Recently, China Express (02057. HK; ZTO. US), Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) (002468. SZ), Yunda Holding Co.Ltd(002120) (002120. SZ), deppon Express (603056. SH), Jingdong Logistics (2618. HK), Jitu express and other express companies have issued announcements announcing that “the Spring Festival is not closed” to meet the delivery needs during the festival and ensure the smooth transportation of epidemic prevention and livelihood materials.
According to the announcements of several companies, the service time of “Spring Festival is not closed” this year is from January 30, 2022 (December 28) to February 4, 2022 (the fourth day of the first month), with a cumulative duration of 6 days. Normal express service is provided on other days.
In terms of expenses, some express companies have issued specific guidance prices, and the unit price of is higher than usual. several express companies announced that “the Spring Festival is not closed ”
As the first logistics enterprise in the industry to carry out “Spring Festival delivery”, JD logistics has started Spring Festival delivery since 2013. On December 27, 2021, JD logistics officially announced that it would “deliver goods during the Spring Festival” for the tenth consecutive year in 2022.
Following the pace of the industry, recently Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) , deppon express, Zhongtong express and Yunda express all said that the service of “no closing for the Spring Festival” will be implemented this year.
Red Star capital Bureau learned that the Spring Festival holiday in 2021 is the first time that many express delivery enterprises collectively “don’t close” and carry out normal dispatching nationwide. This year is the second year of the express industry, with a wide range of “Spring Festival does not close”.
Specifically, deppon express took the lead in announcing the “Spring Festival” on December 14, 2021.
On December 26, 2021, Zhongtong express and Yunda express issued a service announcement, announcing that they would provide “Spring Festival non-stop service” from January 30, 2022 (December 28) to February 4, 2022 (the fourth day of the first month), and normal express service on other days.
In addition, Jitu express also said that during the Spring Festival in 2022, it will invest manpower, transportation capacity and site to meet the express delivery needs of customers during festivals and ensure the smooth transportation of epidemic prevention and livelihood materials. the price may increase with express delivery, the increase shall not exceed 1.5 yuan per order
In addition to ensuring that “the Spring Festival does not close”, some companies have adjusted the express cost during the Spring Festival.
Among the above enterprises, Zhongtong Express has issued specific guidance prices: the express weight is within 1kg (i.e. the billing weight is ≤ 1kg), and the increase is no more than 1.5 yuan / order; If the express weight is more than 1kg (i.e. billing weight > 1kg), the increase of the first weight quotation shall not exceed 1.5 yuan / order, and the increase of the continued weight quotation shall not exceed 0.3 yuan / kg.
It is worth noting that this is another clear statement that the express price may be increased after the express enterprises raised the terminal delivery fee for many times before double 11 in 2021 and claimed to standardize the service price in the express market.
In addition, Jitu express said that during the Spring Festival, affected by the epidemic situation, traffic, weather and other factors, the express price, timeliness and service scope will be adjusted.
Sto Express Co.Ltd(002468) the service announcement said that employee benefits were comprehensively upgraded this year, resources were fully inclined to front-line employees, and left behind employees were happy and at ease through overtime subsidies, red envelope incentives, life security, humanistic care, epidemic prevention and control and other ways. Behind the “Spring Festival does not close”: express companies compete operation
In the past two years, the epidemic has promoted the development of “residential economy”, and the online e-commerce and express logistics industry have ushered in explosive growth.
On December 31, 2019, the State Post Office issued a document emphasizing that all enterprises should make a good delivery service guarantee plan during the festival in advance to ensure “no network, no rejection and no backlog” during the Spring Festival. Since then, more and more express enterprises have joined the team of “not closing for the Spring Festival”.
according to the data of the State Post Office, from 2019 to 2021, the number of postal parcels during China’s Spring Festival increased continuously. During the Spring Festival in 2021 (from New Year’s Eve to the sixth day of the first month), the number of postal parcels in China ushered in a blowout growth. The national postal express industry received and delivered 660 million express parcels, a year-on-year increase of 260%.
“The bonus period of the industry has passed, and the era of lying and winning no longer exists.” Some industry insiders said that now the market share of the express industry is no longer common growth, but one change and the other. in fact, the “Spring Festival does not close” is also a manifestation of hard operation in the case of fierce competition in the express industry.
For the express industry, the purpose of “not closing during the Spring Festival” is to optimize services and retain customers.
In this regard, Shanghai Shenyin Wanguo Securities Research Institute said that 2022 is a profit recovery year under the slowdown of “price war” of express enterprises, and leading enterprises have changed from “price competition” to “service competition”. The continuous implementation of “no closing during the Spring Festival” reflects that express companies pay more attention to the service experience of merchants and consumers, and improve the service reputation and brand image through continuous service during the Spring Festival. consumer: the content is greater than the form “it is agreed not to close, but the express has been put in the transfer station”
In theory, the ultimate beneficiaries of the “Spring Festival does not close” are actually consumers.
However, according to the Red Star capital Bureau, many consumers said that they did not feel good about the “Spring Festival does not close” service in 2021. “it has been in the transfer station for 5 days”; “It was delivered near home without delivery or notice”; “No one accepts the return. It’s always stuck there.” there are a lot of complaints on the Internet. Some consumers say that they feel that “not closing” is more like enterprises shouting slogans.
In fact, many objective factors hinder the implementation of the “no closing of the Spring Festival” to be truly and efficiently. Among them, during the Spring Festival, many e-commerce companies need to rest, shops close, consumer shopping volume decreases, and the express business volume is not as large as expected. In addition, personnel cost is an inevitable problem for “not closing during the Spring Festival”.
Wang Chikun, a researcher at Beijing Understanding Research Institute, said: “traditional logistics is a labor-intensive industry, especially warehousing, sorting and last kilometer distribution. Traditional logistics heavily depends on labor. At the same time, the express industry generally adopts the franchise mode, warehousing, sorting and last kilometer distribution, Each link may be contracted to partners, and these contractors may subcontract again and layer by layer. Express companies have no binding force on employees in these links , and lose control over the last kilometer. Employees in some links are unwilling to work overtime, and the whole link is broken. ”
In addition, for couriers, they deserve higher remuneration during the Spring Festival. If they want to retain couriers during the Spring Festival, enterprises are also facing cost pressure. In 2022, the “Spring Festival does not close” service, express companies still face many challenges.
(Red Star capital Bureau)
