On March 1 last year, the newly revised "Express Delivery Market Management Measures" were officially implemented, which clarified: "Enterprises operating express delivery business are not allowed to confirm the receipt of express shipments without the user's consent, and are not allowed to deliver express shipments to smart express boxes, express service stations and other express terminal service facilities without authorization."
This regulation is related to the receiving experience of consumers and is the focus of everyone's attention. At present, the implementation of the "New Express Delivery Regulations" will be one year old, but many citizens still report to us that their express delivery is still being dropped off at collection points without authorization. Where is the "stuck" in this "last mile" of "on-demand delivery"? Let’s take a look at the investigations brought back by reporters during on-site visits.
Ms. Zhao, a resident of Nandan Community, reported to us that she and the courier asked for door-to-door delivery, but they failed to communicate and were threatened instead. "The courier told me that only large items can be delivered to my door, but small and medium-sized items cannot be delivered to my door. He said, 'If you have the ability, just complain and try.'"
The "Express Delivery Market Management Measures" that were implemented on March 1 last year clearly stated: "Enterprises operating express delivery business are not allowed to deliver express parcels to express terminal service facilities such as smart express boxes and express service stations without the consent of users." After the new regulations were released, many online shopping platforms have added the option of door-to-door delivery. However, in practice, a large number of citizens still report that packages that explicitly require door-to-door delivery are stopped at inns, express boxes or building entrances.
"I specifically selected door-to-door delivery in the 'delivery preferences', but it seems to have no effect." Residents of the community in Lane 198, Jianchuan Road, Minhang District, suffered from this. Although they made a note of door-to-door delivery, the express delivery was still delivered to a post station outside the community without authorization. Others are put into express lockers. If residents cannot complete pickup within 18 hours, they will have to bear an additional overtime fee. "The inn will not call us in advance or anything. If I don't pick it up, the express will be left there." "Ask the courier to deliver it, but they say they are very busy and have no time. Sometimes things rot outside when it rains."
The reporter visited the site and found that there is a distance of about 600 meters from the community to the post station where it is released by default. A reporter from Xinhua News Agency conducted an on-site measurement and found that it takes about 10 minutes to walk to the Cainiao Station after leaving the community. It takes 20 minutes to pick up express delivery and return.
The staff at the post station said that the delivery fee for door-to-door delivery is now only 1 yuan. On average, more than 800 express delivery items arrive at their site every day. With a total of two permanent staff, they can only meet the door-to-door demand of about 100 items at most every day. "If we hire more people, we will lose money and the operation will not be sustainable. Generally, we will deliver large and heavy items that are inconvenient to pick up, as well as those items that merchants have added a door-to-door service fee after sending the items."
If complaints are received, the post station needs to bear a fine of 50 to 100 yuan per order, but even so, they are still willing to take risks and give priority to users to pick up the items themselves. Some couriers said that if all parcels had to be delivered door-to-door, their efficiency would be reduced by more than half. It is naturally much more convenient to deliver the packages to the post station at once. A STO courier said bluntly: "In the past, the order fee was 1.5 yuan, but now it is 1.25 cents. If we deliver more than 400 orders every day, it is particularly difficult to deliver in some places, like that kind of old community. It is more convenient to put it at the inn."
Both delivery stations and couriers have their own difficulties, but from the perspective of consumers, since consumers have chosen their delivery preferences, on-demand delivery should be strictly implemented. "I even encountered cases where the courier only rang once on the phone just to complete the task of making the call, and then put it at the collection point." "For us elderly people, we can't lift heavy things. It used to be convenient to use express delivery, but now it's not convenient at all."
Industry experts believe that in order for the new regulations to be truly implemented, the express delivery industry needs to optimize the distribution of benefits and incentive mechanisms. At the same time, further use of technological power to optimize the terminal distribution process or cooperate with community properties are also approaches worth exploring.
Li Sheng, deputy secretary-general of the E-commerce Logistics and Express Branch of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, pointed out: "This is a game between cost and efficiency. For express companies, the profit of a single ticket is just a few cents per ticket. Through the empowerment of technology, we can establish a user database and provide different service processes for different users."
Yin Yanhai, director of the Department of Logistics Management of Shanghai Business School, also said bluntly: "50% of the delivery costs of logistics companies are in the 'last mile'. From a management perspective, it is necessary to improve the treatment of couriers and strengthen the standardized management of couriers."
Statistics from the State Post Bureau show that in 2024, China's annual express delivery business volume will exceed 170 billion items (175.084 billion items) for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 21.5%, and business revenue will be 1.4 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.8%.
The scale of the express delivery market continues to expand, and the number of complaints is also "skyrocketing." Even Shanghai, which ranks among the best in express delivery service satisfaction surveys, has received an average of 775 complaints per month through the 12345 citizen service hotline regarding "express delivery being left at collection points without authorization" in the past year.
Editor: You Yinghui
Editor: Li Yintao