Text/Cui Hengyu

Editor/question

Lucy in Shanghai went to the eyelash shop to graft eyelashes, and her flickering eyes became more agile. She felt that the cost of nearly 1,000 yuan was worth the money. Susan in Beijing spends half a quarter of an hour making up every day, and sticking false eyelashes is the most critical part; Madonna, the goddess of youth, once spent $10,000 to customize a pair of false eyelashes made of mink hair and set with diamonds …

To some extent, false eyelashes have become a sense of ritual for women who love beauty. What few people know is that behind this little sense of ceremony, there is a hidden name-Qingdao Pingdu.

This magical town in the north of China produces false eyelashes with an output value of several billion yuan. Different materials, styles, lengths, curls and colors are all creating superimposed value for the eyelash industry. At present, Pingdu supplies 70% false eyelashes in the national market and exports them to Europe, America, Southeast Asia and other markets.

If you leave Shanghai for Pingdu, you have to take the high-speed train for at least 7 hours to reach Qingdao first, and then drive along the expressway to the northwest for more than 100 kilometers.

The distance between this industrial town and the international city is not beautiful, but in the past year or two, the expressway of the Internet has reduced this distance to zero, and with the sinking of traffic, the development of this small town has already jumped out of the shackles of space and the world has become flat.

In Pingdu, Qingdao, there are about 50,000 female workers engaged in false eyelashes. Tweezers, scissors and glue are almost all their tools. They roll and shape the semi-finished false eyelashes with their hands, brush the glue and hold them, and repeat this action more than 1000 times a day.

Subsequently, these false eyelashes flow to nerve endings such as eyelash shops, shopping malls and online shopping carts through platforms such as 1688 and Taobao. In the process, the value of this "small manual work" was multiplied.

"In Pingdu, especially in Changle Town, almost every household is doing false eyelashes business." Cui Defei, the head of Dream Shirley Eyelash Factory, told E-commerce Online. Under the strong consumer demand, the productive forces of stars are clustered together on the soil of more than 3000 square kilometers in Pingdu.

Under the false eyelash industry, this northern county seems to be an arena, where different stakeholders cut on the same cake; But at the same time, they are also working together to make this cake bigger. Whether it is to capture more customers through 1688, to supply Taobao merchants, or to cooperate with foreign trade companies, false eyelashes are a living water in Pingdu.

Fiery eyelash economy

Chen Lin painted the exterior wall of his Hongbaili eyelash factory dark pink, which can be seen from a distance on Hongqi Road.

Three years ago, this factory was still a pig farm. Because the qualification of environmental protection was revoked, Chen Lin set it down and built his own false eyelash processing factory.

"Recruit false eyelashes workers, the number is not limited, and they are available all the year round." The "recruitment" notice posted in front of the factory for a long time shows the confidence of the local eyelash economy.

It took Chen Lin three or four years from recruiting to having stable customers, and now it can receive at least 120 million orders for false eyelashes every year.

Processing workshop, raw material warehouse, finished product warehouse, office, and simple regional division circulate the business of Hongbaili Eyelash Factory.

At the same time, the invisible "circulation" is also going on in 1688. "The factory opened a shop in 1688 and didn’t need to run its own customers." Since 2017, more than 50% of Chen Lin’s orders have come from online.

However, the main customers are still offline, and many foreign trade companies are still used to going to Pingdu for a walk and to the factory compound in Chen Lin to carefully compare the production line and order-making ability of the local false eyelashes factory.

"There are thousands of eyelash’ processing factories’ in Pingdu, but there are only a few hundred large-scale and organized factories, and more are still in the mode of family workshops." Chen Lin told me that Hongbaili is located in the middle and upper reaches, and its order size constitutes the confidence of "unlimited number of employees, with goods available all the year round".

Through foreign trade customers, the false eyelashes processed by Hongbaili have crossed the ocean and entered Europe, Southeast Asia and other countries. On Taobao, the brand of false eyelashes in China has begun to take shape, and the sales of some explosive items can exceed 30,000 to 40,000 in a single month. Take "Princess Moon" as an example, a "Princess Moon flagship store" was opened on Tmall before double 11, and the monthly sales volume of one eyelash has exceeded 20,000 boxes.

Princess Moon’s processing factory, Meijiaoyuan Eyelash Factory, is only 10 minutes’ drive from Hongbaili Eyelash Factory. In addition to processing for its own brands, Meijiaoyuan Eyelash Factory also processes false eyelashes for many brands such as Menglu and Oukena.

With the arrival of Tmall double 11, many local eyelash factories have already entered a "combat state".

