Chinese people love shopping. That's pretty muchan indisputable fact, especially during the “618” and Double 11th Shopping festivals each year. The time when those countless orders are placed is the time when China’s courier network is put to the test.
Packages flow and flow. But just what kind of a package flow we are looking at here? Well, the following statistics may lend us some perspective.
(Source: Baidu)
According toTencent, thisJune, the number of packagesdelivered, is on average260 millionper day. And in 2019, the largest amount of packages delivered in a single day was540 million.
Which is to say that in China, one person out of five is either sending or receiving a package every day.
However, amazingly, this craziness has never slowed down the shipping speed, which, quite to the contrary, is getting even faster than ever.
In the past, when you shopped something online with shipment fees included, it would usually take about 3-5 days for the item to be delivered to your doorstep.
But nowadays, this process is mostly shortened to1-2 days.
And as for an oversea package, sometimes it can arrive within 72 hours after it has been shipped.
So what is making shipping in China so fast? There are several aspects to consider.
1.Regulations
Before the year 2009, private-owned courier companies in China carried out their operations more or less in the gray area.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Because according to the postal law back then, if something such as a letter was contained inside a package, then this package could only be handled by a state-owned postal service organization, namely, the China Post.
However, a lot of the private-owned courier companies were also handling these typesof packages, hence the gray area. Therefore, it was not infrequent that they got fined because of it.
The power of profit was stronger, so little fine occasionaly did not deter them.
Besides, in the year 2009, the postal law underwent some changes, and according to the amended one, private-owned courier companies could finally legally handle packages and letters.
This gave private-owned courier companies their long-sought-for Pegasus; and they have been soaring ever since.
(Source: 36Kr)
From the year 2010 to 2018, the yearly compound growth rate of China’s courier industry reached 46.9%, becoming a shining star in the new economy of China.
2. Infrastructures&Technologies
Meanwhile, China’s infrastructure construction also accelerated the development of the courier industry.
The trinity of expressways, high-speed railways, and airports ensures that things get to go full throttle 24-7.
For example, in the airway, package shipping alone takes up near 60% of the total cargo flights. And the number of high-speed railway lines for package shipping has reached 451.
Besides, courier companies in China are turning up new technological tricks constantly, such as the automatic sorting center, driverless delivery vehicles and "automated" delivery drones.
As for the building of courier logistics parks, in 2019, 402 of such parks were constructed.And so far in the courier industry, the accumulated length of the automatic processing lines has topped more than 5,000 kilometers.
The courier network has spread to every Chinese urban area, and over96.6%of Chinese rural areas are also covered.
This basically means that no matter where you are domestically, as long as you place an order, the package will be delivered to your doorstep.
3.Couriers
There is yet another extremely important link in the shipping process—delivering packages throughthe various courier service stations located all over the city to the receivers.
In the city, most couriers drive either e-bikes or e-tricycles when delivering a package, which is a more effective means of transportation than vans when moving about on city streets.
This brings us to the 3.2 plus million couriers working in the front line, braving any vicious sun and pouring rain. They are the root reason why the shipping fee in China is so cheap.
We see couriers in uniforms outdoors all the time, sometimes stationary, most of the times speeding by.
On average, a courier in China works 12 hours a day,from 8 am to 8 pm. Let's hope they do get an extra bonus from their bosses, not only just a “thank you”from customers.
And here, it is only fair to also give a shout-out to the tens of millionsof people working long and hard hours behind the stage in areas such as logistics, traffic, and infrastructure construction.
Without these people’s contributions, the shipping speed in China can never become this fast.
So, the teamwork of a multitude is employed just so that you can receive that six-pack you ordered on Taobao a couple of days earlier.
4.Competition
The rapid growth in people’s need for package delivery has also intensified the competition between many different courier companies.
The market is big, yet in order to get a piece of the sweet action is no walk in the park.
In China, there are about 15 or so major courier companies, and they fight each other the "Mad Max-style".
As a result, a basic digital network was born out of the bloodshed, and the customers have reaped perhaps the best gain—a package gets to finish its delivery cycle in about 1-2 days, something that is unthinkable five years ago.
Some courier companies, such as SF Express, gained a lot of loyalty from customers for their professional attitude and conduct, such as when it comes to sorting out the packages.
A friend of mine used to be in the logistics business. Many years ago, when I was shipping out my first package and was at a loss as for which courier company to choose, he told me:
“Go for SF Express, it’s one of the best in the business. They never toss your package violently during sorting.”
And over the years, many other courier companies have also realized this important rules of the game: treat your customers’packages with respect.
Especially after the incidents in which courier companies were exposed to the public thatmishandling the packages.
In order to survive and thrive, they must put customers first, since there are so many big fishes in one pond, thus upped the ante on handing packages better and delivering them faster.
Conclusion
So, from this article, we can have a glimpse into the development of the courier industry in China and what has led it into today’s thriving economy driver.
With online shopping becoming more and more prevailing, it is only natural that the logistic networks keepreceiving "upgrades".
With online shopping becoming more and more prevailing, it is only natural that the logistic networks keepreceiving "upgrades".
