A courier is sorting packages.
The Spring Festival is approaching. Many express delivery companies have announced that they will not close during the Spring Festival, but they also announced adjustments to express delivery charges. Reporters recently discovered that some express delivery companies will increase their express delivery fees during the Spring Festival. As some couriers return to their hometowns for the New Year, the delivery time is also changing, with some changing from "next-day delivery" to "next-day delivery" or "multi-day delivery." Faced with tight transportation capacity, many express delivery companies have also raised wages to retain couriers. Relevant experts said that as long as the price increase complies with relevant laws and regulations, such as clearly marked prices, fair trade and other principles, it is legal and compliant.
Text and pictures/Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Zhou Weiliang and intern Xie Jun
Prices for express delivery services will increase during Spring Festival
Expert: Consumers need to be informed in advance of legal compliance
Recently, many domestic express delivery companies have issued notices stating that they will "not close" during the Spring Festival and will continue to provide express delivery services to customers.
At the same time, some express delivery companies have adjusted their service prices. An express company recently issued an announcement stating that the express business will charge a peak period resource adjustment fee of 0.3 yuan to 0.6 yuan/kg based on weight for different routes from January 17 to February 17. The express business will be charged on February 10. A resource adjustment fee of RMB 5 per ticket will be charged until February 17; another express company announced that in order to ensure the shipping service experience during the peak period of the Spring Festival, some customers and some products will be charged RMB 0.3 before February 17. Yuan/kg~0.5 yuan/kg Spring Festival resource adjustment fee.
Zhan Junhao, founder of Fujian Huace Brand Positioning Consulting, said that due to rising labor costs and operating costs during the Spring Festival, express delivery companies often take price increases to balance costs in order to maintain normal operations. "This kind of price adjustment is usually carried out on the basis of market supply and demand relations and cost changes, and is a normal market adjustment behavior. As long as the price increase complies with relevant laws and regulations, such as clear price tags, fair trade and other principles, it is legal and compliant. .”
Yuan Shuai, a senior researcher at the Zhongwu Huicheng Logistics Research Institute, said that whether express company price increases before and after the Spring Festival are compliant also requires detailed analysis, such as whether they comply with relevant local laws and regulations, whether consumers are notified in advance, and whether there are any provisions in the contract. Clear terms, etc., are all factors that need to be considered. Therefore, when consumers face express price increases, they need to understand the specific situation and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests. He believes that in order to ensure that customer experience during the Spring Festival is not affected, express delivery companies can publish service announcements and charging standards during the Spring Festival in advance to let customers know the relevant situation.
Logistics timeliness affected during Spring Festival
It is recommended to optimize delivery routes and communicate with users in a timely manner
Mr. Xie, a citizen, said that according to the usual express delivery speed, the goods he purchased online on January 31 could usually be received the next day, but he only received the goods on February 2. He learned from the courier that many express delivery Since all employees have gone back to their hometowns for vacation, insufficient transportation capacity will cause logistics to slow down.
The reporter asked a certain express company about this, and the other customer service said that the company is currently in a state of labor shortage, so during the Spring Festival, there may be a situation where one courier is responsible for express delivery in two areas. The customer service said that in terms of express delivery timeliness, there will generally be a delay of about half a day to two days during the Spring Festival compared to normal times. It is recommended that citizens in need place their orders before the end of the year.
The reporter was selecting New Year's goods on an e-commerce platform yesterday. The customer service staff of some stores said that they are currently on holiday, and after placing the order, they will be shipped according to the order of the order on February 17. The reporter visited many stores, and the customer service staff said that even if the express company did not close, they would not be able to deliver the goods because there was no one in the store to handle the express delivery. Some merchants selling New Year goods will still ship and deliver goods during the Spring Festival, but the timeliness is slightly weaker.
Yuan Shuai said that in order to deal with possible delivery delays or abnormalities, express delivery companies can take a variety of measures: first, make arrangements and deployment of personnel in advance to ensure that there are enough manpower during the Spring Festival; second, strengthen sorting and transportation management, Improve logistics efficiency; finally, by promptly updating logistics information and establishing emergency plans, we handle abnormal situations in a timely manner and protect customer rights.
Zhan Junhao suggested that express delivery companies can strengthen transportation capacity scheduling and distribution route optimization, promptly notify users of possible delays, and maintain communication with users. For delayed express delivery, express delivery companies can provide appropriate compensation measures to improve the efficiency of delivery. customer satisfaction.
Coping with capacity shortages
Express delivery companies are recruiting people to "retain people"
In response to the demand that "New Year's goods cannot be stopped", many express delivery companies have launched incentives to retain couriers during the Spring Festival. For example, a company announced that starting from February 7, benefits such as red envelopes for staying behind before the year, incentives for staying behind during the year, incentives for returning to work after the year, and New Year's Eve dinner reimbursement will be launched for those on duty. Another company said that during the Spring Festival, it not only provided New Year gift package benefits, but also made every effort to ensure the safety and food, housing, transportation and other needs of on-duty employees; another company also promised to provide generous benefits to couriers, not only arranging New Year's During the New Year dinner, couriers are also encouraged to stay on duty during the New Year by increasing delivery fees, issuing subsidies and condolences.
Zhan Junhao said that in order to make up for the capacity gap during the Spring Festival, express delivery companies can give additional bonuses or benefits to those who stay behind, recruit some temporary or part-time workers, and cooperate with other express companies to jointly solve the problem of insufficient transportation capacity.