Text: Express Observer.At a time when the volume of express delivery business has broken through new highs year after year, the terminal outlets, which should have made more and more money, have become a hard bone because of the contradictions of cost, management, and efficiency.
Among them, urban co-distribution is triggering a series of chain reactions: the first war has led to a reduction in terminal distribution fees, and outlets have tried to balance interests with co-distribution, but it has led to a decline in the quality of terminal services, damage to the brand image of express delivery, and an increase in the number of tasks and a decrease in income of couriers.
The essence of co-distribution is sharing, and the intensive utilization of resources is achieved through the sharing of outlets, equipment, and couriers, so as to improve the efficiency of terminal delivery. However, in the actual application process, due to the imperfection of the co-distribution rules, the industry frequently occurs the paralysis and shutdown of co-distribution outlets, especially in the first and second-tier cities.
The article "The End of Express Delivery Falls into the "Trap" of Co-distribution to Reduce Costs and Increase Efficiency" previously released by Express Observer has aroused heated discussions in the industryDoes the progress and development of express delivery companies and industries really need urban co-matching?This paper further discusses the current situation and future of urban co-distribution.
Co-mating is prohibited by the headquartersSince the beginning of this year, since the beginning of the Wujiang co-distribution thunderstorm in February, there have been express paralysis or suspension events in many places, such as the joint suspension of more than 80 co-distribution franchisees in Shaanxi, and then there is a co-distribution network in Sichuan to follow suit and suspend the operation, and the co-distribution outlets operate a number of express delivery brands, often with opportunities and risks.
In the view of Yibao.com, due to the fierce battle of express delivery companies this year, the probability of change in the industry ranking is large, in order to obtain more market share, many express delivery companies have lowered their dispatch fees, "demolished the east wall to make up for the west wall", and transmitted the pressure to the end, and finally the contradiction broke out.
Putting aside the impact of the paralysis and suspension of urban co-distribution on the brand image and business operation of express delivery companies, it is a confused account only from the perspective of user experience and courier income.
The reason why these franchised express outlets have the confidence to compete with the headquarters of express delivery companies, the reason is that the management rights of many brands in the region are in the hands of one party, once the suspension is announced, a number of express delivery is facing the suspension of delivery, in order to resume normal operations as soon as possible, at the request of the management department, the headquarters can only choose to "compromise".
Once this opening is opened, the follow-up multi-city co-distribution will follow suit one after another to take the shutdown as a "threat", and the entire industry will fall into huge chaos and endless internal friction. After Shaanxi, a similar incident occurred in Chengdu.
This obviously violates the original intention of the healthy and sustainable development of the industry, and is not conducive to the stability of social order.
Yibao.com learned that for the chaos caused by urban co-distribution, many express headquarters have taken action. Among them, a certain Tongda department requires new franchise outlets to sign a letter of commitment for non-co-allocation, and expressly prohibits outlets from participating in co-allocation.
In addition, an express delivery Beijing management area also issued a notice that the distribution fee of the outlets participating in the co-distribution is 5 cents lower than that of normal outlets, and the task volume is 25 times.
Whether it is to prohibit or increase the number of tasks of co-distribution outlets, the intention is to prevent the recurrence of incidents similar to "Wujiang co-distribution", which is not conducive to user experience, courier income, corporate brand, and industry development.
If the rules are not perfect and do not understand the express operation, then it is difficult to balance the interests of each express delivery, the delivery route demand, and the dominance of the issue.
Many practitioners said that the profit of co-distribution is actually very thin, "the biggest trouble is that the system of each company is different, the entry time of each express company is not the same, the delivery is not the same, the assessment is not the same, and the co-distribution system has to be used to repeat the operation, so it is not so easy to do."
On the surface, the co-distribution realizes the integration of resources, but in fact, one is to confuse the independence of the express brand, and the other is to increase the potential hidden dangers of the overall operation of the business, especially in urban areas.
Why cities are not suitable for co-matchingAs we all know, co-distribution originates from the survival demand of terminal delivery, especially on big promotion days or event days, and there is often a shortage of capacity, especially in rural areas, because of geographical restrictions and scattered outlets, distribution is a big problem, but there is a different situation in urban areas.
In the city, due to the promotion and application of different distribution methods such as post stations, express lockers and even unmanned vehicles, the problem of insufficient capacity caused by the surge in parcel volume has been greatly alleviated. Therefore, from a purely demand point of view, urban areas are not as prosperous as rural areas.
In addition, Yibao.com believes that there are several reasons why co-distribution is not suitable for cities.
First of all, the volume of urban express delivery business is relatively large, once there is a problem with the distribution outlets, the express delivery of the entire region falls into a vacuum, and Wujiang co-distribution is a typical lesson.
Secondly, urban community management has been highly commercialized, even if there are "big bosses" with strong funds and want to do co-matching, they will also face the embarrassment of a library that is difficult to find, and many property owners in first- and second-tier cities do not welcome express delivery outlets to settle in.
In this way, in order to achieve the co-matching effect, the warehouse had to be placed in the far suburbs, and the courier brother rode a tricycle to turn back hundreds of kilometers every day, which not only increased the amount of labor, but also increased the traffic safety risk.
In addition, due to the different business volume of express delivery companies, the distribution policies and requirements formulated for each region are also different, and co-distribution will lead to outlets using leading brands to balance backward brands.
For example, if Tongda Rabbit has a large volume but a low distribution fee, but another small size but a higher distribution fee, there is an additional subsidy for door-to-door delivery. If co-distribution is adopted, the distribution fee of the little brother is one-size-fits-all, and different distribution fees provide the same service, which is obviously not in line with the law of market value.
Although the current state encourages express delivery, but the essence of the starting point is to promote the "express delivery into the village", in rural and remote areas, the concentration of express delivery is not high, co-distribution is an intensive behavior, can be more effective to reduce all kinds of costs.
As for urban co-matching, it may not be as good as imagined.
Urban co-distribution is just a transitionAccording to the data, at present, nearly 1,500 of the more than 2,800 county-level urban and rural areas across the country have carried out co-matching pilots to varying degrees. However, the co-distribution market as a whole is still in the stage of "crossing the river by feeling the stones", and many supporting facilities are not mature.
For example, in terms of daily business connection, if you need to check and urge the mail, the outlets operated independently by independent brands will pay more attention to and coordinate as soon as possible after receiving the appeal of the brother outlets, while the outlets in the co-distribution area will naturally not pay equal attention, and the coordination effect is not guaranteed.
Nowadays, when there is no bright output in the city, the frequent chaos also makes many express network bosses timid, and the real situation may be more severe, such as the "rubbing the net" behavior hated by express delivery companies, which is very easy to occur in the name of co-distribution.
As far as the current development trend of the express delivery industry is concerned, co-distribution is only a transitional stage, because the industry concentration is still increasing, some express brands have not been completely cleared, and the industry is still in the reshuffle stage, which makes the co-distribution model have a certain living space.
From the perspective of long-term development, it is very unfavorable to get together to match the brand development of express delivery companies, go abroad, and build an international brand image.
As far as the current urban co-distribution situation is concerned, there are indeed many places where there is management chaos, disrupting the industry, arrears of courier wages, etc., before Yibao.com about the co-distribution article, practitioners commented that because the co-distribution has led to a large number of couriers unemployed, wages reduced, and finally the interests of front-line couriers are sacrificed.
However, in terms of express brands and industry development and progress, the co-distribution business in urban areas may still do more harm than good at this stage.