Throughout the development of the express delivery industry from 2007 to 2018, the increase in business volume is higher than the increase in business income. Among them, from 2011 to 2016, the annual growth rate of express delivery business was above 50%, and the annual growth rate of business income exceeded 35%. The gap between the two was more than 15% for five 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 volume of express delivery business continued to grow at an average annual rate of 10 billion pieces, the revenue of express delivery business maintained an annual increase of 100 billion yuan, while the year-on-year growth rate was nearly halved compared with the previous five years. The gap between the increase is narrowed to 3% to 5%, and the average unit price of express delivery is also around 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 express delivery enterprise's landing in the capital market pushes the marketization degree of the industry competition to a new stage, and also the strategic layout of each listed express delivery enterprise. Business data, cost control, employee care and other aspects are presented in the public view.

Faced with the 20% increase in business volume and the 19% increase in business revenue in 2019, it is difficult to continue to maintain the simultaneous growth of the site, manpower, and transportation capacity of the express delivery industry. The express delivery industry has shifted from “previously relying on dividends”. In the development stage of "being dependent on strength", improving the efficiency of unit factors has become the internal driving force for determining a new round of competition.

First, breakthrough ideas, strong management

According to statistics, the number of outlets at the end of the express delivery is about 210,000, and the number of employees is more than 3 million. In the express delivery business-transfer-transport-sales standardization process, the improvement of unit factor input efficiency through management innovation, technology empowerment and mode sharing is an effective way to promote the quality improvement of the express delivery industry, and also to implement high-quality development. Important embodiment.

In the past, the express delivery industry relied on many factors such as the end outlets, the trunk loading rate, the routing design, and the management of the end-joining network management level, marketing awareness, and equity incentives. For the industry's daily average of 130 million business volume, and the daily volume of a single express brand of 20 million to 30 million, the improvement of each management detail and the optimization of the control process will form a single piece of cost advantage, which will become the market bargaining and An important support for scale breakthroughs.

Second, with the help of technology to enhance efficiency

With the continuous deepening of the application of advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, and the increase in the input rate and penetration rate of advanced equipment such as unmanned warehouses, drones, sorting equipment, and intelligent express cabinets, the peak value of express service capabilities is constantly refreshed. Service timeliness and satisfaction are not downhill, 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, and the resulting early warning information have become the key ways for the express delivery enterprise to control the smooth operation of the whole network.

Therefore, the first-class express delivery enterprises are increasingly moving closer to information technology 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. At the same time, "digital" has become another key word for the transformation of express delivery companies.

Third, promote sharing through model innovation

E-Commerce has occupied 70% to 80% of the domestic express delivery market, and the business volume of the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei economic circle accounts for more than 70% of the total business volume, and the business is highly concentrated and demanded. The similarity makes the standardization of express delivery services gradually increase.

Despite this, on the one hand, in the franchise express mode, the end points facing the cost pressure of site, labor, and transportation capacity still have much room for improvement in customer service, finance, IT system and even capacity. In the central and western regions of the central and western regions and townships where the business is scattered and the terminal coverage is insufficient, the demand for e-commerce express delivery is driven by the consumption upgrade, and the resource sharing platform is used to reduce the labor and transportation costs of the business and achieve continuous benignity. Operation is critical.

In this context, for express delivery companies that have developed rapidly with the e-commerce dividend, the business will gradually transform into a refined, diversified, international, and supply chain or will face greater pressure and challenges.

Of course, strengthening the company's internal fine management, corporate culture and grassroots employee welfare and human care can not be ignored, so that the "creator of good life, guardian" has become the beneficiary of industry and enterprise development dividends.

The author of this paper is a researcher in the National Engineering Laboratory of Logistics Information Interoperability Sharing Technology and Application.