CNR Beijing, June 8 (Reporter Wang Jing) At present, the annual “618” consumer season promotion activities have started ahead of schedule. On the 7th, a consumer told a reporter from the Central Broadcasting Network that the goods that had been ordered one month before the opening of “618”, after paying the balance, received the package that night. A few days ago, the reporter learned from a number of logistics companies that with the gradual stabilization of the domestic epidemic situation, logistics in many places have gradually recovered and improved recently, and the consumer economy has shown a steady growth trend.
The reporter learned that multiple platforms have begun to pay the balance at 8 pm on May 31. Due to the increasing popularity of the pre-sale model in recent years, the time it takes for packages to be delivered to consumers has been shortening. In addition, when “618” encounters epidemic prevention and control, digital technology is gradually changing the circulation links of logistics enterprises, and empowering the quality and efficiency of express transportation. Many experts in the logistics industry interviewed believe that to achieve the goal of reducing costs and improving efficiency in the logistics industry, express logistics companies urgently need to carry out digital and intelligent transformation.
Beijing: The “618” shopping festival is approaching supermarkets with a dazzling array of goods (Image: CFP)
According to the latest data from the State Post Bureau, during the festival, the national postal express industry collected about 940 million express parcels, an increase of 17% compared with the same period of the Dragon Boat Festival last year; about 970 million express parcels were delivered, an increase compared with the same period of the Dragon Boat Festival last year. 13.1%. “This data reflects the momentum of express delivery’s double growth, and our domestic demand potential is being released at an accelerated pace.” Yang Daqing, an expert in the logistics industry, analyzed to a reporter from the Central Broadcasting Network, which also reflects the State Council’s joint prevention and control mechanism on April 11. The “Notice on Effectively Doing a Good Job in the Guaranteeing of Freight Logistics” (referred to as the “National Seven Rules”) has been implemented, and the effectiveness of logistics dredging can be seen.
Pan Helin, co-director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center of Zhejiang University International Business School, also said that through the “618” consumption drive, the inventory of various consumer goods will be cleared in time, which will provide enterprises with more sources of living water and more cash. Mobility, employment, consumption, investment, etc., will all enter a positive feedback loop.
Since April 10, when the postal express industry fully started the work of ensuring smooth access, the relevant person in charge of the State Post Bureau revealed that with the gradual improvement of the overall situation of epidemic prevention and control across the country, especially the positive results of epidemic prevention and control in Shanghai, Beijing and other places, the whole country The number of unblocked distribution centers and grass-roots service outlets has increased significantly, the trunk express transportation channels have been effectively opened, and the smoothness of the postal express network has rebounded significantly. Recently, the industry has shown a gradual recovery and positive development trend.
From a regional perspective, the reporter noticed that the express delivery business volume in the Yangtze River Delta region (Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui) during the Dragon Boat Festival reached 340 million pieces, an increase of 27% over the average daily business volume during the “May Day” holiday, especially Shanghai has increased by nearly four times; during the Dragon Boat Festival in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the volume of express delivery reached 70 million pieces, an increase of 19% over the average daily business volume during the “May 1st” holiday, and the overall trend has remained stable with progress.
“From the perspective of logistics operation, my country’s logistics organization has basically adapted to the normalized environment of epidemic prevention and control, and the efficiency of logistics operation has gradually recovered.” On the 8th, Deputy Director of the Transportation Service and Logistics Research Office of the Comprehensive Transportation Research Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission’s Institute of Macroeconomics In an exclusive interview with China Central Broadcasting Network, Lu Chengyun said that this has played a direct role in promoting the “618” consumption peak season.
On June 7, 2022, courier vehicles line up on Independent Road, Jilin City, Jilin Province (Photo credit: CFP)
A number of logistics companies have launched measures such as accurate forecasting and fast collection
Compared with previous years, this year’s “618” has become an important starting point to boost consumption, and consumer demand tends to be hot. Yang Daqing believes that the comprehensive unblocking of Shanghai on June 1 has also added a fire to the “618” e-commerce promotion that was launched in advance from the evening of May 31, and expanded the “gate-opening effect” of consumption release.
The reporter noticed that as early as May 23, many e-commerce platforms launched the “618” pre-sale activities, with greater promotion efforts and longer promotion time, which have become the distinctive features of this year’s “618” promotion. Pan Helin told the Central Broadcasting Network reporter: “‘618′ is an important time node in stimulating consumption recovery. With the gradual recovery of the economy, combined with the government and enterprises’ measures to promote consumption, consumer demand is expected to be further stimulated.”
