My Yunda Express "missed" after the New Year

Recently, Yunda Express has been having a hard time, and has been on the hot searches many times.

The cause of the incident was that Yunda Express went "missing" after the New Year, and a large number of consumers complained online that there were abnormalities in the delivery of Yunda Express. Some people said that it started to be delayed in November last year; someone revealed , it could not be delivered for a long time, and later directly said that the package was lost; some people emphasized that their Yunda Express had been on the road for a month and it had not yet been delivered; some even said that they went to Yunda Express outlets a year ago and had a backlog of countless express delivery, which was not delivered at all. No one delivers...

As public opinion fermented, Yunda Express passed the blame to the shortage of manpower. The external response stated that the abnormality in the company's express delivery after the new year was caused by manpower shortage. The company is vigorously coordinating the distribution manpower and guiding the recruitment of outlets.

Consumers are generally dissatisfied with Yunda's explanation, questioning: "If you don't have enough manpower, you shouldn't take so many orders." "Can this be the reason for the large backlog?"

What happened to Yunda Express?

It has not been delivered for a month

Since the beginning of 2023, many consumers have complained on social media that the Yunda Express they purchased has not updated the logistics information and the express delivery has not arrived. There is no delivery at the site, and the shortest it takes is a 7-day trip within the province, and the longest one is a one-month stay.

Some consumers complained that after their express delivery was shipped from Chengdu to Beijing, it began to travel across the country, and the express "ran" to Chifeng, Inner Mongolia. Some consumers in Hunan said that express delivery from Fujian to Hunan was forcibly taken to Heilongjiang to see the snow when it arrived in Changsha, and the package had no return date.

(Photo/Visual China)

Zhang Qi was one of those hurt by Yunda Express. At the end of January, he, who loves canned food, placed an order from an e-commerce platform. The merchant shipped the goods from Shenyang, Liaoning, to Baoding, Hebei. It stands to reason that this journey can be delivered in three or four days, but so far, he has not received the express delivery. "Logistics information shows that the package arrived in Baoding on February 3, but it was delivered to a station five or six kilometers away from me and was signed for. It has not moved since then."

"I contacted him many times along the way. Courier, but it was always turned off." Zhang Qi said that he finally couldn't bear it anymore and only found out the reason after calling Yunda to complain. "The customer service said that the express delivery station near my home was closed after the Spring Festival, and the courier quit, so it was delivered to a station far away."

Yu Yu, who lives in Sichuan, encountered the same situation, she revealed , I was shopping online recently, and twice the packages were sent by Yunda Express, but after arriving at the express delivery station, they were never delivered. "I make complaints every day. They either say that there are not enough staff, or that the courier has resigned, or that the package has been lost. The experience is very bad."

"My relatives in my hometown sent me a package I ordered something, and it showed that it had arrived at the destination on January 5th. It was not delivered on January 8th, so I started calling to remind me. "Gao Qiang, who lives in Jiangsu, said that in the past month, he has made hundreds of complaint calls, every time. The first reply said that they would give feedback, but the problem has not been solved, and the express delivery has not yet been delivered. "Yunda's reputation is really worthless."

The bad experience directly persuaded Li Yun to quit. "It has been three months and Yunda Express has still not been delivered. It is useless to call 400 to complain. Now I am placing an order on the e-commerce platform. I only have one request to the merchant not to send Yunda." A Beijing netizen left a message under the hot search Said, "I won't buy it if Yunda is used for delivery now. I can tolerate it if it is slower. Every time, it is placed at a station 1 kilometer away and I have to pick it up myself. I can't bear it."

According to city circles, not only the Yunda express delivery in the above-mentioned areas has experienced abnormalities, but the current abnormal phenomenon of Yunda outlets has also occurred in Guangzhou, Wuxi, Jilin, Changsha and other places. A consumer in Zhejiang revealed, "Our Yunda Express here has been paralyzed." Some consumers who complained to no avail went directly to express delivery outlets to find express delivery, but in the end they could not find it.

