Source | Double One Consulting
Everyone is well aware that it is more difficult to operate an outlet. It is not uncommon for couriers to resign and transfer outlets. Recently, some express outlets have even been shut down. Although the operating difficulties of each outlet may be different, they cannot avoid the three major problems of unmanageable delivery costs, high assessment fines, and unachievable task indicators. Under the weight of these three mountains, countless express delivery outlets are suffering, but they are unable to change and do not know where to find a way out.
Uncontrollable delivery costs
When we talk about the level of delivery costs, we are actually talking about a relative concept. If the delivery fee for each ticket is two yuan, then even if the delivery cost is one yuan, it is not high. However, after years of market competition, express delivery prices have been continuously compressed, and the delivery fees available to outlets have naturally dropped again and again. In this way, cost control becomes very important, but sometimes, cost control cannot be controlled by the outlets themselves.
There is a serious loss of salesmen, and it is difficult to employ people.
Although the delivery price of express delivery is constantly compressed and the delivery fee is also constantly reduced, after so many years, the cost of living of the courier itself is constantly increasing, which will inevitably affect the employment of outlets. Costs continue to increase.
But in fact, the employment costs of current outlets have been compressed. Behind the seemingly good income of the salesperson is the exponential increase in the number of deliveries, year-round work, no social security, and complicated assessment fines. All these make the courier job extremely cost-effective, and outlets will naturally face frequent losses of salespeople and difficulty in recruiting people.
The working hours of couriers themselves are very saturated, coupled with the periodic peak periods of express delivery business volume and the instability of couriers, this has created a demand for agency delivery, which is much higher than the delivery fee income, and will undoubtedly further increase The employee costs of the outlets are reduced.
Many outlet owners said that they also want couriers to have more rest and provide them with social security, but the profits are only so thin and they are not making any money yet. How can I do that?
It can be said that if salespeople can achieve weekend breaks, social security, and an eight-hour work system, then either the branch will lose money and no one will work at the branch; or the salesperson's income will shrink significantly, and no one will do the unattractive job.
Vehicle requirements continue to increase
For end-of-line delivery, electric tricycles can be said to play an irreplaceable role. However, many domestic cities have banned and restricted electric tricycles from the road from a very early stage, so express delivery electric tricycles have always been in an awkward position. situation.
This year, more than 300 cities across the country have introduced new regulations for the management of express delivery electric tricycles. Although the starting point of the regulations is good, by raising standards and strengthening supervision, express delivery tricycles will be given the status of "legal and compliant". But this is undoubtedly a big pressure for outlets whose profit per ticket is calculated in gross or even cents.
The first is that vehicles are expensive to replace. The new regulations have put forward new requirements for the standards of electric tricycles for express delivery. However, the electric tricycles previously purchased by most outlets did not meet the requirements of the new regulations. They can only purchase new vehicles in large quantities. An electric tricycle that meets the standards costs several thousand. Replacing them all will undoubtedly cost a small fortune.
Moreover, new regulations stipulate that driving an electric tricycle requires a driver's license, which also puts a lot of pressure on outlets and couriers. The driver's license registration fee itself is a large expense, usually ranging from one thousand to two thousand yuan; and for couriers who work almost all year round, it is difficult to squeeze out the time to obtain a driver's license in the past month; but in the end The difficulty lies with the old couriers. Their education level is limited and the subjects are difficult for them to pass. Should they, who are still responsible for the whole family and are willing to work hard, be eliminated like this?
In order to comply with the new regulations, the threshold for newly recruited couriers can only be raised. They must hold a D driver's license. The express industry itself has difficulty in recruiting people, and it is even more difficult to recruit people.
’s persistently high assessment fines
’s persistently high assessment fines can be said to be a pain point for almost all outlets. What I calculate more every day is not how much my income and expenses are, but how much I have been fined. But in fact, fines for service quality assessment can be said to be "the general trend."
On the one hand, the express delivery industry is actually closely related to people's livelihood. Society is constantly developing, people's living standards are constantly improving, and the service requirements for the service industry are also constantly increasing, which has also created new requirements for the entire express delivery industry.
On the other hand, the market competition in the express delivery industry has gradually transitioned from the incremental era to the stock era. Now is no longer the time to rely solely on price to move the market.
Many outlet owners themselves also said that at first you might be able to bring customers with a price difference of 20 cents, but over time, customers care most about the service quality of express delivery, not the price difference. After all, for e-commerce merchants, The decrease in store logistics score will cause greater losses to them.
Against this background, it is not surprising that major express delivery brands have launched service upgrades one after another. They are improving timeliness, reducing damage, delivering products to customers' doorsteps, and resolving complaints.
It's just that the express delivery company wants to improve service quality and enhance brand reputation, but it is not willing to pay for it. Instead, it relies on the sharp sword of "penalty" to put the burden on the outlets and salesmen. Fines for false signatures, malicious complaints (uncovered compensation), and KPI fines have caused countless outlet owners and couriers to complain. Task indicators that
cannot catch up with
Domestic e-commerce development has become very mature today and has passed the period of rapid development. Coupled with the current economic downturn, many consumers are choosing to downgrade their consumption, and it is difficult for e-commerce consumption to increase significantly through stimulation. This is also evident from the performance of major e-commerce companies during this year's Double Eleven.
This makes it difficult to develop the express delivery industry market that is highly dependent on e-commerce. Without a vast new market to explore, express delivery companies are just like squeezing water out of a sponge, trying to find ways to squeeze the market.
's original collection task indicators were mainly targeted at outlets in grain-producing areas, but now they are "equally treated". Regardless of whether they are grain-producing areas or non-grain-producing areas, regardless of the market environment, all outlets carry collection task indicators. Originally, non-grain-producing areas only needed to provide delivery services, but now they have to pay attention to service quality and try their best to open up a limited market. Can't
be completed? If you can't complete it, find a way to complete it, or you will bear higher collection costs, wasted warehouse fees, or even directly linked to delivery fees, significantly reducing the income of delivery outlets.
What if it can be completed? It seems to be even more "miserable" if it is completed. Today you have one thousand tasks, if you complete them tomorrow you will have one thousand two tasks, and the day after tomorrow you will have one thousand eighty tasks. The more you complete, the higher the target will be. "Complete" will become "uncompleted". If you don't pay attention, you may You will be in a situation of "more tired, but the fine is higher".
In other industries, the harder you work, the luckier you get, but under such a policy, express delivery outlets have become "unlucky" the harder they work.
The unmanageable delivery costs, the high assessment fines, and the task indicators that cannot be caught up are the three big mountains faced by express delivery outlets. They are also a microcosm of the development status of the express delivery industry. They are also important aspects that express companies need to pay attention to and consider when formulating policies. .
After all, the development of express delivery companies is closely related to the survival of grassroots outlets. If the survival of outlets and salespeople cannot be guaranteed, who will develop the market and provide better services to customers?
