400,000 yuan "water drift", less than a year Zhao Qiang (pseudonym) realized that he had become a "pick-up man" of express delivery outlets.
He had thought that after surviving the epidemic, everything would be fine, but the announcement issued by the daily express once again broke all the beautiful expectations. "The branch transfer fee is 200,000 yuan, the franchise fee and deposit are 100,000 yuan, and the company is still in arrears with a delivery fee of 100,000 yuan." In May last year, Zhao Qiang ordered a daily express delivery outlet in Shijiazhuang with 300,000 plates and signed a two-year contract.
There is not much time left for boss Zhao Qiang to show his fists. In February this year, The daily express that has "sold" itself many times informed the franchisee that it will be fully transformed, focusing on the last kilometer in the future, providing same-city express delivery, and encouraging franchisees to transform into business partners. However, this 100-word letter of notification with the title of "Facing Difficulties, Innovating and Adapting" is nothing more than two words in the eyes of franchisees - to withdraw from the network.
In recent years, with the continuous improvement of the market concentration of the express delivery industry, the first-line express delivery system, SF, Jingdong, etc. have gradually occupied more than 80% of the market share, and the space for second-line express delivery has been continuously squeezed. Shell financial reporter noted that since 2017, Daily Express has lost more than 4 billion yuan in 3 and a half years.
However, in contrast, Jitu Express (hereinafter referred to as Jitu) is rumored to carry out an IPO of more than $1 billion in the United States.
As a new force of active financing, is laying the foundation for a new round of reshuffle in the express delivery industry.
Join the "yellow"? Daily Express is in a dilemma
"The employees were dismissed, the payment did not come down after the suspension, and the wages were not settled." In February, Zhao Qiang received a letter of contract termination, "The regional head also called several times and asked us to go to the region for a meeting, and the content of the meeting was actually to ask our franchisees to withdraw from the network and sign a withdrawal agreement." ”
Shell financial reporters looked at the contract termination notification letter and saw that the main content is the failure to perform the termination of the contract, continue to carry out business in the name of Suning Logistics, and will retain the right to legal action and complete the cleaning of the on-site legacy express within 3 days from the date of receipt of this letter and the handling of the unpaid, undeliverable, customer complaints and payment on behalf of the goods in the system. At the same time, it will also bear the overdue penalty deduction, the corresponding liquidated damages, case acceptance fees and other expenses.
Such an ending caught Zhao Qiang, who was already stretched thin, off guard. When the start of construction at the beginning of this year, the regional headquarters did not move, and the dispatch fee could not be mentioned, he told reporters, at that time, Suning small pieces had about 30 to 50 votes a day, and the average dispatch fee per ticket was 3.5 yuan. "The monthly cost of the warehouse is 2500 yuan, the water and electricity bill is about 1000 yuan, the driver's monthly salary is 4000 yuan, plus the three-day nucleic acid test, fuel cost, and various costs, we really can't afford it."
Sun Li's (pseudonym) express delivery outlets in Dali, Yunnan Province, were also shut down.
He took over the express delivery outlet from a friend in 2019, "at that time, the equipment in the store cost me 300,000 yuan, and now it is treated according to scrap iron."
When it comes to the dismissal of employees, Sun Li spit bitter water, and at present, because the payment fee cannot be raised, he is working to make money, and pays employees salaries in batches and months.
Gu Ming (not his real name), a franchisee in Kunming, Yunnan Province, has doubled his losses by comparing his accounts.
"The first two years were basically investing money, and at the beginning of this year, I suddenly announced the closure of the network, and my loss was 700,000 yuan." Gu Ming's investment in this outlet reached 800,000 yuan, the family is doing e-commerce business, and the franchise express wanted to "add wings like a tiger", but did not expect to lose money. "Since the New Year stopped sending, the outlet vehicles have been idle, many employees have also run, and many franchisees can now only go to the construction site to move bricks to make money, to repay the credit cards, loans and so on."
Courtesy of respondents.
