The home pickup was late, and the package has not arrived in 10 days...


  The rapid increase in express delivery puts pressure on the end of the delivery, "Double Eleven" couriers are not enough?

  Every year, Double Eleven is a big test for express companies.

This year's Double Eleven, after the "final payment people" experienced "delivery too fast", they felt "this year's express delivery is particularly slow".

Netizens complained, "Payment on the 1st, the 10th is still on the way", "It is estimated that it is closed"...

  Rumors about the closure of express outlets and unmanned express delivery were hot searches on the eve of Double Eleven.

What is the real situation?

In response to this, many express companies responded to the Red Star Capital Bureau that the overall operation of the outlets was normal, and "individual outlets were closed due to poor management."

Regarding the experience of slow receipt of some consumers, express delivery companies also said that this year's major e-commerce platforms have stretched the front line, orders are higher than the same period in previous years, and the rapid increase in express delivery has put pressure on the end of delivery.

The express company has improved efficiency through sorting front-end, upgrading operation centers, and adding automated sorting equipment.

Delayed pickup

The package "has been floating on the road for 10 days"

  On the evening of November 7th, Ms. Xu chose to pick up the goods on Taobao to return the goods. The scheduled pickup time is from 1 to 3 pm, and the platform shows that the order is normally placed.

At 9 o'clock in the morning on November 8, the courier successfully received the order, indicating that it was on the way to pick up the package.

Ms. Xu also successfully received the text message, saying that the courier would come to the door at the appointed time.

  However, it was not until 5 pm that the courier called and said, “I’m too busy and I don’t have time to come, can I put it at the doorman?” He also asked him to change the pick-up time to 5 to 7 pm.

  The day before, Ms. Xu’s Taobao return home pickup was also delayed by two hours, which made Ms. Xu wonder, “Is there not enough couriers on Double Eleven this year?”

  Ms. Xu’s experience is not alone.

The courier who picks up the item clearly stated to the customer, “Don’t buy anything on Double Eleven recently, otherwise there will be no time to pick up the item.”

  In addition to the delay in pick-up, many netizens also reported that their packages "have been floating on the road for 10 days", "have never been out of the operation center", "the seller finally returned it to resend"...

  In this regard, express delivery companies told Red Star Capital that the battle lines of major e-commerce platforms have been stretched this year, and various marketing activities have begun since October. Orders have been higher than the same period in previous years, and the surge in express delivery has put pressure on the delivery end.

“Individual outlets are closed due to poor management, which will affect the delivery speed of normal outlets around you. Please be considerate.” This year’s Double Eleven, express companies have generally adopted the establishment of pre-warehouses, sorting pre-positioning, upgrading operation centers, and adding automated sorting. Equipment and other ways to improve efficiency.

Courier shortage

And the branch manager personally delivers

  Although express companies have adopted relevant measures to increase the speed of delivery, these measures cannot solve the problem of shortage of couriers.

  A staff member of a courier outlet explained to the Red Star Capital Bureau that “the capacity of the operation center is actually surplus. The front-end efficiency of sorting and the addition of automated sorting equipment improve the front-end efficiency, while the end-point is still manpower distribution. , The number of parcels has increased, and the couriers are insufficient."

  According to data from the State Post Bureau, there will be a peak season on Double Eleven (November 11-16). The average daily express delivery business volume is expected to reach 490 million pieces, which is about twice the daily business volume. The demand for courier recruitment will be compared in October. An increase of 16.11%.

  The root cause of the shortage of couriers is underpaid.

According to data from the 58 City Recruitment Research Institute, in October this year, the monthly salary of couriers reached 8,519 yuan, an increase of 0.28% from the 8,495 yuan in September.

This shows that since the beginning of this year, the express delivery industry has been operating at full capacity, and double 11 couriers have little room to increase their income depending on their workload.

  CCTV had previously exposed that due to the price wars one after another, the courier dispatch fee dropped sharply.

A courier said that the courier fee has been reduced to 40 cents, and after deducting the cost of the SMS call, you can only earn 25 cents per order.

  According to the 2019 National Courier Occupation Survey officially released by the State Post Bureau, more than 75% of couriers earn less than 5,000 yuan a month.

Only 1.49% of people have a monthly income of more than 10,000, and the rate of first-line couriers with a monthly salary of more than 10,000 is only 0.73%.

  In addition, some unprofitable courier outlets did not recruit part-time couriers altogether this year.

A courier told the Red Star Capital Bureau, “If the efficiency is not good, no one will be recruited. Even the manager of our branch will deliver the goods personally.”

  Quantum Consulting's research shows that 20% of the outlets are profitable, mainly concentrated in the outlets with low labor costs, 50% of the outlets do not make a profit, and 30% of the outlets are loss-making.

Extreme rabbit is coming menacingly

Courier company price war

Will continue

  The exchange of price for quantity has become the consensus of express companies.

  In the first three quarters of 2020, the cost of a single ticket for express companies has fallen, but it is slower than the decline in revenue per ticket.

Taking Shentong as an example, the cost of a full-caliber single ticket in the third quarter of 2020 is 2.23 yuan per month, a 14% decrease from the previous month.

Shentong completed business volume of 2.434 billion votes, a year-on-year increase of 19.55 percent. The unit price of tickets was 2.14 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 23.6%. The market share fell by 0.3 percentage points from the previous month to 10.93%.

  The CITIC Securities Research Report pointed out that the current round of fierce price wars began last year. The initiators are leading companies. The goal is to accelerate the industry's share concentration and get rid of competitors behind. The effects of the price war have already appeared, and the first-tier companies have emerged. In the case of substantial decline in performance, losses, and increased losses, abnormal outlets occurred frequently.

Analysts believe that the current difficult stage for some first-tier companies is an excellent opportunity for the leading companies to widen the gap with their competitors. It is expected that the short-term price war will remain high pressure.

  In addition, the newly entered Super Rabbit Express is seizing the mid- and low-end express market.

  According to data, Jitu Express was established in August 2015 and is the second largest express company in Southeast Asia.

Backed by Sequoia Capital and a number of Southeast Asian consortia, Jitu has not hesitated to burn money and adopt a low-price strategy to quickly increase business volume.

  According to media reports, Shentong, Yuantong, and Yunda recently joined forces to block Extreme Rabbit Express, proving the threat of Extreme Rabbit.

The menacing Polar Rabbit also further intensified competition in the express delivery industry, and the price war intensified.

  Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News reporter Wu Danruo