"Since July this year, our semi-finished factory has begun to prepare the goods of Tmall double 11. According to our production capacity, we can make about 3 million pairs in one month, but there is still a gap after three months this year." Pu Aru, the head of the operation of Princess Moon, told E-commerce Online.

"This is something that has never happened in previous years." Pualu added.

At present, more than 120 workers in Meijiaoyuan Eyelash Factory are working overtime for Tmall double 11’s orders. "Orders that can be completed with a little overtime last year are more staffed and more efficient this year, and overtime has already started. There are still many brands that are not timely in delivery. Some brands are in a hurry to get goods, and they can cry on the phone. " Pualu said, "This is really no joke."

Take Meijiaoyuan Eyelash Factory as an example. This year, Tmall double 11 has brought it 30-40% order growth. Even if it ships 20,000 boxes of false eyelashes every day, it still can’t keep up with the market demand. This is also the reason why more and more Pingdu people join the battlefield of false eyelashes, but few people are out.

In addition to the excitement in double 11, the eyelash shops distributed all over the country are also the main customers of Pingdu Industrial Belt. According to the incomplete statistics of "E-commerce Online", there are over 30,000 eyelash-related stores in the north, Guangzhou and Guangzhou alone, and almost all of them are in Pingdu. Through the eyelash shops, the false eyelashes on the hands of female workers are implanted into the eyelids of women who love beauty one by one.

False eyelashes business in magic town

Strictly speaking, Pingdu is not the main raw material base for false eyelashes, and the rich local mineral resources have created a number of stone factories. The trend in the past two years is that more entrepreneurs choose the former under the contrast between the two industries.

In fact, since around 1930, false eyelashes have been popular in the United States, and even with a strong glue, "eyelash grafting" can be realized, and the consumer groups have gradually moved from movie stars to ordinary people. By the 1960s, the sales of false eyelashes had reached 20 million pairs.

Until 1976, this "craft" began to sprout in the depths of Daze Mountain in Pingdu. "I heard that at that time, our boss still twisted the fibers one by one on the fishing line by hand, and only later did he have a machine to do it." Pualu introduced.

But the first wave of Pingdu people got together and entered the false eyelashes industry at the end of the 20th century. Chen Lin told me that there is a popular trend in the local people’s "career". After making leather bags, planting trees, raising chickens and opening restaurants, false eyelashes can be regarded as an industry with more and more entrants and longer vitality in the past 20 years, and this business is being passed down to the next generation.

Most eyelash factories in Pingdu don’t have to start with raw materials themselves. They purchase raw materials and semi-finished products of false eyelashes from North Korea, which not only saves money but also saves labor. Large-scale factories directly open raw material processing factories in North Korea.

After getting the semi-finished products of false eyelashes, Pingdu female workers will do further cutting, gluing, supporting and packaging, and some eyelashes with unformed curl need one more step of curling and shaping.

Stable upstream supply of raw materials, customers and markets accumulated by the previous generation, and online markets such as 1688 and Taobao, now Pingdu’s false eyelashes business is not difficult to do.

In the conventional sense, false eyelashes pay attention to material and shape, which are generally divided into types such as opposite hair, close arrangement and multiple hairs, and are suitable for daily makeup and grafting according to their functions. Chen Lin has repeatedly mentioned that this is an industry with a low threshold, and it is also the reason why local families do it.

"False eyelashes have not changed much in the past few decades, such as the popular 3D and messy effects. In fact, such products were already available four or five years ago. We all regarded these as abandoned products at that time, but who knows that they will be popular in Europe and America a few years later." Chen Lin said.

On the one hand, eyelash entrepreneurship, on the other hand, eyelash employment has solved the livelihood of many local women. In several false eyelash factories I visited, all of them were female workers.

People’s Daily reported in 2016 that only in Dazeshan, Pingdu, the false eyelash processing base radiated to 26 surrounding villages, and more than 150 small and micro enterprises and self-employed households were developed, driving more than 500 family processing points. Today, the eyelash industry has driven the employment of 50,000 local people.

Under normal circumstances, female workers in eyelash factory can get a salary of 4000-5000 yuan per month. "Some people who are willing to endure hardships can endure more than ten hours a day and earn more than 10,000 yuan a month." Pualu said.

In Pingdu, women aged 20-40 mostly concentrate on supermarket salespeople, farming and so on, and their income is lower than that of false eyelashes processing. Wang Fang has been working on false eyelashes for 20 years, and her proximity to home, light work and good income have become the reasons for her persistence for more than 20 years.

At the same time, more and more post-80s and post-90s "second generation of eyelashes" have entered the industry, and they are using Internet tools to pry open areas that their parents dare not try.