The current situation is not less optimistic, and franchisees are not without clues.
At the beginning of 2021, many franchisees went to the headquarters of Daily Express to discuss the explanation. Nanjing franchisee Li Cheng told the Beijing News Shell financial reporter, "After going to the headquarters years ago, the company promised to do a big job in the next year, so that the merchant should rent a rent, the recruitment of people, but also urged to sign the contract of the supplementary contract, the contract expired to renew the contract, many people in addition to paying the deposit, but also paid the network construction fee, two years 11,800." ”
Such a cardiotonic agent also made Tang Li in Hunan vaguely see a turnaround.
"At the end of last year, we were worried that there would be problems, so we sent representatives to Nanjing to find Suning headquarters to talk about the development plan of Daily Express this year, and the headquarters told us that we would continue to expand this year, let us continue to work hard, so this year we have renewed the rent, and also expanded the recruitment of employees, who would have thought that it would be like this."
A number of franchisees told reporters that they are currently in an embarrassing situation and have contacted the relevant person in charge of daily express, but the other party responded to the legal procedures. "Let's sign the withdrawal agreement, the main thing is to clear the relationship." If we sign it, it is equivalent to voluntarily withdrawing from the network, and they will not compensate for liquidated damages. But if we don't sign it, we can't even get the most basic deposit and payment fee. ”
Shell financial reporter noted that the franchise contract provided by the franchisee shows that "in the event of a relevant breach, Party A (Daily Express) has the right to immediately terminate the contract and Party B shall pay Party A a liquidated damages of RMB 200,000 yuan, if the actual loss of Party A is caused, Party B must separately bear the loss to Party A." However, the contract does not clearly stipulate what kind of compensation Suning, as party A, should make if it breaks the contract or requires Party B to withdraw.
On April 7, in response to the current transformation of enterprises and the withdrawal of franchisees from the network, Shell financial reporters tried to contact Daily Express, and as of press time, they have not received a reply.
Pole Rabbit joined the price war, and the second-line express delivery went in and out
The life and death of the second-line express seems to be overnight, and the daily express has just become a new outer.
The volume of express delivery business has been rising year by year, making the entire industry seem to have entered a golden age. State Post Bureau real-time monitoring data show that as of March 24, this year's China's express delivery business volume has exceeded 20 billion pieces, close to the level of the whole year of 2015, the average daily business volume of more than 240 million pieces, the average daily service users of nearly 500 million person-times, the industry service people's livelihood role is more prominent. Since the beginning of this year, the postal express industry has continued to maintain a high-speed growth trend, and it is expected that the annual express delivery business volume will exceed 95 billion pieces.
The best of times are also the beginning of differentiation. With the increase of competition in the industry, the profit of express delivery has been declining, and it has gradually entered the era of low profit. First-line express delivery companies have gradually occupied market share, and second-tier express delivery companies have successively ushered in the era of farewell.
Youth Express, Guotong Express, such as Fengda, Yafeng Express, etc. were once shut down or forcibly delisted. Now in trouble, the reporter combed and saw that in the first half of 2020, its revenue was 561 million yuan, the loss was 552 million yuan, and the loss of daily express in 3 and a half years from 2017 exceeded 4 billion.
In the face of the assets that had been bought with heavy money, Suning, which had problems with its own funds, finally chose to transform and adjust.
Despite this, the obstruction and length of the road ahead has not become a roadblock for second-tier express delivery.
The active financing of Jitu Express has laid the foundation for a new round of reshuffling in the express delivery industry, which also means that the competition in the express delivery industry is more cruel.
Recently, Jitu was rumored to be planning an IPO of more than $1 billion in the United States. However, as of press time, there is no response from Jitu Express. In March 2020, Jitu officially launched its network in China, which was only one year after it was rumored to be an IPO.
