Author丨Shanke
Editor丨Six sons
Recently, the experience of Mr. Jiang, an errand rider in the cargo lala, has attracted attention. It is understood that in the process of order distribution, Mr. Jiang fell and fractured, and after the treatment cost thousands of yuan, the cargo platform was only willing to take 100 yuan of order fees to compensate. Afterwards, under the continuous fermentation of public opinion, Lala said that "the new function of the rider is not yet perfect, and he will bear all the medical expenses".
Coincidentally.
Not long ago, platforms such as Lala and Full Gang have fallen into a more serious whirlpool of public opinion, these platforms are accused of conniving at overloading, once the driver finds that the owner is overloaded and refuses to deliver the goods, the platform will deduct the driver's behavior points, which may affect the follow-up order grabbing, and even affect the withdrawal. Many car owners have questioned that the platform is transferring the risk of overloading to the driver and the road.
In fact, in recent years, with the emergence of new needs of the people, platforms such as Lala have quickly seized the minds of users and occupied the highland of the freight market by virtue of the "Internet + logistics" model. However, under the rapid expansion, platforms that are supposed to build bridges between carriers and shippers have been questioned and complained about because of their profit models and even business safety and compliance issues, and have also been repeatedly interviewed by regulatory authorities for rectification.
In addition to the main business of freight transportation, platforms such as cargo lala are also aiming at attractive lending businesses. Especially under the repeated failures of the IPO shock, the cargo lala try to tell new stories with their huge user scale, but whether the "near water" can quench the "distant thirst" and how the anxiety can be smoothed out, these questions still need time to be answered.
01
"The Man Behind Overload"
According to the Voice of China of China Central Radio and Television, many freight drivers previously reported through the news hotline that on freight platforms such as Lala and Manbang's Yunmanman, some shippers often issue overloaded orders, but the platform has not effectively controlled this.
For example, for the original 4.2-meter medium-sized truck, the cargo pulling platform stipulates that the approved load is 1.5 tons to 2 tons, and it can no longer be pulled if it is exceeded.
*Source: Lala App
However, there are always shippers who choose to ship more than 10 tons of goods with this model, and the platform does not effectively control this. And a similar situation is also common on the Yunman App under the Full Bang.
*Source: Screenshot of the Cargo Lala App provided by the driver in the Voice of China report
What makes drivers even more puzzling is that for overloaded orders, after choosing to refuse delivery, the freight platform deducts the driver's "behavior points", which will also directly affect the driver's order and commission income. According to the statistics of Qingcheng Finance, there are more than 60,000 complaints involving cargo lala on the Black Cat complaint platform alone, and many of them have mentioned the problem of deducting behavior points on the platform, and asked for the return of behavior points, compensation, explanations, etc.
*Source: Black Cat Complaint Platform
In fact, the problem of overloading has always been a stubborn problem in the freight industry, and in serious cases, tire bursts, rollover accidents, and even endangering the lives of drivers may occur, affecting road traffic safety. It is understandable for the owner to save costs and spend a little money, but he cannot pass on the risks and hidden dangers of small and large profits to the driver, let alone cross the red line stipulated by the law at will.
It is understood that as early as a few years ago, some freight drivers have given feedback and questioned the above phenomenon, and not all orders can show the goods and weight after they grab orders. But the platforms not only failed to make up for this loophole, but even deducted behavior points after the driver refused to take the order, which is tantamount to trampling on the rules.
In addition to the hustle and bustle of this farce, the platform also made a brief response. "After verifying the overloading cases one by one, the overloaded orders that were wrongly judged will be corrected, and the drivers will be given points to resume their behavior; In the future, we will also strengthen reminders and education in the product process, in the user's order process and the driver's order taking. Full Bang said, "The platform has always explicitly prohibited overloading, and when selecting vehicles for delivery, the platform will prompt you to select the appropriate model to avoid overloading and overloading; When the driver receives the order, he can refuse to carry the overloaded and oversized goods without responsibility. ”
Some industry insiders told Qingcheng Finance that freight platforms such as cargo lala are essentially more like matchmaking agencies, assuming the role of information intermediaries. In the past, once overloading was involved, freight vehicles, drivers, road transport enterprises and freight source units could not escape investigation and punishment, but for the platform that released overload information, the responsibility determination was relatively vague.
However, one thing is for sure, if a platform wants to develop in the long run, business compliance is the top priority, and once the platform becomes a breeding ground for overload, it is tantamount to narrowing the road. Especially for the trucking industry, it should be clear to cargo pullers that nothing is more important than safety.
02
"Freight services are controversial"
From the perspective of actual operation results, freight platforms such as cargo lala use technology to complete the online matching of cargo owners and drivers, simplify the process of waybill creation, order management and payment, and realize the closed loop from online order placement to logistics distribution. The emergence of these platforms not only improves transportation efficiency and reduces transportation costs, but also promotes employment to a certain extent due to the low threshold for employment and relatively flexible time.
