Characteristics of logistics services

A commodity is an item with a specific characteristic and purpose. It is made of a certain material and has a certain weight, volume, color, shape and outline. The logistics service is mainly in the form of activities and is not materialized. Among any durable objects or items for sale, they cannot exist as consumers and exist independently. Customers cannot see, hear, touch, or smell logistics services before purchasing services. After the logistics service, the customer did not acquire the material ownership of the service, but only a consumption experience.

(2) Unstorable

    Logistics services easily disappear and cannot be stored. After logistics companies serve customers, the service disappears immediately. Therefore, customers who purchase inferior services usually have no returnable goods and cannot request a refund from the enterprise. Moreover, it is impossible for a company to store products produced during the off-season and sell them during the peak season, just as product producers, but it must maintain sufficient production capacity. To serve customers at any time. If the market demand is low for a certain period of time, the production capacity of the logistics company cannot be fully utilized, and when the market demand exceeds the production capacity, the logistics company cannot receive some customers and thus lose part of its operating income. Of course, although logistics services are easy to disappear, logistics companies can repeatedly use their service facilities. Therefore, to maintain lasting sales volume, the best way for logistics companies is to maintain existing existing customers.

(3) Difference

    Difference means that the components of logistics services and their quality levels often change, and it is difficult to define them uniformly. The services provided by logistics companies cannot be exactly the same. Due to the existence of human personality, the services provided by the same front-line employee may not be consistent. Compared with product production, it is often difficult for logistics companies to formulate and implement service quality standards. To ensure service quality, logistics companies can clearly stipulate the behavior standards of employees in certain service situations in the work manual, but it is difficult for managers to predict the actual situation of employees with various experiences, personality characteristics, and work attitudes in this service situation. Behavioral methods and service quality are not only related to employees' service attitude and service capabilities, but also to customers. The same service is good service for some customers, but poor service for other customers.

(4) Inseparability

    Tangible products can exist within a period of time between production and consumption, and can be circulated as products during this period of time, but logistics services are different. It has inseparable characteristics, that is, the production process and consumption of logistics services The process is performed simultaneously, that is, when the employees of the company provide logistics services to customers, it is also the time of customer consumption services. The two cannot be separated in time. Since the logistics service itself is not a specific item, it is a series of activities or Said to be a process, so the process of logistics services is also the process of customer consumption of services. Because of the inseparability of logistics services, they do not need to go through the distribution channels to be delivered to customers in the same way as products. Logistics companies often integrate production and consumption sites. Customers must go to service sites to receive services, or logistics companies must The service is delivered to customers, so each logistics service network can only serve consumers in a certain area. Therefore, the construction of a logistics network is an important task for logistics enterprise managers.

(5) Dependency

    The logistics needs of the owner's company occur with the occurrence of commercial flows, and are based on commercial flows. Therefore, the logistics service must be subordinate to the owner's enterprise logistics system. It is decided by the owner of the goods. The circulation industry only provides services in a passive position according to the needs of the goods owner, and provides logistics services in a passive position.

(6) Mobility and dispersion

    Logistics services are targeted at customers who are widely distributed and most of the time non-stationary, so they have the characteristics of mobility, breadth and diversification, which will cause local supply and demand imbalance in the industry, and will also bring certain difficulties to business management.

(7) Strong demand volatility

    Logistics services are targeted at a large number of customers who are not fixed. Their needs are variable in terms of methods and quantities. They have strong volatility, which can easily cause imbalance between supply and demand, which results in low operating efficiency and costs in operation. High important reason.

(8) Substitutability

    General enterprises may have the ability to operate their own logistics such as self-operated transporters and storage, making logistics services an alternative from the perspective of supply power. The universality of this self-operated logistics allows logistics operators to adjust in quantity and quality. The power of logistics services has become quite difficult.