The express industry’s anti-"involution" is a must-answer question

　　■ Editorial

　　If my country's express delivery industry wants to go from "big" to "strong", it has to return to the value competition track and lead the industry's development into a positive enhancement loop.

　　"We must clearly oppose'involution', prevent unfair competition, and oppose behaviors that harm the interests of the industry and the interests of employees." According to the State Post Bureau website, on December 3, the State Post Bureau Director Ma Junsheng made clear at the express company telephone symposium Put forward anti-"involution" requirements.

　　Anti-"involution" in the express industry is not a multiple-choice question, but a must-answer question: In reality, the "involution" of the express industry is chaotic, and the negative effects should not be underestimated-macroscopically, this will damage the overall competition of the express industry in my country This will reduce the efficiency of express delivery companies, and will allow the low-cost competition driven by price wars to "eat" the rights and interests of end couriers. Guarantee and treatment room for growth.

　　Express logistics is part of the business flow, and it is also a link connecting e-commerce, individuals, and industry practitioners; it has a symbiotic relationship with e-commerce and new retail, and it has been deeply embedded in people's daily lives.

Over the years, with the rapid development of my country's Internet industry, the express delivery industry has also entered an explosive period.

　　However, as the development of the mobile Internet has entered the stage of "incremental transfer to inventory", the express delivery industry has already shifted from the incremental "blue ocean" to the "red ocean" of inventory.

Under low barriers to employment and high competitive pressure, the most intuitive way for many express companies to compete for the market is to fight a price war, and the result is that the entire express industry "rolls" into a ball.

　　The financial reports of various express companies in 2020 can explain the problem.

In 2020, the gross profit of various express delivery companies will generally decline. Among them, the gross profit rate of YTO, Yunda, and Shentong express services have fallen by 5.08%, 3.57% and 7.28% respectively; in terms of gross profit per ticket, Zhongtong, Yunda, YTO and Shentong are respectively 0.38 Yuan, 0.12 Yuan, 0.14 Yuan, 0.08 Yuan, Baishi even fell to a negative number.

　　The entire industry has almost fallen into hand-to-hand competition. It is not uncommon to receive orders below cost, and the price will overflow. The most direct impact is on the income and efficiency of the courier group.

According to media reports, many couriers have delivered more and more packages, but their income is getting lower and lower, and it is difficult for some post stations to make profits; some township outlets have been forced to close down or increase prices privately; many online shoppers have found that express delivery The speed is slowing down, and problems such as non-delivery, non-calling stations, and mandatory inbox charges are becoming more common.

　　It is undeniable that price wars are an inevitable phased phenomenon in the development of the express delivery industry—price competition is the only way to clear the express delivery market; Send cost.

But things must be reversed. Under the "involvement", it can only cause a vicious circle and a situation of multiple losses: express service blindly strives for low prices instead of quality. After all, it is not a "dinner" but "someone pays", which seems to be paying. It is a courier company, but in the end it will still be passed on to couriers and users: the income of couriers is not guaranteed, and the user's online shopping experience is not guaranteed.

　　In this context, the State Post Bureau clearly stated that it would counter "involution", which was quite targeted.

This is not a futile move, but an inevitable trend.

If the express delivery industry wants to embark on the path of healthy development, if my country's express delivery industry wants to go from "big" to "strong", it has to return to the value competition track and lead the industry's development into a positive enhancement loop.

　　The express industry needs to embrace long-termism in order to optimize its structure, improve quality and efficiency.

The specific path includes, at the technical level, accelerating the digitization and intelligent penetration of the express delivery industry, using smart warehouse distribution networks and "AI sorting" technologies to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and use big data and smart matching to improve network efficiency ; In terms of services, it can provide more personalized and integrated services, promote product classification, service stratification, and transform to an integrated express logistics provider.

　　In the industrial dimension, it is also possible to go deeper into the industrial chain. Considering that consumer-oriented operating costs have been compressed to the extreme, the supply chain properties go to the depths of the industry to help physical enterprises build industrial logistics infrastructure, reduce inventory, and increase Turnover rate is very necessary.

　　After all, "involution" is not the way out for the express industry, but high-quality development.

Only by substituting "intension-based development" for internal development, and substituting value for price, can the express delivery industry break out of the "involved" spiral, achieve self-upgrading, and better serve thousands of cities and industries and the people's livelihood.