Why does Yunda Express have so many problems? In response to this situation, Yunda's official customer service responded that there is currently a shortage of manpower, resulting in backlogs and delays, but it will be verified and dealt with as soon as possible.

A person in charge of a Yunda Express outlet in a certain area of ??Shaanxi further explained that due to the impact of the epidemic a year ago, there was too much movement of people. After the new year, business recovered quickly, cargo volume surged, and work and production resumed, but staffing could not keep up, leaving a large labor gap, ultimately creating a vicious cycle.

Yunda responded to the market statement that due to the rapid increase in overall business volume and the tight manpower at some outlets, there were cases where express shipments were not delivered in time. Currently, relevant outlets are deploying personnel for delivery.

The outlet where the problem occurred

It is worth noting that the delivery problems of Yunda Express are not as calm as the company explained to the outside world. The reason behind it is that Yunda is located in Terminal outlets in various places have encountered huge challenges in recent times. Many outlets have experienced problems, and many of them are being transferred at low prices.

In fact, as early as 2022, Yunda Express outlets had already exposed some problems. At that time, Yunda outlets in Beijing, Shanxi, Henan and other places experienced paralysis, and some outlets even had problems due to management problems. Shutdowns have occurred, and some express delivery outlets have even changed owners.

At present, some franchisees are not surprised at all by the suspension of Yunda Express. Some of them said that since last year, many Yunda Express franchisees have stopped working and are transferring express outlets at low prices. However, this phenomenon has only become more serious after the year.

Indeed, the city found on Xianyu that a large number of Yunda Express outlets are being transferred, involving Yunnan, Hubei, Heilongjiang, Guangdong, Henan, Sichuan and other places. There are first-level outlets and second-level outlets. And they were labeled as low-priced exchanges and transfers, which looked very urgent. Some quotes were even as low as several thousand or tens of thousands of yuan.

(Picture source/Screenshot of Xianyu)

In the case of large-scale transfers, the transfer fee of Yunda outlets has been reduced again and again. In the past, it was two to three million yuan. A first-level outlet can now be purchased for one million, and the price of a second-level outlet is even lower.

Wang Zheng, the person in charge of a Yunda Express outlet in Hangzhou, joined a first-level Yunda Express outlet for 1 million yuan. But after working for a while, he had already decided to quit. "I am also currently looking for a successor and plan to transfer it."

The reason why Wang Zheng doesn't want to do it is that there are too many penalty clauses. Even if the accuracy of network allocation is lower than 85, there will be a fine. The fine is 400 yuan. “The current fine is too high, at least 50,000 yuan a month.” If there is a shortage of people, the assessment mechanism will remain as usual and the fine will be higher. "It's hard to make a profit even if we deliver thousands of orders every day. How can we do this?"

The city learned that Yunda's adjusted assessment mechanism has increased the pressure on outlet operations to a certain extent. In the second half of 2022, Yunda requires that positive reviews be assessed on a daily basis. A negative review will be fined 100 yuan. A negative review on that day requires 35 positive reviews on the same day to offset the 100 yuan fine. Many outlet managers told the city that if you fail to call before delivering a package, you will be fined 100 yuan for false signatures, and 200 yuan for delays, etc.

A courier in Hangzhou said that fierce competition among the express delivery industry has led to a drop in delivery fees. "In the first two years, the delivery rate was still 1.3 yuan per piece. By the end of 2022, it had dropped to 0.85 yuan per piece. After deducting the costs of Fengchao express lockers and other expenses, I could earn less than 200 yuan by delivering 300 pieces a day. Add in lost pieces, complaints, etc., and the situation became even worse. Oops".

This problem has also been supported by Yunda's financial report. Yunda financial report data shows that the company's express delivery outlets in the first half of last year were 29,844, a decrease of 2,430 from 32,274 at the end of 2021, and the number of franchisees decreased by 45 in the first half of the year.

As for the reason for the reduction of outlets, Yunda explained to the city that the express processing points set up by franchisees according to their business needs (data reduction) are equivalent to departmental adjustments within a (franchise) company's business. , the outlet will make some adjustments to its regional business on its own.

