How big is the business opportunity of the food delivery locker?

At present, contactless service seems to have become the standard in post-pandemic period. "Contactless" travel, "contactless" education, "contactless" movie viewing, "contactless" medical treatment, there are many kinds and endless varieties, which seems to confirm the slogan: only you can't think of it, we can't do it without us.

On January 26, 2020, after Meituan took the lead in launching the "contactless delivery" service in China, "contactless delivery" quickly emerged in express delivery, logistics, e-commerce and other industries, and many e-commerce express companies followed suit. "Contactless delivery" means that when placing an order, the user negotiates with the delivery staff to designate a place through order remarks, phone calls, etc., and the delivery staff informs the user to collect the goods by themselves after delivery. Its core is "no contact".

On April 8, 2020, the Shanghai Municipal Government issued the "Shanghai Action Plan for Promoting the Development of Online New Economy (2020-2022)", which focused on accelerating the development of "contactless" distribution and promoting unmanned distribution in retail, medical, The application of catering, hotel, manufacturing and other industries, accelerate the layout of smart lockers, heat smart food self-service locker, terminal distribution service stations and distribution self-pickup points in communities, parks, buildings and other areas to ensure the "last mile" delivery.

On May 7, the Shanghai Municipal Government issued the "Shanghai Action Plan for Promoting New Infrastructure Construction (2020-2022)", which also proposed in the "New Terminal" construction action to expand intelligent terminal distribution facilities, adding 15,000 new ones. It can be seen that "contactless distribution" was originally an expedient measure in the post-pandemic period, and it is expected to be widely promoted in the future.

Will "contactless delivery" at the end become the norm?

It is undeniable that "contactless delivery" has indeed brought certain benefits to express companies and consumers. For express companies, on the one hand, it can greatly improve the delivery efficiency of the last mile and reduce the cost of terminal delivery during post-pandemic period; on the other hand, it can effectively reduce the related complaints and penalties caused by the inability to "deliver to the door". For consumers, it can not only reduce the face-to-face contact of people and reduce the risk of infection; it can also facilitate the freedom of consumers in time and space; it also helps to protect the privacy and safety of consumers.

As an innovative model of terminal delivery service, the "contactless delivery" service seems to have taken root in the hearts of the people. So, will terminal "contactless delivery" become the norm in the future?

With the continuous increase of policies and the gradual development of user habits, "contactless delivery" is likely to become a key service item launched by major express e-commerce companies for a period of time in the future, but it will not completely replace the traditional door-to-door signing service. , may become an "optional option" for various express e-commerce companies to provide value-added services.

First of all, from the perspective of the epidemic period, most express and takeaway companies' express packages and takeaways were placed directly outside the gate of the community or on temporary shelves. The delivery staff only made a phone call or SMS notification, and then became a "hands-off". It is not uncommon for a series of complaints such as unattended shipments, lost shipments, and wrong shipments to be exposed.

At the same time, "receive it tomorrow" and "get it when you remember it" also made the recipient lazy. Previously, it was reported that milk tea in a certain community was placed on the "non-contact" shelf for four or five days without taking it, which made the "non-contact" shelf have a "stale taste". In addition, in the case of heavy goods, bulky goods, etc., "contactless delivery" requires users to go downstairs and pick them up, which may also greatly reduce the customer experience.

Secondly, "users are spoiled" also affects the development process of "contactless distribution" to a certain extent. Over the years, customers have been accustomed to enjoying the free door-to-door sign-off service of couriers. As the domestic epidemic situation gradually improves, the popularity of "contactless delivery" services may decrease, and users may adopt other delivery modes such as door-to-door sign-off. Use the "Contactless Shipping" service.

In fact, a model similar to "contactless delivery" already exists, and the smart food self-service locker and rookie stations that you see daily are all forms of "contactless delivery". It's just that these collection points are mostly set up inside the community. Since the courier cannot enter the community, these collection points cannot be fully utilized. Therefore, "contactless delivery" should be born from time to time.

Recently, the Central Leading Group for Responding to the New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic issued the "Guiding Opinions on Actively and Orderly Promoting the Resumption of Work and Production While Effectively Preventing and Controlling the Epidemic", which clearly stated that couriers should be allowed to enter the community (village) for delivery. It can be seen that door-to-door delivery by couriers is still the mainstream trend.

In short, the trend of terminal "contactless delivery" becoming the norm in the future is not large, but it can become an "optional" for future services of express e-commerce companies.

Is contactless service promising?

Contactless service not only reduces the impact of the post-pandemic period on production and life, but also largely reshapes business forms and redefines service scenarios. As a new thing, will the "contactless delivery" service continue after the epidemic is over? Will the general public continue to accept smart parcel locker services? There is also a need for top-level design at the government level.

Recently, as the first group standard in the field of "contactless distribution" in China, the "Contactless Distribution Service Specification" was released and officially implemented by the Commerce Industry Committee of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. Delivery Service Operational Specifications.

At present, the government should formulate and issue relevant guidelines for "contactless +" services as soon as possible, including development goals, key tasks, safeguard measures, etc., to improve the general consensus of the whole society on "contactless +" services.

It is possible to take advantage of the "Guiding Opinions" recently issued by the State Post Bureau to increase the promotion of "contactless distribution" service facilities. For example, old communities are encouraged to update and upgrade old mailboxes according to local conditions according to the principles of their scale, conditions, and the wishes of the masses, so as to improve their intelligence and informatization level;

Build comprehensive express service places at urban road interfaces and install contactless service equipment such as smart post office parcel locker to provide express mail collection, delivery and other convenient services; encourage rational planning of space in office buildings, schools, hospitals, parks and other places, and promote smart food self-service locker, smart express boxes and other contactless supporting facilities, the government can provide a certain amount of subsidies and support; in the fields of public services and social governance, "contactless" service sites can be introduced through government purchases or PPP models to increase their promotion.

In view of the current bottleneck restrictions on unmanned equipment such as policies and regulations, it is recommended to speed up the formulation of industry standards and specifications for unmanned distribution, and further improve the laws and regulations for the operation of unmanned equipment on the road. Appropriately liberalize policies, and on the premise of ensuring safety and reliability, actively promote the deployment of unmanned vehicles and drones in urban communities and villages, and allow some low-speed unmanned equipment to be piloted on some open roads. After experience, it will be gradually promoted.