Couriers plan for huge Singles’ Day order volume

By Zhu Qiongmin Source:Global Times Published: 2011-11-8 22:54:00

Major courier companies gathered in the city Tuesday to discuss how to handle the high volume of orders projected for Friday, or Singles' Day, when consumers across the country are expected to take advantage of online promotions being offered on November 11.

November 11, or 11/11, numerically representing a day for singles in China, is typically celebrated by "single" consumers, who purchase gifts for themselves on the day – an occasion that retailers have used to lure more customers by offering generous discounts.

The talks came after 30 percent of the city's Singles' Day deliveries failed to make it to consumers last year due to a higher-than-expected volume of sales for the occasion.

The China Express Association, which headed the talks Tuesday and oversees courier companies on the Chinese mainland, said that it is paying more attention to the issue this year. Chen Linhua, secretary of the association's Shanghai office, said that courier companies were advised to line up extra workers and extend operating hours on Friday in an effort to meet demand.

"It's a very busy day for couriers in the city," he told the Global Times Tuesday. "We hope that the extra efforts can help things go more smoothly this year."

Many Shanghai-based courier companies Tuesday agreed to up manpower on Friday, while local courier STO said that it plans to provide 24-hour service on Friday to satisfy customers.

Taobao, the largest online shopping services provider on the Chinese mainland, said Tuesday that it already has some 40,000 couriers from nine courier companies nationwide to help with orders on Singles' Day, some of whom will serve Shanghai on Friday – after the company failed to deliver nearly a third of its Singles' Day orders last year.

"Given that a lot of the consumers on the Chinese mainland who spent 936 million yuan ($147 million) on Singles' Day came from Shanghai last year, we predict many purchases made on Singles' Day this year to come from shoppers in Shanghai again," a public relations officer for Taobao, who asked not to be named, told the Global Times Tuesday. "Unlike the embarrassment last year, we want to make sure our customers receive their goods on time this year."



Posted in: Metro Shanghai

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