"Although the courier service is partially restored, there is a limited time and limited delivery. If you are unhappy because of logistics problems, we try our best, and I hope you can understand." On February 21, seeing the backstage customers have returned one after another, Changle (pseudonym) An apology statement was posted on his store's Weibo account.

Although China Post, SF Express, and JD.com have basically resumed work, and other major express delivery companies have resumed work at an overall rate of 66.7%, there is still some way to go before the timeliness and express delivery volume can return to the previous year.

On February 20th, in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, employees at Zhongtong Express Shanxi Transfer Center received temperature tests before entering the park. Photo by China News Agency reporter Wei Liang

Anxious to send, and anxious to receive

Changle runs a stationery store on Taobao. For the first time in many years, it feels weak due to logistics problems. Her store originally had a backlog of orders from a number of years ago. February 1st was the original express delivery resumption day. They started packing on January 30th, posted the delivery slips and waited for the courier to pick up the items.

However, at 4 pm on February 1st, the courier called and said that due to the epidemic situation, the road was closed and the shift was delayed. Now it will not accept the delivery. The fastest time is the 16th day of the first month, which disrupts the plan of Changle Year.

Express delivery is still limited in many stores.

Fortunately, over time, the courier gradually resumed work, and Changle was finally able to ship, but the impact of the epidemic remained. Cooperative courier does not currently accept the package, Changle can only pack it up, and drive each courier to ask which one can be sent, and each courier is limited to a limited time, which is very unstable.

Changle said: "Not only the express delivery is not completely normal, the supply factory has not resumed work, our inventory may be sold out at any time, and some customers who have placed orders late will be refunded because of the delay in delivery. But no matter what, We will find a way to resume work as soon as possible. "

Anxious to send, and anxious to receive.

Zhao Luoxia, who works in Beijing, met a shop owner when buying accessories for his camera. He negotiated the price and model, and the express delivery was not stopped. The shop owner said, "I haven't passed the 14-day quarantine period. Wait. "Zhao Luoxia, anxious to use, had to change to a store that can ship the same day.

The shop owner said he was in isolation.

Courier companies: more than enough

During the epidemic, there were only three express logistics companies operating directly, including postal services, SF Express and JD Logistics.

Jingdong has said that due to the impact of the epidemic, the order of Jingdong platform ushered in a wave of blowout growth. However, under the double attack of the Spring Festival and the epidemic, JD Logistics also has some difficulties, which are mainly manifested in the shortage of manpower and the transportation of goods.

During the Spring Festival this year, Guo Xin, a JD delivery person who worked in Tongzhou District of Beijing for two years, did not return home. He was deeply moved by the increase in business volume. "Other courier services have stopped. JD.com's delivery service has increased significantly. There are 80 or 90 orders a day, but the community cannot enter. They can only wait for customers to come down at the door to get them. The speed is not as fast as before."

On February 20, in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, employees at the Zhongtong Express Shanxi Transfer Center picked up packages while wearing masks. Photo by China News Agency reporter Wei Liang

On February 9, the person in charge of a franchised express delivery point in Henan told reporters that only one third of the employees in the outlets he was responsible for returned. "Most of the courier at the delivery point are from rural areas. There is no way to return without public transportation. I have to quarantine for 14 days when I return. The capacity is insufficient and the timeliness is difficult to guarantee."

Fortunately, other express delivery companies are gradually returning to work to share the pressure. On February 10, the State Post Office announced that 13 delivery companies had been fully restored.

On February 22, Wu Chungeng, director of the Policy Research Office of the Ministry of Transport, said at the press conference that the express delivery industry has steadily recovered, and China Post, SF Express and Jingdong have basically resumed work. The rest of the major express delivery companies have resumed work at a rate of 66.7%.

It takes time to fully resume work

Although major express companies responded to the policy promptly and resumed work, from the perspective of consumer experience, there are still difficulties in returning to the previous year.

From the feedback of multiple interviewees, delays in express delivery have become the norm, and individual express delivery has even become congested. For example, the courier service carried by Shentong and sent from Guangdong to Beijing was not only twice as slow as usual, but was not delivered one week after arriving at the Beijing Shunyi distribution point. The merchant's customer service only said that "the impact of aging may be affected by the epidemic and traffic control."

