Market Positioning Strategy of Small and Medium-sized Logistics Enterprises

The price war against the background of service homogenization is an important factor leading to the blind development of disorderly competition. Logistics enterprises to implement scientific and unique market positioning, not only to meet the needs of the market and customers, but also an important way to improve their own competitive strength, each with a differentiation strategy for their different customer groups to provide differentiated services at the same time, but also through the learning and accumulation of refinement of the enterprise's organizational structure, to build the surrounding collaborative network, thereby improving the level of service and reduce the unit cost of service. Cost. It can be said that the differentiation strategy of logistics enterprises is not only due to the need for differentiation of customer demand in the market, but also to cultivate the core competitiveness of logistics enterprises themselves and the need for competitive advantage.

Positioning confusion: what all do, what all do not work well

Logistics fever is a significant feature of the current domestic economy, before the "logistics park" made a lot of noise, after the "cost of logistics" noisy and lively. In fact, since logistics is given as the "third source of profit" has become the focus of many eyeballs, but also attracted countless funds flocked to the form of logistics enterprises such as bamboo shoots, an effort to emerge. It is said that the current logistics enterprises in the 15,000 or so, but then take a closer look at the domestic logistics outsourcing market of about 60 billion yuan, there is no one market share of more than 2%. Some people compare today's logistics industry as the Warring States period, that is, the logistics industry, despite the rise of the herd, but the lack of real leaders, but also has not yet formed the situation of the lords and masters. The result of too much dispersion is bound to bring confusion, but it is this confusion that makes a lot of capital stupid. On the one hand, many small and medium-sized logistics companies are still being established, trying to get a piece of the logistics industry; on the other hand, there are large logistics companies continue to invest a lot of money to occupy the logistics market across the country, want to dominate the party. However, a share of the spoils or, Tu hegemony or, enterprises in the logistics industry continue to invest money before, first of all, we must want to understand that the money invested, their own position in the logistics industry is what?

Logistics industry like a piece of expanding cake, the temptation to let some practitioners at a loss, the lack of market positioning, the lack of strategic planning phenomenon prevails. The reason why this issue, mainly because the current logistics market supply and demand between the contradictions presented more and more obvious, leading to a number of experts and the media are saying that the status quo of the domestic logistics will become an obstacle to the development of the domestic economy - on the one hand, the logistics market is hot, but a lot of logistics companies are complaining that the market is too competitive, it is difficult for enterprises to catch the customer, make little money. On the other hand, the need for logistics services, but the company complained that they can not find logistics providers to meet the requirements, at the same time that the existing logistics costs are too high, becoming a stumbling block to business development, and even some foreign-funded enterprises because of the high cost of logistics and change the direction of the original investment. Originally engaged in container transportation now do open the supply chain; originally do the supply chain is now running open the trunk transportation; before doing small pieces of the third-party logistics, third-party logistics has not yet understood and open the fourth-party logistics. The phenomenon of what to make money fast and save time to do what a swarm of phenomenon in the logistics industry is quite common.

If a restaurant puts shark's fin and fans in a pot of stew, what is the result? People who can afford shark's fin don't want to eat shark's fin with vermicelli, and those who can't afford shark's fin are even more reluctant to pay high prices for vermicelli. If both high-end and low-end customers fail to earn money, can the restaurant still grow bigger and stronger? Doing fine work in the trade is the only way to become bigger and stronger. In the industry, many companies have suffered a lot of losses, suffer losses ate in what money are trying to earn. Often bend over backwards to pick up money, will inevitably affect the time and speed to reach the destination. We must learn to give up, first in the logistics industry in all areas of the industry to do solid, warehousing, supply chain, processing and distribution, courier each do strong, from the concept of the country, we are a strong consortium, you can build a brick wall to compete with foreign investment. On this basis, the special ability to strong enterprises to other areas of penetration, and gradually formed a comprehensive logistics company, a number of years later we can be born in China's UPS.

Positioning reference: the customer's needs and organizational strengths

Logistics enterprises to implement the scientific positioning, select the differentiation strategy may bring about one of the results is the narrowing of the customer base and the rise in unit costs. This leads to the price of services climb. Therefore, we should pay close attention to the quality of unique services to reduce the price sensitivity of customers, the deepening of differentiated uniqueness to block the threat of substitutes and maintain customer loyalty, and through the creation of a differentiated brand to focus and grow the customer base, in the enterprise benefits continue to improve at the same time, to achieve the unit cost of service and unit service price decline. For this reason, in the scientific positioning of logistics enterprises, must focus on considering the market customer needs and the enterprise's own independent advantages.

