According to the official website of the National Postal Administration, several affiliated companies under Pinduoduo have recently obtained licenses to operate express delivery services, allowing them to open service stations to operate express delivery services (excluding letters). The geographical scope includes Shanghai, Wuxi, Xuzhou, Nanjing, Binzhou, Zibo, Jinan, Nanning, Jinzhong, Changsha, Chenzhou, Hengyang, etc. The licenses are valid until 2028 and 2029. This means that Pinduoduo has officially entered the field of express delivery end services.
According to Tianyancha Business Information, the legal representatives of the above-mentioned Pinduoduo affiliated companies such as Shanghai Yucan Information Technology Co., Ltd. are all Zhao Jiazhen, Executive Director and Co CEO of Pinduoduo Group. From 2018 to 2023, he served as Senior Vice President of Pinduoduo.
The Southern Metropolis Daily reporter noticed that as a member of the founding team of Pinduoduo, Zhao Jiazhen had long been involved in the frontline of business, initially responsible for agricultural product operation and supply chain system construction. He was one of the earliest pioneers in the development of the Duoduo Maicai project since its launch in 2020. The early business form of Pinduoduo Station was the Duoduo Maicai Collection Point.
At present, various express delivery companies have established their own end of delivery brands, such as Zhongtong Tuxi Express Supermarket, Yuantong Mama Station, Cainiao Station, as well as JD Express flagship stores and Fengchao Service Station, which have previously been tested, as important gathering places for harvesting offline commercial traffic. These express delivery stores are mostly based on storefront layouts such as "front store and back warehouse". On the basis of express delivery and receiving business, they are combined with e-commerce retail, convenient services, and other formats to expand revenue generating channels as much as possible. As a result, the competition pattern for express delivery terminal resources continues to emerge.
A reporter from Nandu once reported that after the 2022 Spring Festival, Duoduo Maicai will promote its express delivery collection business in various regions, connecting its service system with express delivery companies such as "Four Links and One Delivery", Jitu, Postal, and Fengwang. By settling in the station, users can enjoy multiple benefits such as increased revenue from Duoduo Maicai's group points, online traffic for returns and deliveries, and more. It is reported that in order to attract entry, Duoduo Maicai once launched preferential benefits such as a subsidy of 3000 yuan and a daily package subsidy of up to 500 yuan. From the functions launched by Duoduo Maicai Collection Point, there are many similarities with mainstream express delivery stations on the market.
At that time, some analysts believed that as the role of post stations in the entire consumer experience of e-commerce platforms became increasingly important, Pinduoduo's move was more aimed at controlling the end stage of express logistics, which could supplement the platform's reverse logistics services and improve the consumer experience; At the same time, utilizing the location foundation and traffic of community group buying, we aim to minimize the cost of terminal layout as much as possible.
But this move has also touched some of the existing post station brands on the market. The unfair competition dispute between Cainiao and Pinduoduo has attracted high attention. Afterwards, due to the lack of qualifications for operating express delivery services, Duoduo Maicai Collection Point was urgently suspended by multiple postal management bureaus. According to the Postal Law of the People's Republic of China, those who engage in express delivery business shall obtain a express delivery business operation license in accordance with the provisions of this Law; Without permission, no unit or individual is allowed to operate express delivery services.
The Southern Metropolitan Daily reporter recently learned that the Zhejiang Provincial High People's Court has made a final judgment on the case of Cainiao Network v. Pinduoduo's unfair competition dispute. The trial opinion of the Zhejiang Provincial Court determined that when Pinduoduo promoted the "Duoduo Maicai End System", it relied on the mature end store resources of Cainiao System to reduce its operating costs, obtain market trading opportunities and gain market competitive advantages. The way of quietly entering and silently not announcing also took advantage of the advertising and publicity costs invested by Cainiao for end stores, which is an unfair use of the market achievements of others and violates the principles of honesty and trustworthiness and business ethics. This unfair competition behavior has harmed the rights and interests of consumers. The court ruled in accordance with the law that Pinduoduo should compensate Cainiao with 5 million yuan and publish an apology statement on the "Duoduo Maicai" platform of Pinduoduo's website.