Jiang Qing, an industry insider, believes that when large outlets are difficult to control, Yunda has reduced its outlets and the headquarters has strengthened its ability to control the outlets, but the competitiveness of the outlets is weak, especially during price wars and the epidemic. In this case, this hurt Yunda's outlets. Previously, media reported that outlets that had gone bankrupt gathered at the entrance of Yunda's headquarters, holding banners and telling their stories.

Nie Tengyun, the head of Yunda, has been aware of the problem. Since the beginning of this year, he has made frequent appearances and visited grassroots outlets to understand the resumption of work, customer service and operations of the outlets after the year. But judging from the current situation, these measures have had little effect.

(Photo/Visual China)

In fact, the conflict between Yunda and its outlets is a historical issue. Some insiders believe that Yunda’s end outlets It can be said to be the most unstable one in the Tongda system.

Except for SF Express and JD.com, the initial development route of Tongda Department is to adopt the franchise system, which has the advantages of fast network expansion and strong scale effect. The franchise system has allowed Yunda to develop rapidly, but management is a difficult problem. There are thousands of franchisees and tens of thousands of outlets. The specific situations vary widely, and all problems require detailed analysis.

In the early days, there were internal differences in Yunda, and it was difficult to balance the interests between the headquarters and franchisees. Some senior executives left with the franchisees in an attempt to launch a fatal blow to Yunda. In the end, it was Nie Tengyun's uncle Zhou Baogen who came forward to resolve the conflict.

Franchisees have too much power and grow wildly, which can easily cause chaos in the management of the headquarters. Nie Tengyun realized the importance of establishing a transshipment center. Through the transshipment center, he can control the regional network and express shipments, thereby controlling the nearby management of franchisees and outlets.

Jiang Qing mentioned that Yunda became the first company in the Tongda system to lay out transshipment centers. However, the early business volume did not increase, which led to the large-scale closure of distribution centers. As a result, Yunda now has a lag in the number of distribution centers. Fewer, "I left too early, and was forced to close again. There are sequelae, and I am somewhat worried."

The city learned that Yunda had 55 transfer centers in 2016, and until the first half of 2022, Yunda also has only 77 transfer centers. SF Express has 322 express delivery transfer stations, and ZTO Express has 98 sorting centers.

The "second place" position may not be guaranteed

Problems with the network are not the most important thing, the departure of the "soul" person will also have a great impact.

Jiang Qing told the city that Lai Shiqiang, Yunda’s “top leader in the express delivery business”, is a relatively important figure in the development process of Yunda. But in April 2022, Lai Shiqiang resigned from Yunda Express. The official explanation given for his resignation was personal reasons.

It is understood that Lai Shiqiang joined Yunda in 2005 and has nearly 17 years of experience in Yunda. After joining Yunda, Lai Shiqiang focused on the refined operation of the express delivery business. Especially after Yunda went public, Yunda was the company with the largest investment in automated sorting equipment in the Tongda department. In 2016, Yunda’s investment was 1.836 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.836 billion yuan. 210.45.

"These investments have effectively reduced the transit and sorting costs of Yunda's national express delivery network, and significantly improved distribution center management, trunk vehicle routing optimization, terminal outlet management and control, etc.," Jiang Qing said.

Indeed, Yunda has ushered in a "golden period" of development in the past few years. Net profit reached a peak of 2.698 billion yuan in 2018, and its market share surpassed YTO in one fell swoop, becoming the second largest company in the industry and has remained stable. to date. Some operators of Yunda's old outlets said that Lai Shiqiang's status in their hearts was higher than that of Yunda boss Nie Tengyun.

Jiang Qing told the market that Yunda is always strategically slower than other express delivery companies. "Yunda hopes to borrow the successful cases of other companies and then make its own layout."

In the field of express delivery, Yunda’s layout was obviously later than Zhongtong and Best. Subsequently, Yunda’s express delivery business lost nearly 200 million yuan in 2017 and 2018. . After that, Lai Shiqiang was placed in high hopes and was transferred to the position of president of Yunda Express.

