After launching Xinjiang free shipping for the first time in 2022, Pinduoduo has once again upgraded its express delivery services and implemented free free shipping to villages in Xinjiang, further shortening the distance between the terminal distribution network and consumers to within 2 kilometers and shortening the signature time to 24 hours.
It is reported that the service has been launched in more than half of the villages in Xinjiang, covering more than ten categories such as women's clothing, men's clothing, beauty, car products, department stores, digital, mother and baby, shoes and bags, home textiles and home decoration, and food, with prices ranging from a few Daily necessities priced at RMB 1,000, and mobile phone appliances priced at several thousand RMB, are all supported by free shipping to the village.
In response to urgent needs, Pinduoduo has also launched a "3-day delivery" express delivery service, so that both herders in northern Xinjiang who live in the alpine grasslands and residents in southern Xinjiang in the Gobi desert can enjoy the convenience of e-commerce.
Pinduoduo's Xinjiang free shipping special page has launched express "3-day delivery" fast delivery service.
In terms of after-sales, the platform also provides Xinjiang consumers with a "7-day no-reason return" service. The return and exchange of goods will subsidize the freight according to the first logistics cost. Consumers only need to search for "Xinjiang free shipping" on Pinduoduo's homepage, enter the exclusive channel page, and place an order for their favorite products with one click. Look for the words "Return Package Shipping Fee" and "7-Day Return" on the product introduction page to enjoy the product. Consumers in the "Free Shipping Zone" receive the same fast, high-quality express collection and return service.
"Express delivery is a bridge connecting production and consumption, and a 'barometer' that reflects economic vitality." The person in charge of Pinduoduo's relevant business said that in the future, Pinduoduo will continue to unite the forces of all parties, mobilize platform resources, and continue to clear the congestion points of e-commerce cargo flow. Continuously expand the service coverage of express delivery and free shipping into villages, and then build a logistics corridor from the source of manufacturing to Xinjiang, driving new economic vitality in Xinjiang and even the entire western region.
"Free shipping to villages" covers more than half of the administrative villages in Xinjiang
As the pioneer of new e-commerce, Pinduoduo has always been consumer-oriented and committed to allowing consumers to enjoy a shopping experience of "more benefits" and "good services", and Xinjiang is no exception.
For a long time, Xinjiang has always been blocked from the "free shipping" threshold due to reasons such as its vast territory and sparse population, high logistics costs, and difficulty in large-scale transportation of parcels. "Our store offers free shipping, except for remote areas such as Xinjiang and Tibet" has become a common response tactic used by many e-commerce customer service staff.
In response to this pain point, Pinduoduo pioneered the free transit and consolidation model, which allows all merchants to deliver Xinjiang consumers’ packages to Xi’an transit and consolidation warehouses. The platform then uniformly delivers the goods to Xinjiang through third-party logistics service operators, ending the insufficiency of express delivery in Xinjiang. The history of free shipping. However, due to the scattered layout of villages in Xinjiang and high delivery costs, many express packages are still "blocked" in counties and towns, which to a certain extent inhibits the region's consumption potential.
In order to unblock the channels for consumer goods to enter villages, in July 2023, Pinduoduo teamed up with third-party logistics service operators to take the lead in piloting express delivery to villages in Yarkand County, Kashgar Prefecture, shortening the distance between terminal distribution outlets and consumers from dozens of kilometers to a few. kilometers, and the time for signing is also shortened from several days to within 24 hours. Consumers no longer have to save up for several days to pick up express packages, nor do they have to drive half an hour or an hour to the county or town to pick up goods. They can pick up express packages on the way home every day.
Pinduoduo Express has delivered free shipping to Siyuan Village, Daxiqu Town, Changji City, Xinjiang.
Xu Jianfen, 40, lives in Panjiataizi Village, Santai Town, Jimusar County, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture. This place is located at the eastern end of the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains. The winter is long and very cold. Entrance and exit are all dependent on vehicles. Once it encounters snowy or windy weather, you will only go out every few days.
Last fall, when a wet fog filled Panjiataizi Village, Xu Jianfen was driving on the way out of the village when he was attracted by a bright-colored express truck coming from the opposite direction.
"I thought someone was working at the express delivery company and drove back. Later, I received a text message reminder from the platform and found out that Pinduoduo Express had delivered to the village for free." Xu Jianfen said with a smile. In the past, express delivery had to be picked up several kilometers away. , you still have to go to the point where the staff go to work. Now the express pick-up point is less than 1 kilometer away from home, and the business hours are longer, making it very convenient to receive goods.
Efficient logistics and convenient pickup are Xu Jianfen’s biggest experience since using Pinduoduo Express’s free shipping service to villages. She now spends about one-fifth of her monthly income on online shopping. Pens and homework books for her children to go to school, daily necessities, clothing, shoes and hats for her family are all purchased from Pinduoduo. "The fastest time, the jeans I ordered at around 9 a.m. on March 13 were delivered on March 15, very fast."