According to the official website of Jitu, the company was formally established in Indonesia in 2015, and has a mature network layout in 7 southeast Asian countries, with strong cross-border express delivery advantages. As a new force in express delivery, the outside world's attention to it is inseparable from the relationship with Pinduoduo. Li Jie, the founder of Jitu, and his team are related to OPPO, Li Jie himself is also the founder of OPPO Indonesia, and Duan Yongping, the key person behind OPPO, happens to be an angel investor of Pinduoduo.
Although as a new force, after the full laying of the net, in August last year, jitu was banned by the Tongda system, and some company outlets were verbally or documented to prohibit the agent of Jitu's express mail. Recently, Jitu has also been rumored to subsidize freight, and achieve ultra-low price single ticket prices in some areas, entering the price war.
The Beijing News shell financial reporter learned that the courier industry volume of scissors difference continues to increase, the terminal dispatch fee is constantly squeezed, and the price war that has been fought all year round is still in full swing.
Wang Ming (pseudonym) is a warehouse manager of a direct sales outlet of Jitu, who goes to work at 7:30 every morning, under normal circumstances, he can leave work before 7 o'clock after delivering the goods, and will work overtime until more than 8 o'clock when encountering the peak period of cargo.
The express delivery volume of the contracted area of his outlet can reach more than 3,000 votes per day, and the peak period will reach about 5,000 votes. In terms of pickup, the daily pickup volume of outlets is almost 100 votes, and the courier will collect 30% on the basis of the original price, such as 10 yuan of freight, and the courier can charge 3.3 yuan. This money is paid to the courier in the form of a salary.
"Now the delivery fee has been significantly reduced, before one vote was 1.2 yuan, now one vote is 1 yuan." Wang Ming revealed to reporters, "Before our salary was the model of basic salary + commission, it was recently rumored that the basic salary of employees was gone, only commission, so the salary was low." ”
Jitu courier Shi Lei (pseudonym) has also felt the price reduction of a single ticket. He had previously sent a community and surrounding shops, and had resigned a few years ago to turn to a small business. "I was so tired that I had more than 300 votes at the beginning, and then I slowly reduced it to more than 100 votes." And the daily signing rate must reach more than 98%, otherwise it will be deducted. If you are unlucky, if you encounter a complaint that is implemented, you will be fined 500 yuan, and it will be wasted in a few days. “
Shi Lei's friend took over a pole rabbit outlet in December last year, "before and after the transfer fee of 150,000, plus vehicle configuration rent of various expenses, a very small express delivery outlets nearly invested 230,000, and then did a period of time, found that the amount of delivery is not much, the dispatch fee is also low, a month down in addition to the rent of water and electricity labor, can not make a few money, there is a month also upside down money into." ”
This dilemma is not an isolated case, and a number of second-tier express franchisees said that they are now struggling to find the next home to take over and cannot find it.
Industry concentration is declining, and new forces may cause express delivery to reshuffle
Nezha Express has become another new entrant, and has not yet officially opened the curtain, and doubts have begun.
Nezha Express said on the official WeChat that it will officially launch the network in the middle of the year, and the national investment is currently underway. At the beginning of this year, Nezha Express opened the franchise to attract investment and settled the transfer center.
According to the provisions of the Measures for the Licensing of Express Delivery Business, the operation of express delivery business shall obtain a business license for express delivery business in accordance with the law and accept the supervision and management of the postal administration department and other relevant departments; without permission, no unit or individual may operate express delivery business.
As of press time, in the official website of the State Post Bureau, the Beijing News Shell Finance did not inquire that "Nezha Express" was licensed for express delivery.
According to the official disclosure of Nezha Express, Nezha Express is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jiangsu Guoxin Huaxia Information Industry Group Co., Ltd. The actual controller of Jiangsu Guoxin Huaxia is China Guoxin Information Corporation.
On March 19, China Guoxin Information Corporation issued a statement saying that Nezha Express Co., Ltd. is its third-level subsidiary, the penetration shares are 100%, and in order to protect the rights and interests of many franchisees, it was decided to open a condominium fund account with Nezha Express Co., Ltd., supervise the franchisee's security deposit, ensure that the special funds are dedicated, and the specific account information will be announced at that time. In addition, there was no response to the above-mentioned business licensing issues.