In April 2021, Yunda subscribed for Debon's shares for 614 million yuan and became the second largest shareholder. Lai Shiqiang became a director of Debon. However, in the later Debon acquisition case, JD.com intervened, and Yunda eventually withdrew from it.

Until Lai Shiqiang completely left Yunda, Yunda’s express business still did not improve significantly.

Recently there is news that Lai Shiqiang may return to Yunda, but as of now, this statement has not been confirmed.

In addition, Yunda is too active in the capital market. Jiang Qing mentioned that in the capital market, Yunda issued a large number of bonds and financing, resulting in an excessively high debt ratio, even higher than SF Express.

In May 2021, Yunda issued convertible corporate bonds to raise a total of 2.5 billion yuan, which was used for the sorting equipment automation upgrade project; in March 2022, Yunda issued the first phase of ultra-short-term financing bonds. The issuance amount is 500 million yuan and so on.

In the first half of 2022, Yunda's financial expenses increased by as much as 1.6 times year-on-year. This was mainly due to the increase in Yunda's long-term borrowings, interest expenses arising from the issuance of bonds, and increased exchange losses on foreign currency monetary items. As of the end of September 2022, Yunda's interest-bearing debt was approximately 9.426 billion yuan, with an asset-liability ratio of 56.28. During the same period, SF Express's debt ratio was 55.37, YTO's debt ratio was 31.33, and STO's debt ratio was 59.82.

Fosun Group, which participated in the early investment, also gradually withdrew from Yunda. Its shareholding ratio dropped from 4.51 at the end of 2018 to 2.21 at the end of 2019, and then dropped to 1.23 in the first quarter of 2020. Fosun Group successively reduced its holdings, which dampened Yunda's enthusiasm. Bai Tao, Fosun Group's director assigned to Yunda, also left.

Today, Fosun Group is no longer among the top ten shareholders. Alibaba, which participated in the investment, has an even smaller shareholding ratio in Yunda, accounting for only 1.99, and is not eligible for a board seat.

Jiang Qing believes that if strategic planning is not in place and the company's business is poor in the later period, this may be a hidden danger. At present, Yunda has already tasted the bitterness. Some core personnel have resigned, internal management has been unable to keep up, and conflicts between the outlets and the headquarters are getting deeper and deeper.

(Photo/Visual China)

Reflecting on the market structure, Yunda Express is at risk of falling behind.

Not long ago, Yunda Co., Ltd. released its 2022 performance forecast, becoming the most profitable among express delivery companies. Yunda expects to achieve a net profit of 1.308 billion yuan to 1.503 billion yuan in 2022, a year-on-year decrease of 11.44 or an increase of 1.75, basically the same as last year's 1.48 billion yuan.

During the same period, SF Express's net profit is expected to achieve a growth rate of 42-45%; STO has turned losses into profits, with a net profit growth rate of about 130% year-on-year; YTO's net profit growth rate has reached 86.34%.

In fact, since the third quarter of last year, Yunda Express's performance has shown a weak trend. Not only is its revenue growth slower than the other three, but its net profit growth has also declined. In the first three quarters of 2022, Yunda's revenue was 35.212 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.11%; net profit was 765 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 2.05%. At the same time, Yunda's profitability continues to decline, with the highest gross profit margin falling from 28.02 in 2018 to 8.28 in the first three quarters of 2022, and the net profit margin falling from 18.78 to 2.19.

In addition, Yunda's market share has further declined. In 2022, Yunda's annual business volume will be approximately 17.609 billion tickets, a year-on-year decrease of 4.31, with a market share of 15.92, followed closely by Yantong's annual business volume of 17.479 billion tickets, with a market share of 15.81.

Judging from business volume growth, market share and profit performance, Yunda is at risk of falling behind, especially its second position in express delivery.

(At the request of the interviewee, Zhang Qi, Yu Yu, Gao Qiang, Li Yun, Jiang Qing and Wang Zheng are all pseudonyms in the article.)

Author | Yang Qiao

Editor | Chen Fang