Advanced Search

The story appears on

Page A10

October 12, 2017

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Business » Finance

Price hikes ahead of Singles Day

Source: Xinhua | 00:01 UTC+8 October 12, 2017 | Print Edition

TWO major Chinese courier companies announced price rises on Tuesday and yesterday ahead of November 11, which is expected to be China’s largest ever online shopping festival.

Better services, according to ZTO Express and Yunda Express, mean rising costs in labor, materials and transport, but neither company was prepared to say by how much prices would rise. Other domestic couriers are expected to follow suit.

Wang Chao, a deliveryman with ZTO Express, said he usually works 11 or 12 hours a day. “I hear that it is just a slight rise and won’t make a big difference, but we will earn a little more,” he said.

China Express Association predicts that the industry will handle more than 1 billion packages between November 11-16.

November 11 is “Singles Day,” allegedly started by some college students in the 1990s to celebrate — or poke fun at — their unattached status. November 11 was chosen for the four solitary digits: 11-11.

It has grown into a Chinese version of Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving in the United States, and promoted as an online shopping day.

Alibaba began Singles Day campaigning in 2009. TMall, Alibaba’s online marketplace, made only 50 million yuan (US$7.6 million) back then. Last year, the figure reached 120 billion yuan.

On the back of the e-commerce boom, China’s courier sector has been the world’s largest by delivery volume for three years but continual expansion has put heavy pressure on services, leading to problems in delivery delays and driver safety.

Lai Yang, a researcher in logistics, attributed the price rises to a shortage of labor.

Finance


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend