By BAI Fan
The grand promotion of the so-called Double-Twelve shopping event has gone up in a puff of smoke. The Chinese public and everyone involved at the sharp end of retail, except the platforms, have had quite enough shopping festivals for one year.
Delivery companies, who prefer squeezing a whole month’s business into a couple of days, are understandably saddened by the loss.
This year, the volume during Double Twelve hardly increased, and express prices fell back to everyday levels. Express outlets have to be quick on their feet to avoid losses. incur losses.
Even the flagship Double Eleven (Singles Day) event isn’t what it used to be. Profit for delivery companies fell short of expectations and left them unable to cover the losses incurred during the six-month famine that preceded it.
The entire express delivery industry is pessimistic about 2024, and delivery outlets are preparing for losses, layoffs and closure.
During previous major e-commerce promotions, express delivery outlets have made hay, forcing up prices and handling two or three times the normal parcel flow.
For the past few years, up to 85 percent of express profits have come from promotional events. Singles Day accounted for at least 50 percent of the annual total. However, companies need to carry the costly infrastructure needed to handle a couple of busy weeks for another fifty slack weeks each year.
As e-commerce growth slows down and competition builds, the negative impact of haphazard, frenzied promotions on the express delivery industry becomes more apparent. Something’s got to change.
LAI Songqian, a senior analyst in the express delivery industry, believes that nothing much needs to be done except changing the metrics. Market share, Lai reckons, is beyond its sell-by date as a core indicator.
After years of constant upgrades and restructuring, Lai thinks the way forward is even more reform of management models, networks and products.
Lai suggests changing the nation's shopping habits to make them buy fewer small, lightweight goods and buy more big things.
It’s a great opportunity for bubblewrap makers and landfill managers. How this will be achieved is anyone’s guess, but small things don’t make enough money, even though they comprise about three-quarters of the things people buy online.
Chances are prices will go up rather than down.
