YTO fully prepared for Singles Day frenzy

Workers sort parcels at a YTO Express logistics centre in Beijing, March 25, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

Delivery giant beefs up operations ahead of annual shopping festival with record parcels expected

YTO Express (Logistics) Co Ltd is ready to test some secret weapons during the upcoming Singles Day shopping festival, when it is set to deliver up to 150 million packages.

Listed on the A-share market in late October, Shanghai-based YTO is gearing up to mobilize more than 500,000 staff, over 8,000 vehicles, aircraft, and dozens of added and expanded transit centers, and has leased 50,000 square meters more warehouse space to ensure its deliveries are timely and fast.

One of its new weapons is a self-developed app called Xingzhe (walker), which is installed on 98 percent of YTO's couriers' smartphones, providing solid support for the deliveries ranging from picking up, taking orders and signing in.

As the first smartphone app designed especially for couriers, Xingzhe can quickly respond to customers' requirements, enhance couriers' efficiency, and provide a better customer experience with less waiting time.

"Through this special app, which also has the function of map navigation, all the orders will be reorganized according to distance and planned routes," said Tang Zijie from the information center of YTO.

Backed by a powerful system platform, the app can handle up to 10 million orders on a daily basis in a recent test, with daily visits reaching 100 million.

According to Tang, delivery orders can either come in paper or electronic form, and the e-version can be printed by a bluetooth printer.

"Last but not least, customers can pay the delivery fee through their mobile phone if they let couriers scan their payment code," Tang added.

YTO's smart monitoring system, or operational management system and center monitoring system, will keep an eye on all on-the-spot operations and track the basic information of their vehicles. The system enables the logistics company to constantly update its delivery information to make adjustments accordingly, said Wang Yong, senior director of YTO's operation center.

"The smart system will not only raise the efficiency of deliveries, but also make the industry greener as it will design the shortest route to cut fuel consumption," said Xiang Feng, CEO of YTO.

"The greenest part of the industry is in the last kilometer to the destination, which is delivered by electric motor tricycle. We have done a rough calculation on this, finding that motor tricycles alone can help cut carbon emissions by more than 3 million metric tons each year. For YTO, the total figure is at least 400,000 tons," Xiang said.

YTO was founded in 2000 by Yu Weijiao, and in 16 years, he developed his small courier firm into an express empire, the largest express delivery company in China and the first to be listed among domestic couriers.