Chen Lin was born after 1985. In his impression, many relatives were already doing eyelash business in high school, and the topics discussed at the dinner table were also related industries. "Every village is doing false eyelash business, but there are hundreds of decent factories."

After graduating from college, Chen Lin worked as a salesman in Qingdao for several years, but the idea of "going home to do eyelash business" kept appearing in his mind. My parents don’t support it. Since I have already gone to Qingdao, I don’t want to go back to work in the county. It is a good way to go out and run to a big city.

What they didn’t say was a deeper reason. The eyelash business of my parents still has the shadow of traditional business. "At that time, credit and goods were very serious in the industry. On holidays, we urged these credits just like urging the project."

Chen Lin chose another path, never accepting credit for online business, and the second generation of eyelashes had a healthier cash flow.

After entering the society in 1990s, Pualu did a lot of work, but eventually false eyelashes became his favorite and most energetic job.

Every day, boxes of false eyelashes are transported from the warehouse to all parts of the country, and Pualu enjoys this scene.

Uncover the secret

Once, false eyelashes were the secret of flatness. The earliest core technology was only mastered by a few people and only told to the closest people.

After "quietly" making the products, I went to the market with boxes of false eyelashes on my back. The stalls in Yiwu and Guangzhou were all touched by the last generation of Pingdu people. At that time, they had to use the most primitive way to win more customers for their business.

According to media reports, even a female worker in an eyelash factory can earn 6,000 yuan if she goes out with a pack of false eyelashes on her back.

As the eyelash industry was slowly enlarged, the secret began to be untenable; At the same time, when eyelashes gradually become a "panacea" for women’s makeup, the eyelash market also has more and more space.

Different from the previous generation, the second generation of eyelashes began to pursue better quality.

From the earliest opening of eyelash shop on Taobao to the self-built factory running through the upstream and downstream of the entire industrial chain, Cui Defei spent a full six years. This experience also made him explore the new life door of this business-quality.

"We started from the Taobao store at the beginning, which means that we have higher requirements for products." Cui Defei cited an example. In the past, in the wholesale of false eyelashes, the phenomenon of replacing B products with A products occurred from time to time. However, for emerging brands that open stores for consumers, every product sold must pass the inspection and feedback of consumers.

At present, 60% of transactions in Cui Defei’s Dream Shirley Eyelash Factory are online. The same is true of Meijiaoyuan Eyelash Factory, and online consumers are becoming a continuous source of hematopoiesis.

But objectively speaking, from the perspective of the whole beauty industry, the eyelash industry in China is not developed. The industrial chains of false eyelashes of international beauty brands such as L ‘Oreal, Shu Uemura, MAC and Make Up For Ever are more concentrated in Java, Indonesia. In Indonesia, women workers are engaged in similar jobs as women workers in Pingdu. They can only earn 8 pence (about 0.8 yuan RMB) for each pair of false eyelashes, but the brand can finally sell 5.95 pounds (about 50 yuan RMB) in the market.

In addition to the production cost and distribution cost, more value of false eyelashes is reflected in the brand premium. However, in the development of China false eyelashes market for more than 20 years, there are not many brands widely known by the public. Apart from Princess Moon and Dream Deer, there are few false eyelashes brands in China.

In the interview, Cui Defei recommended a kind of "flat-haired" false eyelashes to me, which is a kind of false eyelashes that Dream Shirley Factory has been focusing on since July this year. Different from its processing brand, this kind of false eyelashes is printed with the name of "MONSHEERY Dream Shirley" and has become a product that Dream Shirley will soon launch under its own brand.

The second generation of eyelashes in Pingdu, Qingdao, has gone from making and selling eyelashes to the Internet era of eyelash business, and then into the 3.0 era of making eyelash brands.

(Wang Fang is a pseudonym in the text)

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Original title: "Northern town changed by" eyelashes ":50,000 people brush their eyelashes thousands of times a day, and brush out billions a year"

1905 movie network news On the evening of June 16th, the 21st Shanghai International Film Festival was grandly opened at the Shanghai Grand Theatre. Director Kenneth Bi and producer Laura Fu, together with famous actor Faye Yu and Japanese newcomer Ayane Muxia, appeared on the red carpet at the opening ceremony to build momentum for the upcoming film "Care for You" at the end of 2018.

Faye Yu’s stunning appearance on the red carpet at the opening ceremony of the film festival and the intimate interaction with Japanese new florets provoked plot speculation.

