On October 11, ZTO Express issued a "Letter to Customers on the Peak Season Response Plan", saying that it will adjust the express delivery fee from November 11, 2019.
However, soon some experts came out to refute the rumors. Industry experts said that this understanding is purely a mistake, and the cost adjustment has nothing to do with consumers and will not affect the express delivery price.
Experts explained that this is mainly to increase the fees from the receiving end to the delivery end within the express delivery company, and to ensure a better consumer express delivery experience during the express delivery peak season.
But everyone understands that wool comes from sheep, and this is not the first time that express delivery companies have raised their prices before Double 11.
Price increase before Double 11 01 has become a practice in the industry
Double 11 has been an online shopping carnival and it is also an annual test for the express logistics industry.
During the Double 11 period in 2018, major domestic e-commerce companies generated 1.352 billion express logistics orders. According to data from relevant institutions, the proportion of e-commerce express parcels in express business exceeded 80% in 2018.
Therefore, on the eve of Double 11 every year, the express delivery industry will make some "fine adjustments" in prices.
On the evening of September 21, 2018, ZTO informed the official website of the price increase in advance and launched the express delivery fee adjustment mechanism from October 1, 2018. At almost the same time, Yunda Express and YTO Express issued fee adjustment notices to each outlet. On September 26, Shentong and Best Huitong followed up.
In 2014 and 2015, express delivery companies also raised prices as Double 11 approached.
今年，早在国庆放假前，快递涨价传言就甚嚣尘上。
On September 29, there were market reports that some areas of the "Tongda Group" express delivery will be raised from October 1. Subsequently, "Four Connections and One Da" quickly spoke out through the media, saying that it had never issued a price increase notice.
However, merchants in the WeChat groups of many e-commerce sellers said that in Guangdong, Zhejiang and other regions, express delivery fees have actually increased.
ZTO Express, which was the first to increase its price this time, has maintained the first market share of the domestic express delivery industry for three consecutive years since surpassing YTO in 2016, and its price adjustment action may have a demonstration effect.
02 What does it mean to raise the express delivery price?
In fact, the domestic express delivery prices, especially those that implement the franchise system, are relatively low. An executive of a domestic express delivery giant once said that the current price of the express delivery industry is low and has been affected by the inverted cost for a long time.
In fact, due to the strong dependence of express delivery on e-commerce and the fierce industry competition, in the past, people "dare not to raise prices", and due to costs, it may become a "breakthrough" for the industry's price increase.
Yang Daqing, a special researcher at the China Logistics Society, analyzed that the past low-price wars have largely caused the development of the franchise model due to the domestic booming e-commerce logistics demand market. The franchise model is a light asset model, but due to the general lack of operation and management, it has caused serious homogeneity and difficulty in price increase, which eventually formed a vicious cycle. To break the vicious cycle, it is necessary to take the first step in price and service.
Yang Daqing said that the price increase of express delivery is a general trend, but it cannot only increase the price without improving the service quality. Price increase may lead to customer loss. Therefore, it is believed that rational price increase should be a layered price increase. High-quality services can increase prices, and mid- and low-end services can increase slightly by suffice.
Consumer questionnaire on express delivery price increase
However, Yang Daqing also said that price increases will not be the only trend of price changes in the express delivery market in the future, and the price in the mature express delivery market should rise and fall. With Alibaba building the big data service system of Cainiao Network, in the future, through optimized services such as big data, it may be able to optimize costs for high-quality services and reduce prices.
Regardless of whether other express delivery companies raise prices, e-commerce will be greatly affected when "Double 11" approaches.
03 How small and medium-sized sellers deal with price increases
Faced with the collective price increase that is likely to occur or has already occurred, it is actually more difficult for small and medium-sized sellers to survive. In addition to stocking, operating and publicity on Double 11, there will be a considerable amount of extra expenditure in the short term. How should we deal with it?
Merchants can use some strategic choices to reduce losses, and then gradually reduce the express delivery fee step by step.
First of all, the first billing of different express delivery companies is different. Some are based on 0.5KG, some are based on 1KG, and some may be 1.2KG, and the renewal billing is also different. Therefore, there are differences in the quotation orders of different express delivery.
On the premise that merchants know the weight of each ticket, they can give priority to express delivery companies that are beneficial to their quotation under the known weight of a single piece.
The logic behind collective price increases by express delivery companies is that most merchants will not replace existing mainstream express delivery due to price increases, so that express delivery companies will benefit collectively.
However, if the merchant actively changes or shrinks the brand when choosing a courier partner, a courier company will propose new price negotiations.
Some small businesses only send one express delivery in a centralized manner, but other express delivery companies also hope to take you as their customer and take advantage of the price increase to replace the original cooperative express delivery. For example, if you used YTO in the past, you could change it to Shentong. When YTO's salesmen see that their interests are damaged, they may take the initiative to lower the price and renegotiate with you.
In fact, the courier price obtained by many merchants is not the lowest price of the express company, and salesmen still have a certain amount of price elasticity.
Losing customers will lead to a decrease in the income of courier salesmen, and couriers will also be anxious! He may help you find a solution within the company...
Business has always been a priority. Merchants can start from their own interests, use existing rules and competition to try to break the deadlock.
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