May 31st, Thursday …
Shanghai, Shengyun Express Group Headquarters.
Shengyun Express Group was currently the leader in the domestic express delivery industry, occupying half of the express delivery business.
It basically covered all the cities above the city level in the country and the cities above the county level in the developed areas. Especially in the areas around Shanghai, it had basically achieved the goal of having no blind spots in the delivery area. It had even started to test the Haitao and Transshipment business.
However, the reputation of Sheng Yun Express wasn't very good.
The company had been established for nearly 20 years. Its rapid growth was mainly due to its franchise strategy. When the entire express delivery industry was growing at a high rate, it had a great advantage in quickly gaining market share.
However, as the growth of the industry slowed down and the development of the company progressed, the era of extensive growth ended and the era of refined management arrived, and the disadvantages of the franchise system gradually became apparent.
On one hand, the network had many levels, and it was difficult to manage. Many of the franchisees were powerful, and it was difficult for the headquarters to carry out the orders effectively. Moreover, the service of good and bad might affect the service evaluation of the terminal.
On the other hand, the transport center had a low self-operating ratio, which would also reduce efficiency to a certain extent and extend the delivery time.
Shengyun Express Group was a behemoth. Even within the company, it was divided into three or four different express business brands. There was a certain competitive relationship between them.
How to solve these problems had been the biggest headache for Shengyun Express in recent years.
At this time, several senior executives of Shengyun Express were having a meeting to discuss some problems in the development plan of Shengyun Express.
The chairman of Shengyun Express was Nie Yunsheng, but he didn't have complete control over the whole company. Although several major shareholders and the senior management of the company who were friends with him would support him most of the time, they would have different opinions sometimes.
Therefore, if he wanted the entire company to develop in the direction he envisioned, he needed a lot of meetings to unify the internal thinking.
At this time, the meeting had entered the final stage, and the major proposals had basically been discussed.
One of the company's vice-presidents said, "Boss Nie, everyone, Tengda's Upwind Logistics is preparing to build an air transport route. I've already compiled a set of materials and distributed them to everyone."
"President Nie, how should we deal with this matter?"
Although Upwind Logistics would officially start preparing for the air transportation route two months later, Lu Mingliang had already done some simple groundwork and publicity.
For example, they could distribute a few flyers when they delivered their packages, or set up some display boards at the Upwind Courier Stations to advertise their products.
Unlike other businesses, time waits for no man. It would be too late to advertise and guide customers to use it after the air transportation business was ready. The first few flights would definitely not be able to carry much cargo.
They had to advertise the Upwind Courier Stations in advance. Only when the inter-city express delivery service was available would they receive a large number of orders.
Therefore, this news naturally spread to Shengyun Express.
The vice president had already summarized all the relevant information into a report.
Upwind Logistics' main goal was to take on the "last kilometer" express delivery business, and Sheng Yun Express had always maintained a close relationship with it.
For now?
Upwind Courier stations were rapidly expanding in Jingzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, as well as the surrounding areas?
The number of shops increased rapidly.
Although in terms of overall scale, it still couldn't compare with the industry leader like Shengyun Express.
However, what if Upwind Logistics opened its cross-city express delivery service?
It would inevitably pose a certain threat to Shengyun Express.
Therefore, Shengyun Express had to react as soon as possible and think of countermeasures.
Nie Yunsheng had already read the report?
His expression was slightly solemn. "This is completely within our expectations. Upwind Logistics has been incurring huge losses. Do the dirty work for us?
It's impossible to say that I don't have any other motives. "
"Now they want to do cross-city logistics?
That's reasonable. "
"With Tengda Corporation backing them up, their goal must be to use these four cities as the center. Then, they would make use of the advantages of the Upwind Courier stations to open up the market from the high-end customers in the big cities.
It's a mismatch with us. "
"You have no choice?
This kind of business model is still a threat to us. "
"Furthermore, we don't have many solutions. The density of Upwind Courier stations in these cities is already very high, and the delivery experience there is completely better than ours. This is paid for with real money, so it's unlikely that we will adopt a similar model."
"What do you guys think?"
A vice president said, "Should we cooperate with other express delivery companies?
Block it? Just like Chi Lu Express. "
Obviously, this was the simplest and most brutal way.
It was also the most effective method.
Shengyun Express had done this kind of thing before, and it was successful.
A year ago?
A delivery company called "Deer Express" is developing at a high speed and is targeting the sinking market in the Midwest?
With a good relationship with the e-commerce platform and a price that was 1 to 1.5 yuan cheaper than Shengyun Express?
He had become a troublemaker with a powerful backer.
Chi Lu Express placed great importance on the sinking market.
They printed a slogan like "The higher the mountain, the farther the road. Chi Lu Express is not perfunctory" on the walls of thousands of towns. They also announced that they were prepared to incur losses for two years in a row. They were very aggressive.
Thus, Shengyun Express released a notice on banning Chi Lu Express's business agency and a notice on punishment for Chi Lu Express's business agency. They demanded that the company should not act as Chi Lu Express's business agency for any reason or in any form. They also fined the branch companies that violated the rules.
Under such pressure, Chi Lu Express quickly collapsed due to its low profit margins and chaotic internal management. It lost the trust of its investors and quickly left the scene. At the moment, it was in a half-dead state.