Xinjiang consumers go to village express collection points near their homes to pick up express delivery.
Ma Chunyu, a Hui girl living in the Ili Valley, is only 30 years old this year, but she already has seven or eight years of online shopping experience. On the recommendation of a friend, she came into contact with Pinduoduo and became one of the most experienced users of the platform. She has bought everything from small commodities for a few yuan to washing machines worth several thousand yuan. “I have been using the washing machine for two years since I bought it.”
Over the years of online shopping, she has witnessed the upgrade of Pinduoduo’s express and free shipping services in Xinjiang. From being the first to launch free shipping services to Xinjiang, delivering goods to towns and villages, and now delivering goods free of charge to villages, Ma Chunyu has gradually gained the shopping experience of consumers in the "free shipping area".
Guozigou Ranch, Guozigou Town, Huocheng County, where she lives, has set aside a space of 30 to 40 square meters in a supermarket, with three-layer shelves on three sides to provide end-point pick-up service. "In the past, express delivery to the town was still more than 10 kilometers away from home, and it took more than 20 minutes to drive there. If you only bought a few small things for a few yuan, the toll required for one pick-up could be worth the price difference between online and offline. "Ma Chunyu said that the pick-up point is now less than one kilometer away from home. "It only takes two minutes to drive there and about ten minutes to walk, and you don't have to spend any money. It's very convenient."
Pinduoduo Express’s free village service is an upgrade on the basis of free shipping. Just two months after its launch, the service expanded out of Yarkand and was promoted throughout Xinjiang; by mid-October 2023, it will cover 60 counties in Xinjiang. At present, this service has been implemented in more than half of the administrative villages in Xinjiang, and the scope continues to expand.
Smooth cargo flow stimulates regional economic vitality
The flow of goods is smooth, and goods are available in all directions. The construction of roads for Xinjiang express logistics to enter villages will play a vital role in revitalizing the regional economy and promoting business flows in the western region.
In Jiashi County, Kashgar Prefecture, Uyghur girl Mihere Ayi ran an electronic service store after graduating from junior high school, providing villagers with services such as paying utility bills, taking electronic photos, and copying and printing. In 2020, Mihere Ayi started her online shopping journey on the Pinduoduo platform. The affordable and convenient shopping experience allowed her to build trust in e-commerce shopping, and she will shop on the platform basically every month.
After Pinduoduo Express launched free shipping in the village, it not only became more convenient for her to receive express delivery, but also gained an extra income. "In the past, goods sent from Urumqi took four or five days to arrive. Now not only can they be delivered in one or two days, but they will be placed in my store after the express arrives in the village. I can receive subsidies for every order."
Like Mihere Ayi, convenience stores in many villages in Xinjiang have set up express collection points.
According to data from the State Post Bureau, in 2023, Xinjiang's express delivery business volume (excluding the postal company's parcel business) will complete a total of 305 million pieces, and the express delivery business revenue will total 6.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 88.1% and 77.9%, respectively. Both growth rates are evenly matched. Ranked first in the country.
The data demonstrates Xinjiang’s economic growth potential and social benefits. Once the free shipping service to villages is expanded to more villages, it will undoubtedly stimulate the enthusiasm of Xinjiang consumers for online shopping to a greater extent, making it easier for local consumers to "buy in" and allowing more and more people like Mihere Ayi to Participants in the industry chain benefited, and it provided basic conditions for the "sale" of local specialty products.
In the first three months of 2020 alone, Pinduoduo’s new merchants in Xinjiang increased by 23.9% more than the same period last year. Special agricultural products such as Turpan grapes, Korla fragrant pears, Aksu apples, and cantaloupe melons have reached hundreds of millions of consumers across the country through Pinduoduo and have been widely recognized.
Last year, Xinjiang’s aquatic products became even more popular, with salmon, vannamei shrimp, crabs, Australian freshwater lobster and other “seafood” becoming new internet celebrities. Among them, Xinjiang snow crabs are registered in the "Duoduo Harvest Hall" and can be delivered from the Irtysh River to long-distance consumers in the Yangtze River Delta and other places in as little as one day. With the support of Pinduoduo’s tens of billions of subsidies, Xinjiang snow crab sales continue to rise. A Pinduoduo merchant said that “the overall output of upstream breeding bases can reach 100 to 150 tons in 2023, and it is expected to double to 300 tons next year.”
“No free shipping” and “no delivery” were once the biggest pain points for consumers in Xinjiang when shopping online. With the promotion of Pinduoduo’s free shipping to villages service, this era is coming to an end. The rapid development of new e-commerce will not only drive the continuous improvement of infrastructure in the express delivery industry, but will also find new increments for the regional economy.