Last-mile delivery aunties spring up in Shenzhen
Lianhe Zaobao journalist Daryl Lim takes a look at a new budding sector in Shenzhen - substitute delivery. This last-mile delivery service, often undertaken by part-time "aunties", is booming. But several issues are cropping up such as accountability for wrong or delayed food orders, how should this be handled and is it worth the risk?
(Photos: Daryl Lim/SPH Media)
"SEG Plaza... SEG Plaza... on the high floors, going up immediately."
Every lunchtime, dozens of "substitute delivery aunties" would gather at the ground floor of SEG Plaza at Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei area to do delivery on behalf of delivery drivers at a fee.
Delivery riders would adeptly pass the takeouts to these aunties, convey the destination floor and unit in the building, scan the QR payment code hanging around their necks, and scoot off to the next delivery task.
Substitute delivery aunties would write the relevant details on the takeout bag and ensure that they received the delivery fee of 2 RMB (around US$0.30). After accumulating enough orders, they would swiftly enter the building and begin delivering the takeouts.
Budding sector
Substitute delivery aunties offering "last-mile" delivery services to delivery riders at a fee is a new phenomenon in Shenzhen's commercial districts. Most of them are part-timers, like Huang Xiumei (pseudonym) from Hunan, who is a housekeeper. During her free time, she would head to SEG Plaza to earn extra cash as a substitute delivery auntie.
She shared that she is only able to accept a maximum of 30 orders every lunchtime, which translates to around 1,000-2,000 RMB a month based on her calculations.
She told Lianhe Zaobao that substitute delivery persons help solve problems of long elevator wait times and difficulties in finding the delivery destination that delivery riders face.
SEG Plaza is a 71-storey skyscraper in Huaqiangbei with over 3,000 units and a complex layout. The waiting time for the elevator is at least five minutes during the busy lunch hour; it takes at least 15 minutes to get from the highest to the ground floor of the building, inclusive of stops at each floor for people to enter and alight the elevator.
With Huang being familiar with the layout of the building like the back of her hand, she is able to fulfil 20 orders within 30 minutes.
She confidently said, "We start planning the delivery route when we accept an order and work our way down from the highest floor. We would also exchange orders with fellow substitute delivery aunties on our own to make our jobs easier."
It is claimed online that substitute delivery aunties like Huang who are not tech-savvy but are able to make money in Huaqiangbei, China's biggest electronics wholesale market, are testament to Shenzhen's reputation as a "money-making city" (搞钱之都). Some even alleged that a few substitute delivery aunties who earn "over 10,000 RMB a month" have become an urban legend of Shenzhen.
Huang is not bothered by the rumours online and asserts that she only wants to earn a living. She shared that she is only able to accept a maximum of 30 orders every lunchtime, which translates to around 1,000-2,000 RMB a month based on her calculations. She questioned, "How is it possible for me to earn more than 10,000 RMB a month?"
"Last year, there were up to 50 or 60 people here at the same time, and even the younger people would snatch business from us sometimes." - a substitute delivery auntie from Hunan
Time-consuming deliveries
Huang lamented that even the substitute delivery sector is becoming "involuted" due to growing competition, and the number of orders is not enough to go around, significantly affecting her earnings in the past year.
She said, "Affected by the overall situation, many people either lost their jobs or took a pay cut. This job does not require any qualifications and anyone can come here to earn some extra cash. Last year, there were up to 50 or 60 people here at the same time, and even the younger people would snatch business from us sometimes."
This paid delivery service is available at several office buildings in Shenzhen. As for sharing a cut of the remuneration with these substitute delivery persons, most delivery riders interviewed said that this was a compromise, because their actual earnings would decrease if deliveries were delayed.
Delivery rider Zhao Lei said waiting for the lift at tall buildings like SEG Plaza would be too time-consuming, and doorstep delivery would take at least 20 minutes to complete.
He added, "If I were to make the delivery personally, it would delay the other orders. Time is money, and many of us are hustling to complete more orders so that we can get a higher-tiered reward. The cost of using substitute delivery persons would lead to more earnings."
Delivery riders make around 4 to 7 RMB per order depending on the distance.
To improve the convenience of delivering and receiving orders for the riders and customers during peak periods, many delivery platforms have made arrangements with the various buildings to set up delivery lockers on the ground floor of their buildings. There is a row of delivery lockers with more than one hundred shelves at SEG Plaza, but they are hardly used.
Delivery rider Zhang Xiaodong stated, "It would be ideal if we could just leave the items at the delivery lockers. But the problem is that customers must authorise that when they make their order. Most customers order food delivery because they are unwilling to go out for meals. If they have to go to the ground floor to collect their food, they might as well eat out."
... without obtaining approval from the customers, the delivery riders are actually violating the delivery agreement with customers by passing on their orders to substitute delivery persons. - Li Xianliang, Lawyer, Hebei Shidai Jingdian
Accountability issues
Substitute delivery persons improve efficiency, but there are also instances where deliveries are wrongly delivered or delayed. Zhang lamented that when this happens, the riders are accountable, and they have to make reparations to the customers.
Li Xianliang, a lawyer at law firm Hebei Shidai Jingdian, pointed out when interviewed that these substitute delivery persons are essentially no different from staging posts, with the only difference being that they are mobile and do not have operating licences.
He added that without obtaining approval from the customers, the delivery riders are actually violating the delivery agreement with customers by passing on their orders to substitute delivery persons. If the order was lost, the merchant, platform, and in particular the delivery riders, would all have to be held accountable.
Li added, "In theory, the riders can seek compensation from these substitute delivery persons. But the items involved in the delivery are often not of high value, and they can either reach a private settlement or not seek payment, with no need to resort to legal means."
For the consumers, Li advised that if they encounter a delivery dispute, the most direct method to address it would be to contact the merchant or the platform, because they bear the main responsibility of ensuring that the items are delivered to the customer.
This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as "深圳兴起"最后一里路"外卖代送员".