Merchant customer service indicated that express delivery was limited.

More than a dozen shops on the e-commerce platform that reporters contacted recently have also differed in terms of whether or not express delivery can be made normally. For example, a beauty brand said that affected by the epidemic, Wenzhou, Taizhou is currently not shipping, and ordinary express delivery is not shipping in Hubei except for medical rescue and protective supplies.

Most other stores also set up non-delivery areas, due to the impact of the epidemic. For normal delivery, only SF or Post can be selected, and a price increase is required.

On the evening of February 24, SF Express released its January 2020 business operation briefing. Among them, the express logistics business realized operating income of 11.15 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.64%. In January, the business volume of SF Holdings was 566 million votes, an increase of 40.45% against the trend.

Industry insiders told reporters that express delivery involves multiple links. The courier needs to be transported through the main line, to the courier distribution center, then to various cities and outlets to receive and enter the warehouse, and then to the courier, and finally to the customer. As long as the ring is stuck, the subsequent links are difficult to carry out, so SF Express and other self-operated express delivery are more secure than franchised express delivery.

The picture shows a small area surrounded by courier staff at the entrance of the community to send and receive courier. Photo by Liu Wenhua

A person in charge of a business office in the Tongda Department of Chaoyang District, Beijing, also told reporters, "In places with severe epidemic control, except for special anti-epidemic materials, regular daily express shipments cannot be issued. In addition, some areas have strict traffic and personnel controls. Land transport requires a lot of formalities, and the time limit will definitely be delayed. "

The person in charge of a franchised express delivery point in Qingdao, Shandong also stated that according to requirements, the delivery staff at each express delivery outlet must have a sufficient number of masks, disinfectants and other related products to resume work. "At present, basic operations can be maintained, but to return to normal levels, it is necessary to purchase sufficient protective equipment, and it is estimated that it will take some time."

Epidemic eases, express delivery industry will fully recover

In terms of production capacity, the express delivery industry is recovering relatively quickly. According to the data of the State Post Office, as of February 18, the industry's total volume reached 120 million, and the volume of investment reached 80 million, completing the first-stage goal of recovering the service capacity to 40% in advance. At the same time, strive to restore the express delivery capacity to more than 60% by the end of February.

In order to support the recovery of the express delivery industry, on February 19, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice on its official website about the use of next-generation information technology to support epidemic prevention and control and resume work. The notice pointed out that supporting productive service companies such as Internet transportation, logistics, and express delivery were the first to resume work and resume production.

Chongqing, Zhejiang, Shandong, Sichuan, Guangxi, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Jiangxi, Hainan and other provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) also issued circulars to prevent and control the epidemic, and opened the delivery network "people's livelihood channel" to ensure the supply of residents' living materials.

On February 20, the employees of Yinchuan Post Sorting Center in Ningxia disinfected the mail. Photo by China News Agency reporter Yu Jing

Courier brothers are also in place. On February 24, Alibaba's rookie data showed that as of February 23, nearly 90% of the courier outlets have resumed work, and more than 2 million courier brothers have gone retrograde and worked hard to restore the courier rhythm to normal. According to reports, Cainiao has joined hands with the "Four Links and One Reach" express company to create a green channel for express delivery and provide greater subsidies and support to express outlets and courier.

Xu Yong, chief analyst of the logistics express consulting network, said that express delivery is the industry with the highest efficiency. If production is resumed upstream and the epidemic eases, express delivery is an industry that can quickly restore production capacity.

The Guangfa Securities Research Report also stated that, according to estimates, assuming that the average daily shipment volume at the end of February is fully restored, the year-on-year growth rate of at least 19% in March is expected to maintain single-digit growth in the first quarter. The State Post Bureau started the second phase of the postal courier industry to resume work and resume production and strive to restore production capacity to more than 60% by the end of the month, and the industry is expected to return to normal in March.

Judging from various measures, the long-awaited express delivery is already on the way.

Author: Zhang Xu