It’s getting harder and harder to sign the parcel face to face. When is the right to express your choice？

　　"The receiving address I left on the e-commerce platform is written specifically to the house number, but now when I receive the goods, I either receive a short message notice to go to the express cabinet to pick up the goods myself, or the goods are ‘ Door ’ Sign for it, or you haven’t received the goods first ‘ Signed ’ 。” Speaking of all kinds of "wonderful" express delivery experience, online shopping enthusiast Wang Fang (pseudonym) seems a little helpless, "and the courier didn’t ask my permission in advance."

　　Zhang Jia (pseudonym), a consumer who has a similar experience with Wang Fang, also bluntly said that there is no courier cabinet in the community where he lives, but since he opened a courier station, he always has to pick up his own package by SMS. "In fact, every time I place an order, I don’t choose the courier service."

　　Why is it so "hard" to sign the parcel face to face?

　　Nowadays, in the terminal service of express delivery, many online shopping consumers find it more and more difficult to sign the parcel in person.

　　In the community where Wang Fang lives, a courier who is delivering express delivery told the reporter of Zhongqing Daily and Zhongqing.com, "I need to deliver at least 300 express delivery orders every day. The company requires that the receipt rate reach 30% before 10 am and 75% before 2 pm. There is a courier cabinet in this community. Most of the parcels in the two units I am responsible for will generally be put in the cabinet. If it is delivered from house to house, it will be too inefficient. "

　　In the courier’s view, this is a "cost-effective" account. He said that the courier’s salary incentive mechanism is more work and more pay. Now, every time he sends a commission to 1 yuan, if it is delivered to the door, customers who are not at home will have to call to confirm it, which is both a telephone bill and a time-consuming. It will be difficult to complete the delivery on time and get more pieces at the same time. Although it is necessary to pay rent ranging from 0.35 to 0.50 yuan according to different specifications by putting it directly into the express cabinet, it is more efficient and can save more time in sending and collecting parts.

　　For courier companies, cooperation with courier stations is a more efficient and economical way. A boss of a post station said that some express outlets will now pull the express parcels of some old communities to the post station at one time, and then the post station will be responsible for the follow-up distribution. Because the delivery fee for the post station is lower than that for the courier, there is no need to distribute the courier in the area with the post station, which saves the cost for the courier company. "Besides, couriers don’t want to spend time and energy climbing the stairs to deliver goods every day. But to be honest, I have limited manpower, so it is unlikely that I will deliver it all to my door. " The owner of the station told the reporter.

　　The package "takes away" the freedom of choice.

　　In fact, whether the courier’s work is "rough" or the express network map is easy, it is not unrelated to the growing express volume. According to the data of the State Post Bureau, from January to July this year, the business volume of express delivery service enterprises nationwide totaled 58.33 billion pieces, exceeding the annual level of 50.71 billion pieces in 2018.

　　The rapid growth of express delivery is inseparable from online shopping. The reporter asked several different types of shops and customer service on an e-commerce platform whether they could choose the express delivery company independently, and all the answers were "No designated express delivery", mostly because they had agreed to cooperate with the express delivery company by default.

　　An analyst in the transportation industry of a securities company explained that from the perspective of consumer psychology, it is easy for consumers to feel that they don’t have to pay the courier fee "extra" and the transaction is cost-effective. But in fact, this is just a marketing tool. Due to the large amount of postage, due to the consideration of express delivery cost, e-commerce sellers often give priority to express delivery companies that are willing to provide lower service fees. In order to gain market share, express delivery companies will also choose to exchange quantity at low prices. This directly leads to an increase in the workload of couriers. In the case of tight time and heavy tasks, the quality of service is easy to be "discounted". "And consumers can only passively become the recipients of this low-quality service because they have no choice of express delivery."

　　Li Xiaolong, director of the Teaching and Research Center of the Department of Postal Management, School of Modern Post, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, also believes that over the years, in the field of e-commerce, express delivery companies have gradually formed an oligopoly competition situation by exchanging price for quantity, and the express delivery price is low, so express delivery companies can only reduce costs by compressing the courier’s single ticket distribution fee. However, the workload of couriers is increasing, which ultimately harms the interests of consumers who lack the right to choose.

　　Can the option of express delivery "return" to consumers

　　For express delivery services, consumers have different needs. The reporter learned in the interview that some consumers expressed their willingness to exchange high prices for good services, even if they paid a little more. Some pay more attention to cost performance and tend to choose a courier company with lower price in the same service level; Some consumers suggest that e-commerce sellers can set several courier service grades according to the service quality and price of courier companies, and then choose one from different grades to determine the cooperation relationship for consumers to choose.

　　In July this year, seven departments, including the Ministry of Transport, the State Post Bureau and the National Development and Reform Commission, jointly issued the Opinions on Doing a Good Job in Safeguarding the Legal Rights and Interests of Courier Groups, clearly indicating that it is necessary to guide e-commerce platforms and courier companies to strengthen system docking, meet differentiated service needs, and guarantee users’ right to choose independently. The relevant person in charge of the State Post Bureau also publicly stated that it is necessary to promote the implementation of the requirement of "separation of commodity pricing and express delivery service pricing" so that consumers can choose express delivery services according to their service capabilities, business reputation and express delivery prices.

　　Li Xiaolong said that the separation of commodity pricing and express delivery service pricing can give consumers more choices of express delivery, which will help guide express delivery enterprises to meet the differentiated service needs of consumers and focus on improving the quality of express delivery service itself. However, this involves the re-division of interests of e-commerce sellers, e-commerce platforms, express delivery companies and consumers, which may be difficult in practice.

　　For example, under the optional mode, e-commerce sellers need to connect with many express delivery companies for consumers to choose, which will increase their operating costs; The e-commerce platform needs to change the existing system, provide express delivery selection function, and the construction cost will also increase. At the same time, because order drawing is a revenue source of the platform, after adding the express selection function, the time for consumers to browse goods and place orders will become longer, and the operating income per unit time of the platform will also decline.

　　"Protecting consumers’ choice is the common responsibility of e-commerce sellers, e-commerce platforms and courier companies." Li Xiaolong suggested that in order to change the current situation that e-commerce sellers have insufficient motivation to change the way of express delivery service, relevant government departments can appropriately introduce some support policies. For example, e-commerce sellers who actively implement the separation of commodity prices and express delivery prices are given a certain degree of tax relief.

　　Express companies should adjust their product structure and price system. Express products can be divided into ordinary parts, aging parts, cold chain parts, etc. For example, the price of aging parts can be raised appropriately, so that consumers can enjoy faster and more convenient services such as the same day and the next day. At the same time, differentiated prices are set according to the service standards of different products, which is convenient for consumers to choose. For example, the price can be appropriately reduced for the services that are put in express cabinets and express delivery stations without home delivery, so that the price paid by consumers can be better matched with the service.

　　The e-commerce platform should transform the online express service selection function through the system to make it highly linked with the products and price data of more express companies, so as to facilitate consumers’ independent choice. At the same time, the evaluation function of express delivery service is added to promote express delivery enterprises to improve service quality and user experience.

　　Zhongqingbao Zhongqingwang reporter Li Zhuo Source: China Youth Daily