Singles’ Day express failure

Online shoppers complained Thursday that delivery of the discount products they bought for themselves on Singles' Day on Sunday have been postponed for days.

Express delivery companies have said that the reason for the late delivery is because of tightened security measures during the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China(CPC).

Thousands of complaints were posted on Sina microblogs concerning the recent late delivery of discounted products from online stores. Online stores like Tmall.com and 360buy.com, the two largest online shopping platforms in China, offered heavy discounts on Singles' Day on November 11, causing high demand for express delivery services.

An art designer, surnamed Zhao, said on her Sina microblog that the dress and shoes she ordered for herself from Tmall.com on Sunday have not been delivered to her yet. These products cost her around 1,000 yuan ($160), half the price than outside this promotional period.　

"According to the online delivery checking system, my orders were dispatched days ago but they still haven't arrived. They usually arrive in three days," she said.

Zhao noted that the delivery speed on this Singles' Day was much slower than that of the last year when the online stores also offered discounts.

Agents from the express company's customer service department gave her different reasons for the delays.

"Some promised the products would arrive today or tomorrow while others said it would arrive within seven days," she said.

Yi Xin, a customer service agent at Tmall.com, said that the late delivery was because of the high transaction volumes after they launched the discount offers.

"It is partially related to the security checking system for transportation to Beijing," she said.

Jia Rongtao, an employee of the Zhongtong Express Service Company Beijing Branch, told the Global Times that the reason for the late delivery was due to the tightening security check system of all the deliveries to Beijing during the 18th National Congress of the CPC.

"Normally a product from Shanghai or Guangzhou [Province] would take two to three days and now it takes one or two days more," he said, "It takes time for products to enter Beijing."

Tmall and Taobao gained 19.1 billion yuan in profits and the other online stores' total turnover shot up to over 30 billion yuan on Sunday, when these online stores offered discounts of up to 50 percent, Xinhuanet reported Thursday.

Customers did not have to prove they were single to order on what is one of the biggest cyber shopping days of the year.