On the red carpet of the opening ceremony, Faye Yu appeared in a dark green dress, dignified, elegant and mature. Just the right hollow design, simple and sexy; Layers of sequins make the goddess dazzling that night, and exude charming charm between gestures. Ayane, a Japanese newcomer who entered the entertainment circle because of winning the highest prize in the 40th HORIPRO Star Reconnaissance Team, appeared in a pure light-colored dress, revealing the innocence and cuteness of the girl with a smile.

The fans at the scene were enthusiastic, and it was even more difficult to hide their excitement when the main creator appeared, shouting Faye Yu’s name. For Faye Yu’s red carpet styling, netizens also exclaimed: "This value can be played for another 10,000 years!" "Bright eyes and bright teeth, looking forward to brightness" "Shit, it’s a feeling of heartbeat!" Crazy call for the goddess. Ayane Muxia has also been certified by netizens in China, such as "super cute" and "sweet". This time, the two not only attended the opening ceremony together, but also took a close photo hand in hand, which made fans more curious about their relationship in the film.

Faye Yu plays a strong woman with a mysterious past: everything, everything, just because she cares about you.

The title of the movie "I care about you" comes from Teresa Teng’s classic song "I only care about you" in 1980s. Focusing on urban women, the film spans Beijing and Hokkaido, telling the story of a woman’s constant growth and self-salvation in the face of different choices, showing touching affection and love, and also reflecting the spiritual dilemma of urban people.

In recent years, Faye Yu has appeared in film and television dramas as a mature woman with intellectual literature and art, noble and elegant image, and her high face value against the sky has also won praises from many netizens, such as "goddess of frozen age", "anti-growth" and "staying in beauty with skills". This time, in the movie "Care about You", Faye Yu will continue to play the role of a career-oriented "strong woman". Behind her focus on work and ideals, there is a mysterious past that this woman does not want to mention … …

It is reported that the film is expected to meet the audience in 2018.

When "middle class" becomes a label and everything is called "middle class standard", what does the middle class really want? How can the business model better match the real needs of the middle class? In this paper, five types of typical middle-class people are deeply analyzed in four dimensions, and 10 future consumption trends are predicted. Let’s take a look at the inner world of the middle class.

Part1

The slowly unfolding middle-class spiritual world

Listen to the thoughts and concerns of the contemporary middle class

Only by accurately perceiving the subjective world of the contemporary middle class can we explore the clues left by them in the process of pursuing a better life. In the first part of the report, Joy City Holdings focused on the new four views and new anxiety of the middle class.

New four views of middle class

01. Values

You can have your cake and eat it, both your career and your life. The middle class struggles for career and enjoys life.

02. Concept of development

Always enthusiastic and willing to accept challenges is a self-growth creed that I firmly believe in. On the road to growth, the middle class is used to constantly challenging themselves.

03. Family view

A good man is ambitious in all directions, but only when he has a home can he have poetry and distance. The traditional gender division of labor has been broken, and men have become more family-oriented.

04. Cognitive view

Life is a marathon. Only by constantly finding the right position in comparison can we recognize the gap. The middle class pays attention to hierarchy and is used to determining identity through comparison.

New anxiety of middle class

01. The ambition is hard to pay, and the past is gradually fading.

Young and childless middle class are anxious about self-realization value, but their anxiety gradually decreases with age.

It is very important to fly high, and don’t forget whether you are tired or not.

Middle-class people are increasingly anxious about their health, and the higher their income, the more anxious they are.

03. The front wave is not far from the beach. When will the back wave rush forward?

The development of children has become the primary anxiety of the educated middle class.

Part2

The demand of the flourishing middle class

Discover the circle life characteristics of contemporary middle class

When there is no suspense in the daily life of food and clothing, colorful world and poetic dwelling have become the answers for contemporary middle class to solve the world.

According to the characteristics of consumption distance, structure and crowd, Joy City Holdings broke through the division of middle-class life circle into "the first life circle" and "the second life circle", and found the important conclusion that middle-class people had a very high consumption share in the first life circle but low satisfaction, which inspired the industry with huge market potential hidden in the first life circle.

Complementary happiness-typical characteristics of circle life

The first life circle: mainly refers to returning to the origin of daily life and closely fitting the diverse and high-frequency life demands;

The second life circle: mainly refers to the integration into a wider wonderful world, the pursuit of fashion, and the display of personality.

Circle distance: the first life circle of the middle class is mostly near the residence, with high consumption frequency, while the second life circle is relatively far away, with low consumption frequency.

In terms of consumption quota, the offline wallet consumption share of middle class in the first life circle is as high as 76%, which shows the characteristics of high frequency and low unit price.

Consumption structure: in the first life circle, people spend more on daily necessities such as purchasing, and in the second life circle, they spend more on entertainment.