Customer needs can not be met, positioning will be meaningless. Logistics enterprises have the most important asset is not its trucks, warehouses, houses, but its customer resources. Customer resources have become more and more precious under the fierce market competition, and customer resources have become the most valuable asset of the enterprise. Access to customer resources depends on customer satisfaction, improve customer satisfaction and satisfied customers into loyal customers, and ultimately through customer retention to have the opportunity to obtain customer lifetime value. Because the enterprise's customers have differences, different customers have different needs, preferences and financial status and other conditions, different customers on the logistics service satisfaction expectations are also different, even if the same customer at different times or under different environmental conditions may also be different. However, it is impossible for any logistics enterprise to provide different services at the same time, so that customers with different needs are satisfied. The differentiation strategy of logistics enterprises is expressed here as the differentiation of services provided by each logistics enterprise to satisfy customers with different requirements. For example, some logistics companies are to provide fast transportation services (such as aircraft) as a specialty, with small quantities of multi-frequency fast transportation to meet the timing of goods with special attention to the customer. Some logistics companies specialize in providing low-cost transportation services as a specialty, with large quantities of low-frequency low-cost delivery, to meet some of the more concerned about the cost of transportation customers. Similarly, some logistics companies can specialize in providing refrigerated transport services, or similar special requirements for transport services. There are also specialized regional logistics network to provide services, such as to provide logistics services in the African region as a specialty. Customer demand is the direction of logistics enterprise services, there are differentiated customers have differentiated needs, differentiated needs to provide differentiated services, so the objective existence of differentiated customers, logistics enterprises have become the external basis for the choice of differentiation strategy.

The external cause is the condition of change, the internal cause is the basis for change. Scientific positioning, in addition to reference to the customer's needs, should also look at the enterprise's service capabilities. Each logistics enterprise will have its unique competitive advantages and competitive resources, the same will inevitably have its shortcomings and limitations, which constitutes the organization's differentiation. For example, some logistics companies in the hardware advantages, have their own aircraft or ships and other means of transportation. Some in the "software" advantage, such as freight forwarding companies, these companies do not do third-party logistics hardware equipment required, but they have a large number of customer resources. There is also a "network advantage" type, such as the traditional postal service industry has a perfect network, whether highway, railroad, water transport or aviation can be very smooth to use. Logistics companies want to give full play to their advantages must be a comprehensive consideration of the enterprise's advantages, core competitiveness, the life cycle of the industry, competitors, technical strength, financial capacity, management capacity and external environment and other factors, only then can we do to avoid the shortcomings of the strengths. If we all disregard the advantages and limitations of their own conditions, are blindly to the so-called catering to customer demand for services of all colors, the result will inevitably be the dispersion of power, the quality of service declines, the advantages of the enterprise is difficult to show, will inevitably be eliminated in the competition. Logistics enterprise ability to differentiate is the implementation of differentiation strategy of the internal basis, which determines the direction, scope and degree of enterprise differentiation.

Scientific positioning: organic integration of supply and demand>

Generally speaking, the creation of the logistics enterprise brand is the key to the success of the enterprise positioning. The most important thing is that enterprises should have an accurate positioning of the current and future market, from the quantitative information on the prospects of China's logistics market, in China's industrial enterprises, raw material logistics outsourcing to 3PL only 18%, the sales logistics outsourcing to 3PL only 16%. Only by grasping the arteries of the development of the market, we can create space for development. This is a dynamic and complex process, the core is STP, that is, market segmentation (Segmenting), target market selection (Targeting) and specific positioning (Positioning). The use of positioning strategy, that is, in the creation and rendering of enterprises and products of personalized characteristics.

The order difference between demand and supply in the logistics market has indeed posed a great challenge to the development of the domestic material economy, and at the same time has become an obstacle to the development of the entire economy. But for the logistics industry, behind this challenge lies a huge opportunity. At present, whether it is preparing to enter the domestic logistics industry enterprises, or has been based on the logistics industry enterprises, see the hot logistics industry in front of the opportunity given at the same time, more should carefully analyze the logistics industry currently encountered challenges. Opportunities brought by the vision, and challenges brought by the ladder towards the vision, step over a step means that a step closer to the vision.

Of course, in the face of opportunity, success belongs only to those who have the brains. No matter how fierce the competition in the market is, the market will always reserve the survival space for those enterprises with accurate positioning.

Nowadays, many logistics companies define themselves as the solution provider of the whole supply chain. Some of these companies have set up branches in several major cities in China, and their business is mainly concentrated in these major cities, and they provide only transportation and warehousing services, but not integrated supply chain services. Even some enterprises just bought dozens of vehicles, built a few warehouses, their services from the provision of the entire supply chain integration services is even farther away. It is no wonder that some foreign companies complained that domestic logistics providers have a big mouth and little ability.

In fact, as of now, the integrated supply chain service provider is a high-end logistics services, which not only includes the integration of raw materials and product distribution services, but also includes the design of optimized logistics solutions for customers and other services. The majority of logistics companies can only provide local or regional warehousing and distribution services.

In fact, it is not claimed to provide integrated supply chain services in order to survive well, and there are a number of chain stores based on the distribution of goods or long-distance transportation of large quantities of goods of the enterprise, they live in turn is very nourishing. The reason for this is that they are able to define their own positioning in a certain field to do a very professional, thus becoming an irreplaceable link in the logistics value chain, its regional competitiveness should not be underestimated, and profits are naturally quite lucrative. From the point of view of the nature of the enterprise, logistics companies should position their companies in the specialized, international logistics enterprises. Haier is to meet its own logistics needs at the same time, the future direction of development of its logistics is a third-party logistics enterprises, the positioning of its third-party logistics enterprises to large-scale production enterprises, commercial enterprises and e-commerce companies as the object of service for the supply chain, including raw materials logistics, production logistics, logistics of finished products and sales logistics, including the process of providing logistics support for the content of the service, in order to provide logistics capacity assessment, system design and consulting and the whole process of logistics agency as a service. We provide logistics capacity assessment, system design and consulting, and whole-process logistics agency as our service mode.