Enterprises in the logistics industry chain have also begun to take active actions. For logistics and transportation guarantee measures, in addition to the combination of “pre-sale speed + pre-sale leading + pre-package pre-processing”, Cainiao can make more accurate predictions and more reasonable through the digital supply chain. separate warehouses to help prepare goods closer to consumers. In addition, during this year’s “618” pre-sale period, a number of logistics companies also launched eight major measures, including accurate forecasting, pre-sale fast delivery, and fast collection to provide high-quality express services for front-end merchants and end customers.
On the 8th, according to the fastest delivery records provided by a number of express delivery companies, the reporter can already achieve minute-level delivery, and half-day delivery and next-day delivery are also more common.
Not only businessmen, especially small and medium-sized businesses, are enthusiastic about their participation, but local governments are even more supportive. Recently, many governments have issued a new round of consumer coupons, hoping to stimulate the recovery of consumer demand by issuing consumer coupons and other means. Shen Qiaowei, a professor of marketing at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management, said in an interview with the media: “In our research, one dollar of government subsidies can drive 3.5 (yuan) to 5.8 (yuan) of consumers’ unplanned new consumption. These new consumptions are mainly concentrated in the catering, food, and retail sectors, which happen to be some of the retail industries that have been most affected by the epidemic, which will have a stimulating effect on the entire economy.”
As the pressure on logistics and distribution further increases, recently, the State Post Bureau has also issued a notice requiring further efforts to ensure smooth access, scientifically allocate resources such as manpower, transport capacity and venues, optimize trunk routes and terminal delivery routes, and fully guarantee services. The network operates in an orderly and smooth manner.
Data map: In the distribution center of Zhongtong Express (Guizhou) in Guizhou Express Logistics Park, employees are sorting parcels in the workshop (Image source: CFP)
How did the digital transformation of logistics enterprises reduce costs and increase efficiency?
How to control logistics costs and ensure delivery timeliness is a big challenge for merchants and logistics companies. At present, when e-commerce platforms and logistics companies gather together to face “618”, new assistance measures are frequently introduced, and smart logistics has become a bright spot to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Alibaba and JD.com use the combination of big data to guide pre-sale logistics, prepare goods in advance at the nearest consumption place, and strengthen the coordination of inventory in cloud warehouses, and promote the integration of warehouse and distribution guarantees across regions. “These measures have used digital means to release the logistics torrent during the ‘618’ period in advance, which has largely hedged the uncertainty brought about by the epidemic.” Yang Daqing believes that this is the test faced by this year’s “618” e-commerce promotion. , Under the combined influence of various factors such as the epidemic, the logistics industry needs more technological empowerment.
In the long run, Lu Chengyun said that due to the structural shortage of labor resources, the continuous increase in the input cost of express logistics in my country will become a development trend. In order to maintain the competitiveness of the industry, it is necessary to further improve the efficiency of factor input, of which digital and intelligent transformation will be one of the important paths.
The establishment of smart logistics, unmanned warehouses, etc., the digital transformation of my country’s logistics industry has been advancing. Since China first surpassed the United States to become the world‘s largest logistics market in 2016, it has maintained continuous expansion of overall volume and gradual improvement of development quality. Pan Helin said that with the integration of digital technology and logistics, the logistics costs of many express delivery companies have dropped, which makes express delivery companies more competitive in the competition. He explained that the “price war” is actually a potential digging behavior within the express delivery companies. The external performance of the logistics industry itself is a labor-intensive industry. Only express logistics companies that have mastered the technical code to reduce costs and increase efficiency can become the winners of future competition.
“Digital transformation has become the key to high-quality development of China’s logistics industry,” Yang Daqing told reporters. Due to the repeated impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic and the ebb of the demographic dividend, in order to cope with the shortage of front-line workers, the logistics industry can reduce costs and improve It is more urgent for logistics enterprises to carry out digital and intelligent transformation.
Digital empowerment can solve many practical problems for enterprises in the logistics industry chain. Some people in the industry suggest that small and medium-sized logistics enterprises should pay attention to their core business, choose a reasonable logistics operation mode, improve their data analysis and application capabilities, and make their logistics business more efficient. Digitized and standardized operations.Return to Sohu, see more