In terms of circle people, the first life circle mainly serves the small circle where middle-class people are alone, couples get along and family accompany, and the second life circle mainly serves the social circle where middle-class people get together with friends.

Yearning for life-the core appeal of circle life

01. The gap remains, when will the ideal shine into reality?

The middle class expects more and better commercial supply in the first life circle. At present, their satisfaction with the first life circle and willingness to recommend it are lower than those in the second life circle.

02. Life with fireworks is more interesting.

The middle class generally expects the first life circle to be more full of fireworks, providing richer catering formats, children’s formats and higher quality self-improvement formats.

03. When the lights are on, don’t let the charm go nowhere.

Women’s emotional demands are more inclined to social needs, and they hope that the first living area will be in a more prosperous commercial street.

04. Holding your hand, quiet years is the most beautiful romance.

The main consumption demands of married middle class in the first life circle are necessary consumption such as eating and purchasing daily necessities, while unmarried middle class spends more on leisure and pleasure.

05. Time does not "disturb" people, and each has his own happiness.

Young middle-class people spend more on socializing and self-improvement in the first life circle, while mature middle-class people pay more attention to traditional shopping and purchasing.

Part3

Portraits of middle-class people with different styles.

Five typical middle-class descriptions

Our six core indexes innovatively divide the broad masses of middle-class people into five types, and deeply interpret them one by one, providing inspiration for the refined operation of the industry’s customer base:

① Wealth index: the income and assets owned by the middle class.

② Consumption power index: the average monthly consumption amount of middle-class people.

③ Consumer Willingness Index: the proportion of monthly consumption of middle-class people in the monthly income.

④ Social index: Based on the voice frequency of self-media platform and the number of WeChat friends.

⑤ Happiness index: the satisfaction of middle-class people with their work and life.

⑥ Spring Breeze Index: The preference of middle-class people for quality, experience, family and exquisite life.

Hard core quality family

This is a group of middle-class customers with high income and high consumption. They are willing to spend their time on meaningful things, have clear goals and directions for their careers, invest more time in their work, and attach importance to their children’s education investment.

They belong to a new type of "three highs" crowd in society, with both income and consumption reaching the top, and serve as the "bearers" of the company.

They are full of interest in new things and value the service experience when they consume.

They have a strong sense of self-improvement and believe that continuous learning can become advanced players.

Carpe diem

This is a group of middle-class customers whose income is not high, but their quality of life is not degraded. They yearn for a rich life with a house and a car, pay attention to improving their market competitiveness, and shoulder heavy life pressure at the same time.

They advocate "if you drink today, you will get drunk today", but their income is low, but they are never soft on consumption.

They value wealth and power, and at the same time care about their social status.

It is rare for them to have a half-day leisure, and they tend to get pressure release and a moment’s relaxation when spending.

Life zhimeijia

This is a group of middle-class customers who put family first and pursue quality life. They have certain expectations for the realization of wealth and freedom, are positive, pay attention to self-improvement, and attach importance to the cultivation of families and children.

They care about their small families, put "God beast" first, and invest a lot of money for their children.

They are willing to pay for a good mood and look forward to a life full of rituals.

They will not blindly pursue luxury, and brand attitudes and values are the key to consumption decisions.

New social forces

These are a group of social "severe patients", who pursue freedom of wealth and time, have high enthusiasm for work, have clear goals for their future career, and do not set too high requirements for the next generation, but pay more attention to personal life.

They are a Party Queen who combines beauty and talent, mainly young women in love.

They are full of fighting spirit for their careers, and believe that their greatest enemy in life is themselves.

They have a strong desire to share, and the self-media created by "unintentional" may have been well run.

They advocate the supremacy of experience and are willing to pay for the exquisite service and the release of pressure.

Small fortunate doctrine

They are a group of middle-class customers who value small life and pursue stability and happiness. They are content and enjoy leisure. Although there is no clear goal for future career planning, it can evenly distribute the energy and time of family life and personal life.

They are highly satisfied with their personal life and work, and are content and comfortable with life.

Their living conditions are carefree, and they pursue the continuous stability of their lives, which is unique in the society where anxiety is rampant.

They often take "whether they can take beautiful photos" as the key judgment of consumption decision, and of course, they will also calculate the public response after sharing photos in advance.

They are willing to refer to outside opinions when making consumption choices, and they are also keen to try fashionable things.

Part4

The rising trend of middle-class consumption

As the backbone of the demand side with the most transformative kinetic energy, every subtle change in consumption habits of the middle class will deeply influence the trend of consumption upgrading. Joy City Holdings summed up the key consumption trends of the middle class and the main consumption characteristics under the influence of the epidemic, and predicted the direction of the tide in advance.

