Throughout the development of the express delivery industry from 2007 to 2018, the growth rate of business volume was higher than that 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 five consecutive years, which made the average express delivery price in 2016 almost drop to 2010 half the level.

From 2017 to 2018, although the express delivery business volume continued to maintain an average annual growth of 10 billion pieces, the express delivery business revenue maintained an average annual increase of 100 billion yuan, and the year-on-year growth rate nearly halved compared with the previous five years. The gap in the growth rate has narrowed to 3% to 5%, and the average unit price of express delivery has also dropped 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 entry of express companies into the capital market has pushed the marketization of industry competition to a new stage, and has also pushed the strategic layout of various listed express companies. Business data, cost control, employee care and other aspects are presented in an all-round way to the public.

Faced with the forecast of a 20% increase in business volume and a 19% increase in business revenue in 2019, it is difficult for the input of factors such as venues, manpower, and transportation capacity to support the continuous growth of the express delivery industry to continue to grow synchronously. In the development stage of "relying on strength in the future", improving the efficiency of unit elements has become the internal driving force that determines the new round of competition.

1. Breakthrough concept innovation and strong management

Some data show that the number of express delivery outlets is around 210,000, with more than 3 million employees. It is an effective way to improve the quality and efficiency of the express delivery industry, and it is also an effective way to implement high-quality development in the express delivery business. important manifestation.

The express delivery industry used to rely on dividends and now relies on strength in many aspects, such as delivery at terminal outlets, trunk transportation loading rate, routing design, etc., as well as the management and control level of terminal franchise outlets, marketing awareness, equity incentives and other aspects of management. There is a lot of room for improvement. For the industry's average daily business volume of 130 million, and the average daily business volume of a single express brand of 20 million to 30 million, the improvement of each management detail and the optimization of the management and control process will form a single cost advantage, which will become the market bargaining and price. An important support for scale breakthrough.

2. Improve efficiency with the help of technology empowerment

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 rate and penetration rate of advanced equipment such as unmanned warehouses, drones, sorting equipment, and smart express cabinets, the peak value of express service capabilities has been continuously refreshed. The service timeliness and satisfaction have not declined, which has been tried and tested in the "Double 11" test for ten consecutive years. In addition, real-time data such as cargo distribution, transportation routes, network distribution, customer feedback, etc. presented on the large screen of the enterprise digital command center, as well as the resulting early warning information, have become a key way for express delivery companies to manage and control the smooth operation of the entire network.

Therefore, first-class express delivery companies are increasingly moving closer to informatization and technology companies, and the investment in technology 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 for the transformation of express delivery companies.

3. Promoting sharing through model innovation

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

Despite this, on the one hand, under the franchise-based express delivery model, there is still a lot of room for improvement in customer service, finance, IT systems and even transportation capacity for terminal outlets facing cost pressures such as venues, labor, and transportation capacity; on the other hand, , In the central and western regions, counties and townships where the business is scattered and the terminal coverage is insufficient, the demand for e-commerce express delivery is facing potential growth momentum driven by consumption upgrades. With the help of resource sharing platforms, the labor and transportation cost of business dispatch can be reduced, and the continuous benign Operations are critical.

In this context, for express delivery companies that have developed rapidly with e-commerce dividends, the business will gradually be transformed into refinement, diversification, internationalization and supply chain, or will face greater pressure and challenges.

Of course, strengthening the company's internal refined management, corporate culture building, and grass-roots employee welfare and humanistic care should not be ignored, so that the "creator and guardian of a better life" can become the beneficiary of the industry and corporate development dividends.

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