The emergence of intelligent express cabinets can provide users with 24-hour self-service pick-up service, which seems to effectively solve the "last mile" problem. In just a few years, the smart express cabinet industry is competing with each other and capital is swarming. Relevant experts remind: to solve the problem of unclear business model.
"I didn’t expect that the things I bought in Taobao could actually be picked up by the rookie in Paris!" Li Qian, a French student studying in Chongqing, told reporters on October 17th that you can get it by entering the pick-up code, and the location is not far from your residence, so you can get it on the way back to your dormitory after class. Many foreign students said yes.
In September this year, the first batch of express cabinets set up by rookie in Paris, the French capital, was officially opened, with a total of 60 groups, which were mainly set up in the local core business district and scenic spots. Foreigners realized the freedom to pick up their pieces by relying on the express cabinets in China.
In recent years, the emergence of intelligent express cabinets has solved the pain points of mismatched delivery time, low efficiency, high cost and "contactless" security at the end of express delivery. As a new solution for the "last 100 meters", it has become a new outlet in the industry.
Recently, the State Post Bureau issued a circular on the economic operation of the industry in the first half of 2021. The data shows that the business volume and revenue of express delivery reached 49.39 billion pieces and 484.21 billion yuan, up by 45.8% and 26.6% respectively year-on-year, and the growth rate was more than twice that of the same period of last year. In 2020, the business volume of express delivery service in China will increase to 83 billion pieces with a growth rate of 30.7%, up by 5.4 percentage points over the previous year.
Express cabinets rise quietly.
With the approach of "Double Eleven" and "Double Twelve", China’s e-commerce sales will once again set a new world record. As a supporting service for e-commerce, the express delivery industry in China enjoys the bonus brought by the prosperity and development of online shopping, and at the same time, a large number of deliveries impact the terminals of major express delivery companies.
In recent years, the express cabinet, a one-foot square box, has gathered the forces of users, property, couriers, express companies and express cabinet companies. In the "last mile" battlefield, it is crowded and unbalanced, and major industry giants have come to seize the market.
From the whole service chain of express delivery, the terminal is a particularly important link, and it is also the link with the strongest user experience, so there is also a lot of room for innovation and improvement. In the current market structure, there are dozens of smart express box enterprises in China, including express delivery, e-commerce, property management and third-party service providers. Behind the accelerated layout, the Eight Immortals crossed the sea and showed their magical powers.
According to the survey of the ways in which netizens interviewed by the State Post Bureau receive express delivery recently, express delivery stations, smart express cabinets and downstairs collection points have become the choices of most interviewed netizens, accounting for 26.3%, 21.2% and 20.5% respectively. In addition, some netizens interviewed like to wait for someone at home before arranging courier delivery. Only 13.7% of the netizens interviewed chose to place the courier at their doorstep.
The reporter combed and found that the intelligent express cabinet has been launched for many years and still faces the problem of loss. The data shows that the net profit of HIVE BOX in 2019 and 2020 is-781 million yuan and-245 million yuan respectively, and the net profit of China Post Express is-517 million yuan and-159 million yuan respectively. The two major express cabinet brands with the highest market share are facing the problem of long-term losses.
In fact, since the outbreak, the problem of "the last 100 meters" of express delivery has also been highlighted. During the closed management of the community, the express cabinets in the community can only be idle. With the lifting of the ban on couriers in the community, contactless delivery still becomes people’s habit, and the frequency of use of express cabinets has further increased. However, after the express counter started to charge overtime, it affected the willingness of price-sensitive residents to use it to some extent.
Or become the outlet for capital to March.
On January 7, 2021, Henan Yida Warehouse Information Technology Co., Ltd. completed a strategic investment of nearly 35 million yuan. The investors were JD.COM Group, Suning Group and Pinduoduo. Yida Warehouse Company was established on December 16th, 2020. Less than one month after its establishment, it was jointly invested by three giant home appliance companies.
The three major e-commerce giants and three fierce competitors in the industry have targeted the smart express cabinets at the same time, causing huge waves in the industry. Express cabinet manufacturers have ushered in a "good start" in 2021.