Middle-class key consumption trend

01. Reason is king, and strength is excellent to impress your heart.

Practical rationality has become the mainstream consumption concept of the middle class, and cost performance is as important as quality.

02. Exquisite simplicity can also live a sense of high class.

The middle class yearns for a refined and simple life.

03. Full of feelings, sometimes afraid of hitting the shirt.

Personality design and classic design are also loved by the middle class.

04. Protect the face value and always give the best side of life.

The consumption price of skin care products of the middle class has a strong consistency, but there are great differences in products such as clothes.

You have to be in good health to ride the wind and waves.

Physical examination and health care products consumption have become the most common self-investment consumption varieties of middle class.

06. Impulse is not hasty, and young people have no regrets.

After 90′ s, the middle class has less advanced consumption behavior, but nearly half of them have impulsive consumption behavior.

Consumption characteristics under the influence of epidemic situation

01. Only by making a far-reaching plan can we keep up with the crisis.

After the epidemic, the concept of middle-class consumption tends to be more open-source and thrifty, and save for a rainy day.

02. Reduce the burden on your wallet and increase your life.

After the epidemic, consumers will reduce the consumption of some non-necessities for a long time.

03. Carefully roll the iron, and all poisons will not invade.

Fitness consumption has become a craze, and physical fitness begins immediately.

04. Full of confidence, the light of domestic products will live up to expectations.

The middle class’s goodwill towards domestic products has increased rapidly.

Source: Joy City Holdings Author: Joy City Holdings

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Original title: "Report on the Consumption Trend of the New Middle Class (Full Edition)"

Read the original text

Wen/Tu Peninsula All Media Chief Reporter Zhong Yingxue

"A few years ago, running hard really earned over 10,000 yuan a month. Now it is a bit difficult. Most riders earn between 4,000 and 7,000 yuan a month." A colleague of takeaway rider Liu Dong (a pseudonym) told reporters that riders who can now spend more than 10,000 yuan account for 3%-5%, but fortunately, customers are more and more tolerant of them.

Industries such as car rental, express delivery, take-out and live broadcast have become the choice of many people for flexible employment. According to relevant data, the online take-away market has exceeded 1.1 trillion yuan, accounting for 25.4% of the national catering industry’s income. As a result, the group of take-away riders has expanded rapidly, and the take-away industry has gradually begun to "roll in", with the single quantity reduced and the unit price reduced. What do these "people in a hurry" think of their industry?

The rider is waiting for the order in the business circle.

An irresistible "algorithm"

At 12 o’clock noon on August 21st, the reporter came to the food street of Laoshan Lida Shopping Center, and found that 11 dark-skinned cyclists were gathered in the passage before the peak of lunch delivery. It was the time to deliver the order, but everyone was waiting for the order.

"You help me go up to the sixth floor, and I’ll help you get the coffee downstairs." Some riders are also taking meals and delivering meals, and their clothes are basically soaked with sweat. When two of the riders meet, they exchange orders and help each other. Most of the takeaways bury their heads in their mobile phones to check their positions. When they are on their way, if they meet each other, they will spit out or share their orders with each other. In the food street where people come and go, their figures are fleeting.

The rider is waiting for the order in the business circle.

"I used to be busy for two and a half hours during the afternoon rush hour, but now it’s an hour and a half!" After interviewing a number of take-away riders, the reporter found that due to the increase of newcomers and summer part-time riders, the order volume of old riders dropped by 10% to 30%.

"I used to run for seven or eight hours to get to the early 10 thousand, and now the same time is seven or eight thousand." Lao Lu (a pseudonym), a 38-year-old delivery clerk, told reporters that he has been delivering food for four years. Now, in order to increase his income, he can only increase the delivery time, but it is difficult to even the total income before running for 12 hours a day. In addition, if it is overtime, a certain percentage of delivery fee will be deducted, and the deducted fee will increase according to the overtime. Now there are more and more rules on the take-away platform, which shortens the delivery time by more than ten minutes. As long as it is overtime, it will be deducted, and there has been a simple dependence on subsidies and low-price competition.

The delivery clerk in the food delivery exchanges order information.

"There are many people and few orders, and there are all kinds of running orders." Lao Lu told reporters that the major platforms will also adjust the distribution rules, assess the effective online time, the punctuality rate of food delivery, the completeness of food products and the effective order quantity, and make corresponding penalties and adjust the unit price according to different situations.

