According to experts' analysis, the fourth party logistics is more profitable than the third party logistics because they have professional consulting services. Although the scale of this service is still small, it will be a fast-growing part of the highly competitive logistics market in China.
The fourth party logistics company in China is usually called logistics consulting company (the fourth party logistics is Accenture's proper term). Although the names are different, the services provided belong to the category of fourth party logistics. China's fourth-party logistics developed late. Before March 2009, China logistics consulting company was rarely seen in online search, but after March 2009, various enterprises with the title of logistics consulting company appeared like mushrooms after rain. The main reason for this situation lies in the top ten industrial revitalization plans issued by the state, among which the logistics revitalization plan is put on the agenda as the only service industry plan. Subsequently, the planning and design of logistics parks across the country surged. Therefore, all logistics consulting companies have the business scope of planning logistics parks.
Companies that do fourth-party logistics in China, also called logistics consulting companies, mainly include:
Shenzhen Wanqian Consulting, Ocean Global Consulting, Accenture Consulting, Shanghai Tian Rui Consulting, Fabo Consulting, Yibo Consulting, Shanghai Ou Lin Consulting, Hangzhou Tongchuang Consulting, Qingdao Haier Consulting, Dalian Zhifeng Consulting, Hong Kong Yu Wei Consulting, Daku Consulting, Times Associates and so on.
Analysis on the Fourth Party Logistics Mode and E-commerce
There are three modes of logistics system established by e-commerce enterprises, namely "self-built logistics system", "self-built logistics+third-party logistics" and "completely relying on third-party logistics".
The first is the supply chain logistics mode of self-built logistics distribution center. At present, most third-party logistics companies (such as Shentong, Zhongtong and other courier companies) are small and medium-sized enterprises. Poor management leads to poor service quality and delayed delivery. In addition, third-party logistics enterprises collect payment from e-commerce, which leads to problems such as long account period and difficulty in withdrawing funds, which restricts the future growth of e-commerce. This situation forces many large Internet vendors to choose to establish their own internal logistics systems. By controlling and improving logistics service resources, the delivery speed can be significantly improved, the quality of logistics service can be guaranteed, the customer experience can be improved, and the business can continue to grow. For example, a few days ago, Vipshop, the largest brand-name discount network in China, announced the construction of logistics centers in Beijing and Kunshan, and tried to build its own logistics model in East China. Following JD.COM Mall, Vanke Eslite and Alibaba, another e-commerce enterprise announced that it has invested heavily in planning and building a "logistics ecosystem". At present, e-commerce giants such as JD.COM Mall, Vanke Eslite and Alibaba all claim to invest billions of dollars to build their own logistics centers.
However, establishing your own logistics distribution center is not suitable for all e-commerce companies. The key to success lies in large-scale orders and efficient operation, especially terminal distribution (generally accounting for about 45% of the whole logistics cost). According to the calculation of the expert organization, if the daily delivery volume of an urban area is less than 600 orders, the self-built delivery team is unprofitable, and the cost of each delivery is between 13 yuan-15 yuan. However, if the daily delivery volume of this intercity can be increased to 10000, then the delivery cost of each piece can be reduced below that of 2 yuan, thus meeting the requirements of self-built logistics warehouse. Therefore, the self-built supply chain logistics distribution system is suitable for large or super-large e-commerce or manufacturing enterprises with large scale, abundant funds, important strategic position of logistics in the overall business, significant proportion of logistics costs and high requirements for logistics services. For example, Qingdao Haier has built its own supply chain logistics system through the "first-class three networks" model: "first-class" is the order information flow and the center of Haier logistics; "Three networks" are global supply chain resource network, global user resource network and computer information network. The simultaneous operation of the "three networks" has effectively established Haier's position as a world home appliance giant.
Supply chain logistics mode combining self-built and third-party logistics. Some e-commerce companies started with the help of third-party logistics, but after being severely impacted by logistics bottlenecks, they also began to build their own logistics centers and distribution teams. Therefore, large and medium-sized e-commerce enterprises can make choices according to the principle of maximizing interests. They can build their own supply chain logistics system in urban areas with frequent business, large logistics volume and important position, and use third-party logistics in other areas to let enterprises meet their needs and advance and retreat freely. For example, Newegg adopts a combination of self-built logistics and third-party logistics, and so does Dell Computer.
Supply chain logistics mode of third party logistics. Relying entirely on third-party logistics is a common mode for most small and medium-sized e-commerce companies to provide distribution services. It provides logistics services by coordinating logistics transportation among enterprises, and outsources the logistics business of enterprises to specialized logistics enterprises. In this way, e-commerce enterprises can concentrate their main energy and resources on core business, reduce logistics costs, and realize real-time communication and interaction with third-party logistics enterprises through e-commerce platform to improve logistics level.
These three modes have their own advantages and disadvantages: logistics outsourcing can enable e-commerce enterprises to concentrate all their resources to build their main business without distracting themselves from building transit stations and warehouses, which is conducive to reducing the management difficulty and risk cost of enterprises. The disadvantage is that many third-party logistics enterprises have poor service awareness, long payment time and even bad debts and losses. Although self-built logistics can provide high-quality personalized services for netizen customers, it needs to invest huge amounts of money in a short time, and e-commerce has to bear great costs and risks. The supply chain logistics mode combining self-built and third-party logistics may be the golden mean, and most e-commerce enterprises will enjoy it in the future.
In addition, there is a supply chain logistics model of the fourth party logistics. The fourth party logistics (4PL) is essentially an integrator of supply chain. It mainly manages and guides the activities of multiple third-party logistics through contracts, and integrates customer needs, third-party logistics suppliers, information technology suppliers, business resources and business processes by using the integration ability of fourth-party logistics, so as to better realize operational efficiency, reduce logistics costs and improve service quality. Although the fourth party logistics is still a relatively unfamiliar concept, with the practice of logistics parks in Shenzhen, Xiamen, Tianjin and other places in China, it is believed that the rise of the fourth party logistics in China is not far off.