In fact, the express cabinet has many profit points and strong operability. According to industry experts, there is still a big gap in the number of express cabinets in China. Coupled with the development of the international market, the express cabinet industry is a blue ocean of 100 billion yuan, which is a new outlet for entrepreneurs and investors. The development potential of intelligent express cabinets is huge.
Buhua, the regional director of Rookie Europe, told the reporter that due to the COVID-19 epidemic, overseas consumption has shifted more to online, and the contactless pick-up mode provided by the self-counter has been greatly welcomed in overseas markets. It is estimated that by the end of the year, the rookie will set up 650 sets of self-reporting cabinets throughout France.
According to Tianyancha data, as of October 17 this year, there are more than 800 express cabinet related enterprises in China. Among them, more than 280 enterprises will be added in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 54%.
According to a report previously released by the State Post Bureau, in 2020, the number of intelligent express cabinets nationwide will reach 750,000, with a market size of nearly 30 billion yuan.
In just a few years, the smart express cabinet industry has been competing with each other and capital has swarmed, forming a pattern of three major systems, namely, express delivery system, e-commerce system and third party, competing on the same stage. During this period, HIVE BOX is also accelerating its external financing and expansion. Following the shareholder’s capital increase of 500 million yuan in June 2016, the company completed two rounds of financing totaling 5 billion yuan in 2017 and 2018 respectively, and in September 2017, it acquired CIMC E-stack for 810 million yuan, becoming the first in the industry terminal layout.
At present, many foreign companies are studying how to turn cars into mobile express cabinets. Just last week, Skoda, a sub-brand of Volkswagen Group, announced that its Skoda Digilab mobile joint venture company has started testing the on-board parcel delivery system with two online retailers in the Czech Republic.
JD.COM also launched a similar product earlier, named "Express Delivery to Car". The principle is similar. After the owner buys the order online, the purchased goods are sent directly to the trunk of the vehicle, and the courier receives the positioning of the vehicle through GPS signals. Authorized courier, after application, can open the trunk of the car without the presence of the owner, so as to realize proper delivery of goods.
Solve the problem of unclear business model
"As a terminal delivery facility, the express box has certain public service attributes, and its quasi-publicity is feasible." Mo Yuanming, a researcher at Chongqing Jingyu Provincial Institute of Situation and Development Planning, said that top-level design should be accelerated, specific guidelines should be formulated, and "fine accounts" should be calculated well, which can not only achieve universal low prices, but also ensure the enthusiasm of market players for development.
The cost of express cabinet mainly involves hardware, maintenance personnel and site expenses. The cost of a set of cabinets (hardware) ranges from 18,000 yuan to 60,000 yuan. The increase or decrease of operation and maintenance personnel is also positively related to the number and coverage of express cabinets, that is, the more express cabinets, the more people are needed, so the cost is relatively stable. The cost of the venue is generally directly related to the express delivery volume, location, demand and whether it is exclusive.
"The end of the courier service must be changed." Zhou Yang, senior director of the strategic planning department of Yuantong Company, told reporters that if all of them are delivered to the school, 150 express items per courier per day are already "ceilings", but the number of Yuantong express items increased by more than 40% last year. During the "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan" period, the absolute volume of the entire express delivery industry will be even larger, and the problems caused by limited personnel will become more prominent.
Chen Shunfeng, president of ZTO Express Tuxi, said that in the future, Tuxi will be turned into a terminal network brand that meets the diversified needs of users such as express delivery, commerce and comprehensive services. Taking logistics as the cut-in, business flow as the income, and the diversified comprehensive services of the whole community scene as the stickiness, rabbit happiness has become an indispensable part of the delivery link.
"The current business model of the express cabinet is still unclear." Wang Yong, a logistics expert and visiting professor at the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology, told the reporter that at present, the main income of express cabinets depends on charging couriers as little as 30 cents, and most of them are storage fees in 1 yuan, so the income source is relatively single. Although HIVE BOX and Cainiao Post Station have developed other businesses such as advertising and retail, they have achieved little.
Xu Yubin, CEO of HIVE BOX, once explained the business logic of building a courier cabinet in HIVE BOX: on the one hand, it is to make money from courier companies, "to reduce the requirements for labor skills with unified service standards, so that courier companies and users can feel stable terminal courier services." On the other hand, it makes money from the client. "HIVE BOX digs deeply into user behavior data. In the future, we will drive this chain through technology."