"The delivery of Shangchao is the most tiring, especially a pack of heavy objects. It’s okay to have an elevator. Without an elevator, you have to climb the stairs and go upstairs. On such a hot day, you are so tired that you are sweating." Lao Lu introduced that because some platforms send orders far away, no matter how much they weigh, they are all settled according to the distance, which is not only cheap, but also reduces the delivery time. The most difficult thing is to take seven or eight orders at once, and the location is concentrated well, so I am afraid that the locations will be scattered, which will easily lead to overtime. In addition, some orders that are not on the way or have lower delivery fees can be refused by riders without quantity requirements. But now, after a certain number of orders are rejected, riders need to accept all orders assigned by the platform. For this reason, even riders have no choice but to let customers blacken their own methods to avoid using orders to deal with the so-called "algorithmic oppression".

"The current models have their own advantages and disadvantages." The reporter learned through the rider’s reflection that the operation modes of various take-away platforms are different, and the platforms are mainly divided into various forms such as special delivery, crowdsourcing, smooth running and happy running. Some platforms are characterized by "flexible working system", which allows riders to arrange working hours flexibly; However, some platforms have sufficient quantity but low unit price; Some platforms require riders to go online during fixed working hours; Some platforms specify distribution in the region, and the payment of wages is also different in the settlement cycle, which is divided into next-day cash withdrawal, settlement every Wednesday, monthly settlement and so on. The rider chooses the food delivery platform according to his personal situation, and many riders have changed multiple platforms.

"On average, it is 200 to 300 yuan, and up to 500 yuan a day, but there are only a few days in a month." Liu Dong (a pseudonym), a 25-year-old rider, told reporters that he started to deliver takeout in early 2023, and he needed to run to more than 50 orders every day to achieve a maximum monthly income of 9,000 yuan. In the last three months, due to the influence of the tourism market, his order volume has only increased.

Three dollars and eighty cents, four dollars and seven dollars … According to Liu Dong’s running list, the delivery unit price varies according to the distance.

The take-away riders around Liu Dong generally told reporters that the income has begun to show a downward trend. The proportion of riders who can exceed 10,000 yuan is only 3%-5%, and the price reduction per order is between 50 cents and one piece, resulting in a decline in income due to changes in unit price.

"Last year was basically three or four hundred dollars a day, and now it is two or three hundred dollars. Because there is no loan pressure, I don’t have to run so hard. " Liu Dong showed reporters the task time and odd number on the mobile phone platform. From 10: 00 am to 1: 00 pm, he ran 16 food deliveries, earning 107 yuan. At 1: 30 pm, Liu Dong had time to talk to reporters in detail.

Judging from the activities and tasks of the platform on the same day, during the three time periods of noon peak, afternoon tea and evening peak, the platform requires the rider to run for at least 6 hours, and Liu Dong’s task on that day has not yet reached the standard.

At first, because he didn’t understand the business circle and the route of the community, Liu Dong spent a month getting familiar with the surrounding geographical location and route. In May of this year, Liu Dong took a leave of absence and went back to his hometown to rest for half a month. After returning to Qingdao, he changed to another platform in July to continue to run takeout because he felt that the previous platform rules were cumbersome and difficult to run.

Liu Dong is equipped with a large bottle of mineral water and spare tires.

Busy until 9: 50 pm

"I often see new faces and I am very mobile." Previously, there were more than 100 riders at the site where Liu Dong worked. Basically, one or two new riders could be recruited every day, young and old, ranging from 18 to 40 years old. Anyway, they have been recruiting people. Because the food delivery efficiency of new riders can’t be compared with that of old riders, it doesn’t matter if there are many old riders, but if there are few old riders, more new riders will affect the working efficiency of the platform.

Liu Dong said that it is more difficult to earn more money by running take-out part-time at present, and basically most of them are full-time riders now. Although the income difference between part-time and full-time riders is basically one yuan, the system gives priority to full-time riders, which affects the orders of part-time riders, so the income is unstable.

"There are many cars during the peak hours, and it has become a normal thing for riders to grab time and bump into each other." In this case, the rider has a lot of helplessness. There is no single faction on the line, and the address can be found without a single one. The insurance of three yuan at their own expense every day has become the "bottom" in their eyes. In order to catch up with the time, in addition to the original electric vehicles, more and more riders bought unicycles or two-wheeled vehicles themselves, accounting for 60%. Liu Dong bought a two-wheeled bike first, and then he spent money on a single-wheeled bike to ensure that he could run for one day. After all, he could only run more when the order was limited.

Liu Dong knocked on the door and delivered it by courier.

