---
title: "Home Delivery Is Hot, the First Half Is Over, What About the Second Half?"
description: "An important feature of the internet is the separation of transaction and delivery. E-commerce is a typical example. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the separation of transaction and delivery in offline and community scenarios. Thanks to the 'home delivery' model, which provided a new solution when traditional delivery was disrupted, it even saved some community e-commerce platforms that were on the verge of closing. So, after the pandemic, will home delivery still have a future? If so, who will benefit? Some have said that home delivery might even replace in-store delivery and become the mainstream delivery model for commerce."
author: "刘春雄"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2020-02-25"
categories: "E-commerce & Instant Retail, Management & Methods"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/home-delivery-is-hot-the-first-half-is-over-what-about-the-second-half-b6e29ab3/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/home-delivery-is-hot-the-first-half-is-over-what-about-the-second-half-b6e29ab3.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/AGdQJIC_snj1p8uH_b_HWA"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E5%88%B0%E5%AE%B6%E7%81%AB%E4%BA%86-%E4%B8%8A%E5%8D%8A%E5%9C%BA%E5%B7%B2%E7%BB%93%E6%9D%9F-%E4%B8%8B%E5%8D%8A%E5%9C%BA%E6%80%8E%E4%B9%88%E5%8A%9E-b6e29ab3.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/home-delivery-is-hot-the-first-half-is-over-what-about-the-second-half-b6e29ab3/"
citation: "刘春雄. “Home Delivery Is Hot, the First Half Is Over, What About the Second Half?.” New Distribution, 2020-02-25. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/home-delivery-is-hot-the-first-half-is-over-what-about-the-second-half-b6e29ab3/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# Home Delivery Is Hot, the First Half Is Over, What About the Second Half?

> An important feature of the internet is the separation of transaction and delivery. E-commerce is a typical example. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the separation of transaction and delivery in offline and community scenarios. Thanks to the 'home delivery' model, which provided a new solution when traditional delivery was disrupted, it even saved some community e-commerce platforms that were on the verge of closing. So, after the pandemic, will home delivery still have a future? If so, who will benefit? Some have said that home delivery might even replace in-store delivery and become the mainstream delivery model for commerce.

****An important feature of the internet is the separation of transaction and delivery.**
E-commerce is a typical example of the separation of transaction and delivery. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us the separation of transaction and delivery in offline and community scenarios.
Thanks to the "home delivery" model, which provided a new solution when traditional delivery was disrupted, it even saved some community e-commerce platforms that were on the verge of closing.
So, **after the pandemic, will home delivery still have a future?** If so, who will benefit?
Some have said that home delivery might even replace in-store delivery and become the mainstream delivery model for commerce.
"Home delivery" indeed played a role in emergency response during the special period, but what is its value in normalized commerce? Clarifying this will reveal its future.

**-01-
****Has Home Delivery Really Reached Home?**
Retail has two delivery models: "in-store" and "home delivery." There is also a "self-pickup" model, such as the "self-pickup" in community group buying.
In fact, what we loosely call "home delivery" can be further divided into **"to the door"** and **"to the community"**, and the difference is significant.
E-commerce delivery models can be subdivided into the following four types:
One is truly delivered to the home, which is actually **"to the door"**. This is extremely rare now.
The second is **delivery at the community gate**, which I call community delivery. During lunch and after work, many couriers wait at the community gate, calling users to pick up their packages; this is community delivery.
The third is **"pickup point" delivery**, such as Cainiao Post and Yatang Xiaochao. If you miss the community delivery window, the courier often leaves the package at a pickup point. Pickup points are also distributed by community.
The fourth is **smart lockers**. Similarly, if you miss the community delivery window, small packages are placed in lockers. Lockers are unattended "pickup points."
**I divide home delivery into "to the door" and "to the community," which is important for the subsequent business analysis.** Community delivery, pickup points, and lockers are all "to the community."

**-02-
****The "To the Door" Model**
The "to the door" model needs to be discussed separately. "To the door" is essentially face-to-face delivery, suitable for special products with high requirements for delivery time windows.
Meituan Waimai is a typical "to the door" delivery, but it is more often "to the workplace," as white-collar workers order takeout at work most frequently.
New retail companies like Hema Fresh and Luckin Coffee also have many "to the door" models. There are two reasons: first, delivery timeliness; Luckin Coffee requires delivery within about 10 minutes of ordering, while new retail like Hema Fresh typically delivers within 2 hours; second, the fresh nature of the products.
The delivery window for "to the door" is very short. For takeout, the window is within 1 hour after lunch and after work in the afternoon; for fresh products, it requires delivery before lunch preparation. For example, the window for vegetables for lunch is around 10:30.
"To the door" is difficult. I practiced it in 2015.
At that time, I assisted a fresh meat business with home delivery, also using a third-party platform for delivery.
Once, a courier delivered 5 orders of fresh meat at noon, all from office workers. Many families had purchased meat for lunch. At the first delivery, the user came home late, delaying subsequent deliveries. By the time of the last delivery, it was already 2 PM, and the courier got scolded.
Because the delivery window for "to the door" is short, user density must be extremely high. **Many new retail businesses have "to the door" services with delivery within 2 hours, all through third-party delivery platforms.** Only third parties have sufficient delivery density.
Of course, "to the door" does not necessarily mean delivering to the home; it can also be scheduled delivery at the community. Some might view this as "to the community," but I prefer to see it as a variant of "to the door" because it involves face-to-face delivery. Face-to-face delivery is the characteristic of "to the door."