Still, the industry remains curious about the new entrant. On the one hand, its state-owned enterprise background has attracted attention; on the other hand, Nezha Express claims to be a courier, and it is not just a courier, involved in "paving the way", "building bridges", "building networks", new e-commerce, supply chain, big data empowerment, community e-commerce, bulk brand integration, urban and rural resource interconnection, rural revitalization, etc. are all related to it.
The entry of these companies was once regarded as a "catfish", in fact, the current express delivery market does not leave much room for newcomers to break through.
Domestic listed express delivery companies have successively released business briefings in February, and the data shows that the single ticket revenue of the four express delivery companies of Shentong, Yuantong, Yunda and SF all fell year-on-year, and the price war continued. Express delivery business revenue and business volume both achieved growth.
Yunda's express delivery service business revenue in February was 1.515 billion yuan, an increase of 68.90% year-on-year; the completed business volume was 701 million votes, an increase of 136.03% year-on-year; and the single ticket revenue of express delivery services was 2.16 yuan, down 28.48% year-on-year.
In February, YTO achieved express product revenue of 1.377 billion yuan, an increase of 113.62% year-on-year; completed business volume of 529 million votes, an increase of 127.07%; express product single ticket revenue of 2.60 yuan, down 5.92% year-on-year.
Shentong's business volume increased the most year-on-year. In February, the revenue of express delivery service business was 1.060 billion yuan, an increase of 126.14% year-on-year; the completed business volume was 389 million votes, an increase of 146.98% year-on-year; and the revenue of express delivery service single ticket was 2.72 yuan, down 8.42% year-on-year.
In addition to the decline in single ticket revenue, SF's revenue and business volume increased year-on-year. In February 2021, the operating income of SF Express Logistics Business and Supply Chain Business totaled 11.210 billion yuan, an increase of 24.43% year-on-year. SF Express Logistics business volume reached 699 million votes, an increase of 47.16% year-on-year; single ticket revenue was 15.11 yuan, down 16.93% year-on-year.
According to the official website of the State Post Bureau, in the first half of the year, the difference between the volume of express delivery business and the growth rate of collection was 9.5 percentage points, and the growth rate of volume was nearly 2 times the growth rate of revenue. Since March, the gap in volume and revenue growth has gradually widened, from 10.7 percentage points to 16.2 percentage points in May. In the first half of the year, the average price of express delivery was 11.3 yuan, which continued to decline, of which the average price of express delivery in the same city was 6.5 yuan, down 7.2% year-on-year, the average price of off-site express delivery was 7.1 yuan, down 12.1% year-on-year, and the average price of international Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan express delivery was 60.4 yuan, which was 12.6% higher than that of international transportation costs.
At present, the share of the express delivery industry is almost divided by the first line, and the Tongda department has reflected the scale benefit to a certain extent due to its long-term occupation of the express delivery head market, and the second-line express delivery has all gone to transformation or closure. However, Yang Daqing, a courier expert, said that the head enterprises in the express delivery market may have a "bowling effect", each independent and evenly competitive, there is an invisible war of attrition, and the profit margins of each other are not high, such as encountering new forces or strong collisions may also be lost and shuffled.
Dongxing Securities Research Report shows that the express CR8 (reflecting the concentration of the industry) has dropped below 80% after 2 years. In February last year, the industry CR8 was as high as 86.4%, and with the formation of the pole rabbit network in March last year, the industry pattern underwent major changes, and the concentration went all the way down.
Unlike the usual short rise in CR8 during the Spring Festival, CR8 continued to decline during the Spring Festival this year, which is the external performance of the industry that is undergoing a reshuffle. The price war is a severe test for all players in the industry, and the changes in the industry pattern in 2021 are particularly noteworthy.
Beijing News shell financial reporter Cheng Zijiao intern Wu Lixia Editor Wang Jinyu Proofreader Li Ming
Source: Beijing News