"The eldest brother around me earns up to 14,500 yuan a month, about 60 bills a day, and the highest can reach 70 or 80 bills, but he runs for at least 12 or 3 hours, basically non-stop from morning till night." Speaking of the old rider who can run around, Liu Dong is also admired. From 6 am to 9 pm, he has been sending it all the time. Eating is also waiting for the store to eat, or simply buying it on the road.

Liu Dong prepares to deliver the meal after taking it.

At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, Liu Dong returned to the rental house to rest after eating. At 3: 30, he needed to go online on time and then run.

Liu Dong’s classmate is also a rider. The house shared by the two people costs 1,000 yuan per person per month, plus the cost of eating, battery and mobile phone, which costs 3,000 yuan per month. Liu Dong saved 60,000 yuan a year.

The lowest unit price is 4.6 yuan and the highest is 9.6 yuan … At 9: 50 pm on August 21, the reporter followed Liu Dong to finish the last meal delivery of the day. From the platform, Liu Dong ran for seven hours, totaling 41 orders, with a total income of 297.4 yuan.

At night, Liu Dong was driving on the way to take delivery.

The number of complaints decreased and the number of female riders increased.

Losing meals and spilling soup … Liu Dong said that as a rider, the first reaction after a fall is to see if the takeaway is spilled, and the shadow will not affect the normal distribution. In the past year, he didn’t receive many complaint orders, but once or twice a year. In this case, the rider usually compensates the customer for the meal.

"Customers are urging orders and complaining that complaints are obviously less than before, at least by half." Timely and efficient delivery is the responsibility of the "takeaway", but no one can guarantee that there will be no accidents, so previous grievances and misunderstandings are common. However, in recent years, the society’s tolerance for the working time limit of take-away workers has improved. The take-away workers that the reporter asked generally reported that the number of complaint orders was reduced by 20% to 30% compared with the previous two years. Even if you encounter some special circumstances to communicate with customers, you can basically solve them satisfactorily and reduce your own losses.

"Yellow chicken, sauce bones, milk tea drinks account for the bulk", Liu Dong told reporters that the delivery of take-away food for one year and eight months also witnessed the "involution" of catering, and more people who order food consider the unit price to be affordable.

Due to the hot weather and excessive physical exertion, the reporter saw that during the break, the takeaway staff would hold water cups, or iced black tea, functional drinks and coffee to replenish energy.

"Just drinking cold mineral water also hurts your stomach, and you may even feel like vomiting." Liu Dong said that he occasionally buys a drink to supplement sugar, but considering that drinking a lot of cold mineral water hurts his stomach, he occasionally brings an insulated kettle and receives a bucket of hot water from the mall.

The female rider (first from left) is waiting for her meal.

On the afternoon of August 23, the reporter came to Shangchao again, during the afternoon tea time, and saw that the riders took the most meals with milk tea and coffee. The reporter found that more and more female riders appeared in the take-away team.

"I have only been in business for less than half a year, and I have seen many riders stop running." Li Li (a pseudonym), a 35-year-old female rider who is waiting for a meal, told the reporter that before entering this business, delivery seemed simple, but I didn’t know the cumbersome platform rules and super timeliness. While ensuring the flexibility of time, more and more treasure moms join the rider team, but their daily income is generally around 200 yuan, and their hourly income is around 20 yuan, and they post their daily life on social platforms to earn traffic.

Neither spilling meals, but also the fastest speed, also makes the profession of takeaway more and more contradictory. Sometimes, the store is slow to serve meals, but the customers are too busy to cope with her, and the takeaway industry has high requirements for physical fitness. Li Li already wants to "retreat".

Sending takeout brought Liu Dong fatigue, satisfaction and pain, and he was more nervous and confused about career planning. Liu Dong’s heart is still burning with unwillingness. He also wants to try from the direction of the media. He has shot short videos, but the traffic is too low. Liu Dong also analyzed that the regular delivery video has nothing to watch and cannot attract people.

Coming from other places, Liu Dong has little social interaction. Basically, he is either running alone or resting and sleeping. In the repeated work day after day, it is easy to lose himself. All the local friends in his hometown are married and have children, and his parents will urge him to get married, but he doesn’t want to go back to his hometown, because the takeaway can only earn money if it is in the office area and in the bustling business district.

"Takeaway riders are essentially a transitional industry, and it is estimated that no one wants to send a lifetime takeaway." In the interview, most riders said that it is hard to send takeout food, but fortunately they can earn some money, and they want to find a way out and learn a skill in the future. In particular, some young people who are new to the workplace not only want to improve their working environment and living conditions, but also want to obtain stable social security. They run forward hard in the torrent of time every day, not for poetry and distance, but for the truest life.