The postal network covers the world, and more than 60% of packages sent by Chinese sellers are sent through the postal network. Sellers all understand the control of logistics costs in the low-profit environment of e-commerce. Specially light and small items such as jewelry and accessories are not charged and are not urgent requirements. There is no other option for postal parcels. In some remote small and island countries, small parcels save shipping costs.
Postal channels include international small parcels, large parcels, e-mail and international express delivery EMS, etc. Personal parcels are shipped through the UPU export system of the Universal Postal Union. International postal parcels are divided into two types: Normal Air Mail (non-registered) and Registered Air Mail. They are affordable and convenient for customs clearance. The international section is all shipped by air. The former does not provide tracking and inquiry services, while the latter pays a 10 yuan registration fee. Can be tracked and queried.
The weight requirement is within 2Kg, and the volume requirement for non-cylindrical goods is: length + width + height ≤ 90cm, one side ≤ 60cm. For heavy goods larger than 2Kg that do not require high timeliness, they can be sent via postal parcels. The transportation methods are air freight and water and land transportation. The price is lower than EMS, regardless of volume and weight, and there is no remote surcharge. It has a price advantage over commercial channels.
Postal parcels are still an inclusive public delivery service around the world. The postal route mode is a low-speed and low-price mode. It is the lowest logistics cost method for transporting light and small items. There is no registered “naked mail” It is the lowest price in the industry. Although postal parcels are “dumping” logistics without additional services, they are cheap, but they harm the interests of logistics providers and sellers in consumer countries, due to factors such as network capacity, processing space, and labor costs. Slow delivery and untraceability are the biggest problems. Many postal services do not provide delivery information for inbound small packages.
There is no time guarantee for registered inquiries. For example, the inquiry period of the Hong Kong Post Office is 1 to 3 months. Without the ability to inquire and provide no compensation, the seller’s customer service pressure will increase sharply, and whether the seller can receive payment from the platform depends entirely on the buyer’s credit. During the Christmas peak season, manpower and transportation capacity are tight, and delivery takes longer.
For this reason, major e-commerce platforms have blocked economic products that cannot be traced, which will cause a big blow to ordinary parcels. In terms of customs clearance, the CN22 customs declaration form unique to the postal service has a low proportion of customs inspection by the postal offices of various countries. However, quantitative changes have led to qualitative changes. In countries such as Russia and Brazil, customs have taken action and intercepted a large number of cross-border parcels. The EU has also begun to put pressure on small parcels in terms of taxation.
Postal parcels are also divided into Chinese postal parcels and foreign postal parcels. Postal parcels from Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Malaysia are the most common. Large sellers will deliver goods directly to China Post offices, while some sellers will deliver goods to foreign postal agents for discounts. Foreign postal parcels can cover most areas of the world by using the global postal network sharing. The price advantage is not obvious, the Internet speed will be delayed by 1 to 2 working days, packets are lost in transit, difficult to track, and prices fluctuate greatly.
E-Packet is the best choice for China-U.S. corridors and is an innovative postal product for the cross-border logistics market. In 2010, China and the United States Postal Service launched the “International ePacket”. The ePacket agreement between the two parties guarantees that packages within 400g from China to the United States can enjoy special discounts. The first phase of the business was limited to providing packages to the United States for Chinese eBay shippers, and later expanded to more than 20 countries. The widest coverage, simple billing, and strong customs clearance capabilities can avoid tariffs to the greatest extent, which are its unique advantages in becoming the number one cross-border logistics company.
International e-mail usually takes 7 to 15 working days to complete delivery. The first leg is shipped in the domestic section using the EMS network; after exporting to overseas, the mail is delivered through overseas postal mail networks. :Customs clearance adopts UPU electronic customs declaration system to ensure the speed of customs clearance. Every vote is delivered to the door and the whole process can be tracked. The timeliness and price are relatively balanced. For orders sent to the United States, ePacket has always been the first choice of most sellers. The price within 1Kg is basically the same as that of a fully discounted registered small package, and it is even cheaper around 2Kg. In terms of order dispute rate, ePostal has the lowest dispute rate among all platforms, only
1.3%. More sellers tend to choose traceable logistics products, and ePacket has become the best standard. EMS is an express delivery product of the Postal Service. It is high-priced, fast, and has strong customs clearance capabilities. One shipment per ticket, not exceeding 30kg, does not measure volume and weight. The freight is cheaper than commercial express, and the speed is close to commercial express. It can be tracked and inquired. The biggest advantage is that it can be returned for free. , generally sending special items through EMS is a good choice for B2C, and it is relatively safe.
If the seller’s goods are detained abroad, EMS can help the buyer ship them back for free. Other large express companies will charge more for shipping the goods back from abroad, and there will be no discounts. Yes, the price is too high to understand.
In operation, the postal service will first pass the mail through the customs, seal it with lead strips, and send it to the air port. Then it will package the goods received from various places into large general packages according to the country of destination, and arrange routes. Delivery by air. There is also a delivery security check after delivery. Unlike the post office security check, the post office tends to check whether there are laws prohibiting the outflow of goods, while the airport mainly checks from the aspect of transportation security, so the goods may still be returned at the airport.
After arriving at the destination country, customs clearance, postal transshipment, sorting and delivery within the destination country follow. Many less developed countries have poor logistics infrastructure and can only provide the most basic mail services. Postal service has been the mainstream logistics method for a long time, occupying the largest share of cross-border e-commerce delivery channels.