**-03-
****"To the Door" vs. "To the Community"**
The above nitpicking is not a word game but to lay the groundwork for the following analysis.
The conclusion from the previous analysis is: **"To the door" suits some innovative new retail models, while most traditional businesses are suitable for "to the community" delivery. **So when we talk about home delivery, we might actually mean "to the community."**
This is a very important conclusion that will greatly affect the judgment of the future of home delivery.
The "home delivery" business that boomed during the pandemic was forced by the environment. After normalization, will it continue to boom or quickly recede? Our judgment basis is that traditional business's "home delivery" is actually "to the community."
We will discuss this in two categories: from the perspectives of retailers and brand owners.
From the retailer's perspective, let me first state my view: **convenience stores are not suitable for home delivery, while KA (key accounts) are suitable.**
We divide traditional retail into three categories: convenience stores, KA, and specialty stores.
**Convenience stores are not suitable for home delivery because they are already in the community.** The convenience of convenience stores lies in the fact that users only need to "walk 5 minutes." If convenience stores do "to the community" delivery, it is like "taking off pants to fart."
So, can convenience stores do "to the door"? Most are not suitable, and the more chain-like they are, the harder it is. **
**KA stores are very suitable for "to the community."** In fact, some supermarkets are already doing it. First, KA has a large trade area radius, covering many communities; second, shopping at KA has a high average order value; third, KA shopping is usually planned purchases, not immediate consumption, so timeliness requirements are low.
New retail, like Hema, is rare; only KA transformation can become mainstream. In the internet transformation, KA faces difficulties. In fact, KA is very suitable for "home delivery" business.
When KA does home delivery, the store becomes a front warehouse, which can compensate for declining in-store traffic.
**Specialty stores are very suitable for home delivery.** Generally, specialty stores have strong user stickiness, high average order value, and non-immediate consumption. However, offline experience is also very important for specialty stores, so the delivery form is less important.

**-04-
****Can Brand Owners Do Home Delivery?**
Let's set aside brand owners doing e-commerce, because e-commerce is already home delivery.
**If they go through traditional channels, is home delivery a retailer's issue?** If channel distributors do home delivery, it must be a new channel different from traditional ones. For example, during COVID-19, community partner recruitment often created new channels, leading to the separation of transaction and delivery.
Community partners' delivery roughly falls into three situations:
**First, the community partner is a traditional retailer.** The delivery issue is left to the retailer, and the brand owner does not need to worry.
**Second, the partner's transaction and delivery are separated.** The partner completes awareness and transaction, while the company's front warehouse or headquarters completes delivery, usually community delivery. For example, Tsingtao Beer and Liduzhuang liquor basically have partners with separated transaction and delivery.
**Third, the partner's transaction and delivery are integrated.** In the FMCG industry, there are probably few categories that can achieve this.
From my observation, hastily formed community partners and the community groups built on them are more like vertical communities. Even brands with high user density like Tsingtao Beer still manifest as vertical communities. Therefore, the separation of transaction and delivery is more likely. Hence, most FMCG categories are not suitable.

**-05-
****Innovation in Delivery Methods Boosts Internet Commerce**
**The prosperity of e-commerce in China is closely related to innovation in delivery models.**
The huge lifestyle differences between China and the US greatly affect their e-commerce models. Chinese living environments are high-density, while American living environments are low-density.
The population density of the living environment constrains the boundaries of delivery model innovation.
**China's high residential density makes both "to the door" and "to the community" feasible.** There are two concepts of community in China: one is the residential area (geographical), and the other is the administrative community (formerly residents' committees).
What we call community delivery is actually residential area delivery. Because of high population density, community delivery points can be established, improving delivery efficiency.
American communities are large and dispersed. Americans love parties because low residential density makes socializing inconvenient.
Most Americans live either in satellite cities or rural towns. So, the most concentrated commercial places are business districts. Everyone drives to business districts. This is the most efficient delivery model. If delivery were done "to the door" or "to the community," efficiency would be very low.
**It is foreseeable that "to the community" delivery will be further strengthened in the future. Community delivery points or unattended delivery (like smart lockers) will become community infrastructure.**

Source: Teacher Liu's New Marketing (ID: liuchunxiong1964)


---

## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 刘春雄
- Published: 2020-02-25
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/home-delivery-is-hot-the-first-half-is-over-what-about-the-second-half-b6e29ab3/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/AGdQJIC_snj1p8uH_b_HWA

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671