Singles Day peak puts delivery firms on upward trend

Thanks to the Singles Day shopping festival, express delivery companies saw their continual decline in revenue per parcel eventually bottom out, Chinese financial news outlet Yicai reported.

According to the latest operating data from parcel delivery companies YTO Express, ZTO Express and Yunda Express released on Saturday, three key indicators -- total revenue, the number of parcels handled and revenue per parcel -- all showed upward trends in November.

Last month, YTO Express' total revenue rose 27.35 percent year-on-year, to 4.51 billion yuan. A total of 1.75 billion parcels were handled, up 13.38 percent, while revenue per parcel was 2.59 yuan, up 12.33 percent from a year earlier.

According to the State Post Bureau, a total of 6.8 billion parcels were collected across the country from Nov 1 to 16, up 18.2 percent year-on-year. During the same period, 6.3 billion parcels were delivered, up 16.2 percent from a year earlier.

Yunda Express saw its revenue per parcel stand at 2.32 yuan last month, the highest so far this year, compared with 2.23 yuan in January, 2.16 yuan in February, 2.19 yuan in March, 2.04 yuan in April, 2.02 yuan in May, 2.02 yuan in June, 2.04 yuan in July, 2.06 yuan in August, 2.14 yuan in September, and 2.17 yuan in October.

It could be attributed to raising delivery fees during the Singles Day peak season, Yicai said.

Express delivery companies also know full well the peak season will help them boost revenue. STO Express earlier predicted that with the arrival of peak season, which falls Nov 1-20, the company's capacity utilization is expected to rise.

However, compared with the past two years, the growth in total parcels handled was recorded at a slower pace this year, Yicai added.

For Yunda Express, the year-on-year growth of parcels handled during November reached 38.2 percent, 42.91 percent and 19.03 percent in 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. For YTO Express, the three figures stood at 32.05 percent, 42.57 percent and 13.38 percent.

It is related to slower sales growth of some e-commerce platforms , Yicai said. The gross merchandise volume in e-commerce terms of Tmall.com, was 540.3 billion yuan this year, a modest 8.45 percent year-on-year rise, compared with 26 percent in 2020.

E-commerce giant JD reported its accumulated sales rose 29 percent year-on-year to 349.1 billion yuan during the Singles Day shopping carnival, compared with 33 percent in 2020. 

China's courier sector this year set a new record by handling more than 100 billion parcels as of Dec 8, the highest figure worldwide for the eighth consecutive year, the State Post Bureau said earlier.