express for 6.8 billion yuan, and the "four links and one reach" pattern may usher in a reshuffle. At present, the main pillar of the express delivery industry is still from e-commerce, and for e-commerce merchants, homogeneous services, only low prices can take advantage.

"Wool out of the sheep", if you want to survive in the price war, you must cut off some "wings", and in the express station, smart express cabinet and other facilities continue to improve, to avoid "home delivery" consumption of resources naturally become the first choice of merchants.

However, in the case that all parties in the industry dare not rush to raise prices, some players have set their sights on "home delivery" and launched differentiated services.

In November last year, it was reported that Yunda issued an internal notice to officially rename the express project as Zhi Orange Network, emphasizing home delivery, signing for receipt by myself, and delivering according to the requirements of the recipient in special circumstances.

Subsequently, Yuantong was not to be outdone, and launched the "Yuanzhunda" at the end of last year, one of the services was "pre-transmission electricity connection, on-demand delivery". Pan Shuimiao, president of YTO Express, once said that the express delivery industry has entered a new stage of shifting from price competition to value competition.

Douyin recently tested "Yinzunda" and began to improve its own logistics system. Related services include home delivery, end-of-line priority delivery, etc. According to relevant reports, the current supported express delivery companies are Zhongtong, Yuantong, Yunda and so on.

The layout of Douyin has actually had signs since December last year, when some product links have already launched the "home delivery" service and have also been listed in the "logistics value-added" section. If customers need home delivery, there is an additional charge. Home delivery courier increases the charge of 0.8 yuan / single, when the courier company does not perform in accordance with the promised service, the courier company pays the merchant 5 yuan per order.

According to the relevant national regulations, "pre-delivery" and "home delivery" should have been the obligations of courier service providers, but now they are labeled as "new services".

Is the additional charge accepted by the user? How to meet the dilemma faced by the delivery end courier? It is easy to launch new forms of services, but if you want to form a virtuous circle, it is not easy for the upstream, middle and downstream of the industry.

Every change in the industry is likely to usher in a new reshuffle period. There is no perfect solution at present, but any industry dilemma needs countless innovations to drive. As for the final situation, it is inseparable from the compromise and change at all ends of the industry.