Thus, when faced with Upwind Logistics' threat, the senior executive of Shengyun Express's first reaction was to block it.
However, another vice president immediately objected.
"That's not a good idea. Upwind Logistics is different from Deer Express Delivery."
"Chi Lu Express is our complete competitor. Before this, Upwind Logistics had been working closely with us. In fact, in Jingzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, the Upwind Courier stations have become the last link of our distribution. "
"Although we give Upwind Courier stations some profits from every delivery, we no longer have to deliver the goods to their doorsteps. We save a lot of manpower, and our delivery efficiency and revenue have increased significantly.
"If we ban Upwind Logistics, Upwind Logistics will definitely ban our express deliveries. Once both parties fall out, it will be a huge loss to our daily business.
"What's more, Upwind Logistics' cross-city express delivery business has not been fully developed yet. Even if it has, it will mainly focus on the high-end cross-city air transportation market. There is a certain gap with our business.
"It would be overreacting if we directly block them now. I don't think it's appropriate."
Another senior official agreed. "I think so too."
"There's another important point. Upwind Logistics is different from Chi Lu Express. Their actual risk tolerance is completely different.
"Chi Lu Express's rise has attracted the attention of some big capitalists. However, after we blocked them, their express delivery business stagnated. These big capitalists lost confidence in Chi Lu Express, which is why Chi Lu Express declined so quickly.
"However, Upwind Logistics is completely dependent on Tengda. It has been incurring losses for more than a year, but its stores are still opening. This shows that Tengda Corporation's senior executives value Upwind Courier stations very much.
"They were incurring losses to begin with. Now that they are being blocked, they will continue to incur losses. Coupled with the support of Tengda's senior executives, Upwind Logistics will not be affected at all.
"Instead, they will focus all their energy on their express delivery business. It would not be worth it for them to fight us to the death with so many stores.
"In layman's terms, those who have nothing to lose are not afraid of those who wear shoes.
"It's not a wise move to ban him."
Everyone was talking at once, and they could not come to a consensus.
That was because Upwind Logistics had been developing for a long time. It was not an absolute competitor with traditional express delivery companies. Instead, it was a dual relationship of cooperation and competition.
In many regions, Flourishing Express's couriers were already used to leaving their packages at the Upwind Courier stations. As a result, the efficiency of their deliveries had increased by many folds. Many outlets had already reorganized their staff to save on costs and fired some unnecessary couriers.
If they blocked Upwind Logistics, they would either have to deliver their packages directly to their doorstep or find a large number of new collection points.
The former was obviously unrealistic when they did not have enough manpower. The latter could not be achieved in the short term, either.
Seeing that everyone was almost done with their discussion, Nie Yunsheng gently knocked on the table.
"Alright, let me say a few words.
"Upwind Logistics starting its own express delivery business is within our expectations. There's nothing to be surprised about.
"Of course, as a potential competitor, Upwind Logistics is a new model. We have to be wary of it.
"However, it would be an overreaction to immediately block them. Even if we want to block them, we have to find an alternative to Upwind Courier stations before we fall out with them.
"It seems like we have to hurry up and implement the 'last kilometer' solution that we have been planning for.
"Especially the areas covered by Upwind Courier stations. We have to get rid of our dependence on them as soon as possible!"
As the leader of the express delivery industry, Sheng Yun Express had obviously thought about how to solve the last kilometer problem.
No matter how they thought about it, there were only two economical solutions. They could either build express delivery cabinets or establish courier stations in the form of retail outlets.
However, they could not deliver their packages to their doorstep like Upwind Courier stations because the labor cost was too high.
It was not that they could not afford it, but they had to ensure profits.
Not only would the higher-ups of Sheng Yun Express not agree to this unprofitable and even incurring losses, but the major franchisees would definitely oppose it. They would not fully cooperate.
In the end, it was unlikely that they would be able to implement the Upwind Courier station plan.
On the other hand, express delivery cabinets and courier stations that did not provide doorstep deliveries were definitely not as good as Upwind Courier stations. However, Sheng Yun Express had its own advantages. Express delivery fees were cheap, and the courier stations covered more cities.
Since express delivery fees were cheap, many e-commerce merchants would tacitly accept Sheng Yun Express to reduce costs. Many price-sensitive customers would also sacrifice some of their experiences to choose Sheng Yun Express.
Furthermore, express delivery cabinets were profitable. If they invested a large sum of money, they would be able to proceed very quickly.
After these two plans were implemented, Sheng Yun Express could gradually get rid of its dependence on Upwind Courier stations in certain cities. When that time came, they would have more confidence in taking measures based on the situation.
Most of the higher-ups agreed with this view.
Nie Yunsheng finally made the decision. "Alright, let's do that. Don't alert Upwind Logistics for now. We'll work with them as usual.
"At the same time, we have to invest a large number of express delivery cabinets all over the country, especially in the areas covered by Upwind Courier stations. We'll gradually establish our own 'last kilometer' solution.
"Of course, we can set up some pilot projects in the early stages. We'll observe places with and without Upwind Courier stations and see how customers react.
"We have to take this matter seriously!"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