However, as the industry moves towards the deep-water area, the business development situation of freight platforms is becoming more and more complex, and the protection of drivers' rights and interests and platform supervision issues have also surfaced, causing widespread concern in the society.
At the beginning of April this year, Lala Technology Holdings Co., Ltd., the listed main company of Lala, submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, which was also the third impact on the Hong Kong stock IPO after its plan to IPO in the United States was "aborted". In fact, judging from the information on the official website of Tianyancha, Huolala has been favored by the capital market since its establishment, and has completed 8 rounds of financing, including many well-known investment institutions such as Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia China, and Tiger Global Fund.
*Source: Tianyan Check
According to the latest prospectus data, in 2023, Huolala will cover more than 400 cities in 11 markets around the world, achieving a global GTV of US$9.414 billion, a year-on-year increase of 28.8% over 2022; In terms of revenue, it was $845 million in 2021 and increased to $1,334 million in 2023, growing at a CAGR of 25.7%.
In addition, in 2021 and 2022, the operating profit of Huolala was -US$661 million and US$2.629 million, respectively, with a year-on-year growth rate of -78.3% and 0.4%, respectively; However, in 2023, Lala recorded an operating profit of US$322 million, with a growth rate of 24.2%. Correspondingly, important expenses such as sales and R&D have shrunk sharply.
*Source: Lala Technology Prospectus
Of course, from a business point of view, freight platform services are still the core of cargo pulling. For example, in China's domestic market, which accounts for the highest proportion, the overall revenue in 2023 will be US$1.217 billion, and the freight platform service will reach US$778 million, and the diversified logistics services behind it are not even half.
*Source: Lala Technology Prospectus
The revenue structure of freight platform services is also easy to understand. Taking intra-city freight as an example, the prospectus disclosed that the cargo lala mainly collects driver membership fees and freight order commissions at the same time to achieve revenue, and the higher the membership level, the lower the corresponding commission extraction rate. For example, in Shenzhen, Lala offers three membership levels to drivers, with a monthly membership fee of up to 789 yuan, and the corresponding commission rate is the lowest, but it also reaches 8%. In the prospectus, the company said, "The hybrid monetization model provides drivers with different membership and commission rate options, and also allows drivers to maximize their profit potential."
*Source: Lala Technology Prospectus
But can drivers really maximize their profits? At least judging from the current market situation, behind this big question mark reflects the deep bond between drivers and platforms.
In 2022, Lala launched products such as multi-factor orders and fixed-price orders, but in November of the same year, a serious driver suspension incident broke out, and many drivers spontaneously stopped taking orders for three days under the slogan of "not taking orders today is for a better tomorrow", and this phenomenon has also spread in many cities across the country. In October last year, Lala launched "bargaining orders" in many places, discounting on the basis of the original freight rate, and once again encountered resistance from many drivers.
In addition, another more embarrassing statistic is that from 2021 to 2023, Cargo Lala has encountered more than 10 interviews with relevant regulatory authorities, and the commission ratio is too high, arbitrary adjustment of pricing rules, malicious lowering of freight rates, and arbitrary increase in membership fees have been involved.
In November last year, at a regular press conference held by the Ministry of Transport, the relevant person in charge also mentioned that "the main Internet road freight platform companies such as Full Bang Group, Cargo Lala, Kuaigou Taxi, and Didi Freight were urged to reduce the excessively high commission ratio or the upper limit of membership fees". Subsequently, GoGox announced that it would reduce the upper limit of platform driver commission in Beijing from 16% to 10% from April this year, and the commission rate of drivers with the highest service quality can also be reduced to 8%.
It can be seen that compared with their own profits, more and more platforms have begun to have to consider the balance between income and commission. It is not advisable to "fish with all your might", after all, for matchmaking intermediaries, the relationship between drivers, users and platforms is a more essential development factor. Especially in the context of tighter supervision, there are more important issues to be faced.
03
"The End of Ambition: Financial Micro Loans"
From an external point of view, although Lala has been famous in the freight industry for a long time, it is difficult to say that it is easy to face a number of competitors such as Didi Freight, Full Bang, Kuaigou, and SF Express, and even there are Internet giants such as Jingdong and Meituan behind it, and everyone wants to participate in a piece of the pie. Internally, although the traditional freight model seems to be stable, the doubts and complaints do not seem to have stopped. With the combination of internal and external demand, Lala is in dire need of some new stories to maintain its position as an industry leader.
In March 2023, Cargo Lala announced the official launch of its errand business, taking an important step towards the development of an integrated logistics service platform. In fact, although there are similarities between errand business and freight service in the same city service scenario, they are two tracks with completely different attributes, and the requirements for transportation capacity are also very different.
