Is it reasonable for the courier company to charge a service fee for keeping fresh?

Original title: Priority transfer and other services are launched for fresh food, charging 3 yuan ~ 5 yuan, and consumers question the repeated charges (citation)

Is it reasonable for the courier company to charge a service fee for keeping fresh? (Theme)

Workers' Daily-China Workers' Network reporter Li Guo

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For fresh express delivery, some express companies have launched services such as posting proprietary logos, providing priority transfer, priority delivery, prohibiting cabinet delivery and personalized claims, and charging fresh-keeping service fees. The move made it easier for consumers to send fresh food, but it also sparked some controversy. Some consumers believe that if priority is given to delivery, it is understandable to charge appropriately; However, some people question that the courier fee already includes the transportation cost, and the re-charging of the fresh-keeping fee is a duplicate charge.

In the middle of summer, fresh sweet and juicy fruits are concentrated on the market, becoming a good product on the table of many families, and the demand for fresh express transportation services such as fruits has increased greatly. At the same time, a controversy over the express fresh-keeping service fee has also quietly heated up.

Recently, there has been a heated discussion in the express delivery market about the fresh-keeping service fee. The so-called fresh-keeping service fee is not the cost of refrigerant packaging such as ice packs, but refers to the service fees such as exclusive identification, priority transfer, priority delivery and after-sales, and some express companies charge 3 yuan ~ 5 yuan service fee according to the delivery distance.

In this regard, some consumers believe that fresh food is easy to spoil, and it is understandable that express companies launch services such as priority delivery and charge a certain fee. However, some consumers questioned that the express fee already includes the transportation cost, and the fresh-keeping fee is a duplicate charge.

The cost of fresh logistics is high

On July 2, the "Chongqing Explosive Product" Wushan Crispy Plum was opened, and many express companies such as Hema Fresh, Yipin Liangguo, SF Express and Cainiao Express all set up pick-up service points by the orchard to achieve "next-day delivery" in more than 1,000 cities across the country.

All express companies claim that the delivery of goods on the same day will be picked up on the same day, and major cities in Sichuan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui can be delivered to the door the next day. However, the delivery price varies, taking 2.5 kg of fresh plums as an example, the postage of SF Express is 47 yuan, JD.com is 42 yuan, and Cainiao Express is only 24 yuan.

The person in charge of Chongqing Cold Chain Logistics Association said that the high cost of fresh logistics is an indisputable fact, taking Chongqing as an example, a box of 2.5 kilograms of bayberry is priced at 200 yuan, but the express fee is about 30 yuan.

"Fresh food is easy to spoil, and the immediacy and quality requirements for delivery are very high, and the cost of cold chain logistics distribution is at least 30% higher than that of room temperature distribution." Mr. Yi, the person in charge of a cold chain enterprise in Chongqing, said that a 4.2-meter refrigerated truck can load 3 tons to 5 tons of goods, and the cost of distributing 3 points is basically between 350 yuan and 450 yuan in a city with a population of 10 million people like the main city of Chongqing. If it is room temperature logistics, the same situation only needs to be between 250 yuan and 350 yuan.

Long-distance cold chain transportation, higher cost. For example, renting a 13.5-meter refrigerated van will cost about 17,000 yuan for a single trip from Chongqing to Beijing, which is more than half of the normal temperature freight.

According to data released by the State Post Bureau, in 2023, the average price of the express delivery industry will be about 9.15 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 4.1%, and a new low. The problem of express delivery companies increasing revenue but not increasing profits has been very obvious. Although the cost of fresh logistics is high, it is one of the few incremental markets and has become a key area for enterprises to make efforts.

There is a dispute over the freshness service fee

With the expansion of the scale of the fresh market, the demand for fresh logistics is growing rapidly, and at the same time, it shows the characteristics of small terminal orders, many varieties and high frequency, coupled with the increasing number of consumer complaints caused by fresh corruption and deterioration, some enterprises have begun to expand value-added services.

Some express delivery companies have launched services such as posting exclusive logos, providing priority transfer, priority delivery, prohibiting cabinet delivery and personalized claims for fresh food, and charging fresh-keeping service fees.

In this regard, there is a view that in order to ensure the quality of fresh fruits, the packaging design and development invested by express delivery companies, the cold chain special line opened up, and the green channel opened at the airport are all expenses, so it is understandable to appropriately charge fresh-keeping service fees.

However, controversy has also arisen. On the black cat complaint, there are hundreds of complaints about the fresh-keeping service fee. Some netizens pointed out that the express company charged a fresh-keeping service fee but failed to fulfill its fresh-keeping obligations. Some netizens questioned whether the express company gave priority to transit and delivery, but consumers didn't know it at all, and they felt that the money was spent unclear.

Some people in the industry pointed out that the preservation service is to ensure the safe delivery of goods within the promised time limit, which is a basic service and does not belong to value-added services, and should not be charged extra.

In this context, some express companies have recently launched the "fresh and affordable delivery" service, and also provide exclusive identification, priority transit, priority delivery and worry-free after-sales and other fresh services to ensure that Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui will arrive the next day and come to the door on demand. In terms of price, the courier company clearly does not charge a fresh-keeping service fee.

The relevant person in charge of the express company said that the fresh delivery market has a single service and high prices, and the market needs easy-to-use and inexpensive express products, which not only guarantees the logistics experience, but also reduces the circulation cost of fresh agricultural products. This year, the company plans to fully enter the fresh production area, so that consumers and merchants have more choices.

The price of fresh express "rolls" has just begun

"The proposal of the fresh-keeping fee can be understood as the high-end demand generated by the market, and it can also be seen as the layered payment service that express logistics companies have not yet been able to digest and reduce costs." Mo Yuanming, a professor at Chongqing Technology and Business University, said that since it is stratified, it is inevitable to have higher requirements for efficiency and quality, which is the embodiment of the core competitiveness of the express delivery industry. For example, it can be delivered one and a half days earlier than ordinary logistics, there can be no thawing and thawing, and the temperature in the box must be lower than the outdoor temperature when it arrives.

In Mo Yuanming's view, the launch of the "fresh food parity delivery" service is difficult to bring about large fluctuations in the price of fresh logistics in the short term, but in the long run, it will produce a "catfish effect" in the industry, which may be the beginning of the price of fresh express "volume". The immediate problem is that some express companies charge a fresh-keeping service fee for fresh express delivery, and some do not charge extra, so should they be charged? Is there a fee? Is the freshness service a basic or value-added service? This is all up to the consumer.

It is worth mentioning that fresh express delivery is a typical economy of scale, and only by forming a certain scale effect, the cost of cold chain logistics will decline and stabilize.

"The fees are low, and the costs must be low, so that the business can be operated. Stuck in a good position and not aggressively expanding is now the tactic of our fresh business. The relevant person in charge of Cainiao Express said frankly that the current thinking of the company in the field of fresh food is not to be greedy, but to focus on more than 100 core cities where the volume of goods is concentrated to reduce costs.

Source: China Workers' Daily