Throughout the development of the express delivery industry from 2007 to 2018, the growth rate of business volume is higher than the growth rate of business income. Among them, from 2011 to 2016, the average annual growth rate of express delivery business volume was more than 50%, and the average annual growth rate of business income exceeded 35%. The gap between the two exceeded 15% for 5 consecutive years, making the average unit price of express delivery in 2016 almost reduced to 2010 Half the level.

From 2017 to 2018, although the express business volume continued to maintain an average annual growth of 10 billion pieces, the express business revenue maintained an average annual increase of 100 billion yuan, and the year-on-year growth rate was nearly halved compared with the previous five years. The express business volume and business income The gap in growth has narrowed between 3% and 5%, and the average unit price of express delivery has fallen by about 3%.

On the whole, the price game brought about by the rapid growth of scale is particularly prominent in the express delivery market, and the landing of express delivery companies in the capital market pushes the marketization of industry competition to a new stage, and also promotes the strategic layout of each listed express delivery company. Business data, cost control, and employee care are all presented in the public eye.

Faced with the forecast of 20% increase in business volume and 19% increase in business revenue in 2019, it is difficult for the delivery industry to support the continuous growth of site, manpower, transportation and other factors investment to continue to grow at the same time. The express industry has shifted from “previously relying on dividends” In the development stage of "relying on strength in the future", improving the efficiency of unit factors has become the internal driving force that determines the new round of competition.

1. Breakthrough concepts, innovate and strengthen management

According to statistics, the number of express terminal outlets is about 210,000, and the number of employees exceeds 3 million. It is an effective way to improve the quality and efficiency of the express delivery industry through the use of management innovation, technological empowerment and model sharing in the standardized process of express delivery business receipt-transfer-transport-delivery. Important manifestation.

In the past, the express delivery industry relied on dividends and many aspects of its strength, such as terminal outlets collection and delivery, trunk transportation loading rate, routing design, etc., as well as terminal franchise outlets management and control level, marketing awareness, equity incentives and other management aspects, there is greater room for improvement. For the industry’s average daily business volume of 130 million and a single express brand’s average daily business volume of 20-30 million, the improvement of every management detail and the optimization of the control process will form a unit cost advantage, which will become a market bargaining and Important support for scale breakthrough.

Second, use technology to empower and improve efficiency

With the continuous deepening of the application of advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, and artificial intelligence, as well as the increase in the investment and penetration rate of advanced equipment such as unmanned warehouses, drones, sorting equipment, and smart express cabinets, the peak of express service capabilities continues to refresh and Service timeliness and satisfaction have not slipped, which has been repeatedly tested in the "Double 11" test for ten consecutive years. In addition, real-time data such as cargo collection and distribution, transportation routes, network distribution, and customer feedback displayed on the large screen of the enterprise digital command center, and the resulting early warning information have become the key way for express companies to control the smooth operation of the entire network.

Therefore, first-class express delivery companies are increasingly moving closer to information technology and technology companies, and investment in technological research and development and equipment upgrades has become an important reference indicator for measuring the sustainable development of enterprises to a certain extent. At the same time, "digitalization" has become another key word in the transformation of express delivery companies.

3. Promote sharing through model innovation

For a long time, e-commerce express delivery has accounted for 70% to 80% of the domestic express delivery business market share, and the business volume of the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei economic circles accounted for more than 70% of the total business volume. The business is highly concentrated and demanded. The similarity has gradually increased the standardization of express services.

Despite this, on the one hand, under the franchise express delivery model, terminal outlets facing cost pressures such as space, labor, and transportation still have room for improvement in customer service, finance, IT systems, and even transportation; on the other hand, In the central and western regions with insufficient terminal coverage and areas below counties and towns, the demand for e-commerce express delivery is facing potential growth momentum driven by consumption upgrades, and the resource sharing platform is used to reduce the labor and transportation costs of business dispatch, and achieve sustained benignity Operations are crucial.

In this context, for express companies that have rapidly developed with the dividends of e-commerce, their business will gradually become more refined, diversified, international, and supply chain transformation or will face greater pressure and challenges.

Of course, the strengthening of internal refined management, corporate culture building, and grassroots employee welfare and humanistic care cannot be ignored, so that "creators and guardians of a better life" will be the beneficiaries of industry and corporate development dividends.

The author of this article is a researcher at the National Engineering Laboratory of Logistics Information Sharing Technology and Application