According to iiMedia data, Meituan is still the most used brand by consumers in the errand track, with a market share of more than 6%. Although the errand business is conducive to further building a closed business loop for Lala, it is actually very challenging to tell a new story and create a new growth curve.
On the other hand, Lala also showed a strong interest in building cars. According to the latest prospectus, the company is using the knowledge and expertise gained from its existing vehicle rental and sales services to explore new business opportunities, such as the research and development of electric commercial vehicles.
*Source: Lala Technology Prospectus
In addition, according to the information on the official website of Tianyancha, on October 24 last year, Xiamen Dora New Energy Automobile Technology Co., Ltd. was formally established, and its wholly-owned shareholder is Cargo Lala Automobile Service Co., Ltd., whose business scope includes technical services, development, new energy vehicle sales, new energy vehicle production and testing equipment sales and other aspects.
*Source: Tianyan Check
However, car manufacturing is an all-round game of technology, capital and supply chain, and failure cases of blind increase are not uncommon.
However, whether it is running errands or building cars, this has something to do with the identity of the freight intermediary. After all, with a huge number of users, it is also common sense to spread to peripheral businesses. However, the pace of outward exploration did not stop there, and it also surrendered its attention to the Internet credit business.
In May this year, the company launched the loan product "Yuanyi Loan", with a maximum amount of 200,000 yuan and an annualized interest rate of 10.8%, and cooperated with licensed financial institutions to consume immediately.
*Source: Screenshot of 21 financial circle report
Recently. In less than half a month after it was launched, some media broke the news that the loan entrance in the Lala App was offline, and the customer service staff of Lala also responded that "the system is being maintained and upgraded, and the specific launch time is waiting for the notice". Up to now, according to the observation of Qingcheng Finance, the borrowing function of the official official account of Yuanyi is still abnormal, and the words "system upgrade, please look forward to" will be displayed when you enter your mobile phone number to log in.
*Source: Yuanyi borrows the official account
According to Qingcheng Finance, the financial layout of Cargo Lala has been laid out for a long time, and it has initially formed a comprehensive financial framework such as small loans (Guangzhou Yi Ren Bank Microfinance Co., Ltd.), financial leasing (Guangzhou Yi Ren Bank Financial Leasing Company), and commercial factoring (Guangzhou Yi Ren Bank Commercial Factoring Co., Ltd.).
A few years ago, there was a particularly famous saying in the Internet industry, "the end of traffic is lending". Under the lure of profit margins, regardless of large, medium and small factories, they are holding at least one loan signboard.
For Lala, we don't know whether this time is a shallow taste or a mountain rain is coming. But one thing is certain: who hasn't had some ambition to get to this point?
04
"Written at the end"
In fact, for Lala, whether it is pulling goods or running errands, or the current financial small loans, there is still no sense of social responsibility and mission of a company.
Once we saw that the slogan of various intermediary platforms was that there was no intermediary to make the difference, and as a result, we became the largest intermediary ourselves.
To some extent, there is nothing wrong with providing services and earning service fees.
But the current cargo lala is full of problems. With the competitive pressure of similar platforms, it seems that their "tolerance" for drivers to make mistakes is gradually relaxed.
Mr. Niu, a user of cargo pulling in Tongzhou, Beijing, told the author of Qingcheng Finance that in the process of using the cargo driver to pull the goods, it was clear that 88 boxes of tiles were loaded on the truck, but the driver insisted on 87 boxes after unloading. After the incident, Mr. Niu checked with the logistics company, monitored and investigated the community, and communicated seriously with the driver, who admitted that in the process of unloading the freight, he broke a box of items and then secretly hid them in the community greenery.
*Source: Screenshot of Mr. Niu
Mr. Niu also told the Qingcheng financial reporter that in fact, the driver did not seem to be a worker who could move tiles, just to make more money, so he offered a high price to pick up some lucrative work. How did he know that this time Mr. Niu's family did not let him pick up the cheap, of course, the most unlucky was Mr. Niu himself. According to Mr. Niu, because of the broken two tiles, the decoration tiles of their home were not enough, which not only delayed the construction period, but also led to the re-delivery, with a loss of several thousand yuan. Mr. Niu mentioned that he also tried to go to the backstage of Lala to complain, but there has been no response from Lala so far.
The underground of the driver's moral responsibility, the lack of authorship of the platform's supervision, and the absence of a trace after earning the service fee, these are the experiences that the cargo platform brings to Mr. Niu.
Maybe Mr. Niu's case is an example, and maybe you will become the next "Mr. Niu".
At a time when everyone is chasing rational consumption, they want more to be of high quality. Whether it is an IPO or a small loan, the premise of Lala is to give priority to ensuring that the normal rights and interests of consumers on the platform are not violated, and they cannot only think about realizing their "ambitions" and forget their original intentions.