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The Contemporary Crisis of Food Delivery Overload—Strategies for Breakthrough: Stop Being a Platform’s Node

 

这盘棋，不是一天布的。

有人织了一张很大很大的网。网上的每一个交点，都是一家店。你，或他，可能都在上面。

你的任务被简化成了几件事：接单、出餐、打包、等着被取走。不需要琢磨客人想要什么，不需要费心维护老关系，甚至连这碗饭该卖多少钱，都不全由你说了算。

你变成了一个“节点”。效率高了，但好像也说不上哪里不太对劲。

一、算不清的账：那些看不见的“扣点”

很多人以为，多一个渠道，就是多一条路。但这条路的“过路费”，可能远比想象的要复杂。

有人说，有一种“基础服务费”，大概是一碗面钱的五分之一。也有人说，再算上什么“配送支持”、“活动激励”，杂七杂八加起来，可能奔着小三分之一去了。

你总能看到一些“满减”或“神券”，顾客付的钱少了，但商家到手的钱，也跟着少了。那些活动的成本，据说很多是“羊毛出在羊身上”。

还有个叫“点某推广”的东西，传得很神。你或他，可能都试过。就像买了一张不知道能不能中奖的彩票。不买，怕石沉大海；买了，又怕打了水漂。有时候，一个订单的“推广费”，可能比卖一盒盒饭赚的都多。

到最后，有人算了一笔账：看着流水是涨了，但年底一拢，落到兜里的，可能还不如从前。 你或他，可能都有这种感觉。

二、线下“业务员”的“三板斧”

你不是被隔壁老王的店打败的。有人说，是被一套标准流程“优化”掉的。

第一斧：蜜糖上门。
平时没人搭理，一旦你家生意好了，门口就开始有人转悠。他们笑容可掬，开口闭口“帮您多一个渠道”。据说刚开始还有点“甜头”，让你觉得，这也许是一条路。

第二斧：温水煮蛙。
你开始关注一些以前不听的词：曝光、转化、复购。他会教你调菜单、做活动。你或他，不知不觉就把自己店里的“招牌”，变成了别人案板上的“数据”。有些东西，在不知不觉中，就不完全属于你了。

第三斧：过河拆桥。
当你习惯了每天看那些跳动的数字，才发现门口进店的客人，好像越来越少了。那些“甜头”，不知什么时候就淡了、没了。你想退，却发现好像退不出来了。因为有人说，你一停，就连这点念想都没了。

他，或他们，完成了自己的事，可能去开发下一个“看起来不错”的店了。

你不是在给自己忙活，你或他，可能只是在帮别人完成一个数字。

三、看不见的代价：丢掉的，可能不只是生意

这场游戏，代价可能比想象的要大。

对做吃的这行：手艺可能丢了。
为了等一个时限，很多事不得不快。有些东西，不再是“做”出来的，而是“热”出来的。那种烟火气，那种锅气，那种有人为此忙活半天的感觉，可能就慢慢没了。你或他，从一个“手艺人”，可能变成了一个“加热员”。

对吃东西的人：身体可能被“惯坏了”。
你或他可能都发现了，有些东西，吃起来味道很“标准”，很“冲”，很“上瘾”。有人说，那些东西，更像是“工业品”，而不是“食物”。有些东西吃多了，对身子骨好不好，你或他，心里可能都有一本账。

你以为你选的是方便，但有人觉得，你其实没得选。

四、破局之策：不当那个“节点”

这盘棋，你或他，可以选择不下。

后来，有人想出了一个办法。

线上标“同价”，但不卖。

一份东西，店里卖26。线上也标26。但线上设了起送价：200块。为什么？因为26块的东西，线上卖26，平台抽走一部分，配送费再扣一部分，到手可能只剩几块钱。卖一单，亏一单。

那线上这26，是干什么用的？是广告费。我花26块，让一个人知道：这东西值56，但我只卖26。那30，是平台抽走的。他想吃，来店里。

200块起送，不是门槛，是止损线。低于这个数，我不卖。高于这个数，那是给团购、聚餐、公司订餐准备的。

普通人点一份面、一份饭，对不起，200块起送，你点不了。但你可以看。你可以在线上看到我的菜、我的价、我的店。然后，你来。

你来店里，一份也卖，两份也卖。不限价，不限量，不限时。

线下不限价，你来，我欢迎。

每一份送出去的餐盒里，都多了一张卡片。没有好评返现，没有扫码领券。只写了一句话：“这顿饭，平台抽走几块几。下次想吃，直接找我们。省下来的，换个小菜，算我们的。”

群里的人，慢慢多了。不弹广告，不发促销。只是偶尔拍一段厨房里的热气，录一声“今天的鱼很新鲜”。有人问怎么点餐，回一句：“您说话就行。”

没有满减，没有竞价，没有“点某推广”。但那条街上的生意，好像又回来了。

不是把棋盘掀了。是把棋子，拿回了自己手里。

结语：这盘棋，或可以不这么下

有人来找你的时候，说帮你多赚一份钱。你或他，可能信了。

后来你或他，可能发现，自己不是在赚钱，可能只是在帮别人完成一个又一个的数字。

你不是谁的“合作伙伴”。你或他，可能只是一个“节点”。

有人问，怎么破？不是去投那个“点某推广”，不是去做更低的价，不是去求那个所谓的“流量”。

是不当那个“节点”。

把生意做回这条街，把菜做回热乎的，把人认回熟悉的。有人便宜，你比他或他们还便宜——把那些省下的“过路费”，让给走进来的人。有人快，你比他们还快——你走过来，比谁都踏实。

线上是广告，不是卖场。线下是生意，不是附庸。

我不是某平台上的一个“节点”。我只是这条街上的一个“人”。

 

English Version

 

This game was not laid out in a single day.

Someone wove an enormous, vast net. Every intersection on that net is a shop. You, or he, might all be on it.

Your tasks are reduced to just a few things: taking orders, preparing meals, packaging, and waiting to be picked up. No need to figure out what customers want, no need to trouble yourself to maintain old relationships, not even the price of that bowl of rice is fully up to you to decide.

You become a “node.” Efficiency improves, yet something feels oddly off.

1. The Uncountable Ledger: Those Invisible “Deductions”

Many believe that one more channel means one more path. But the “toll” of this road may be far more complex than imagined.

Some say there is a “basic service fee,” roughly one-fifth of the price of a bowl of noodles. Others say that adding up all the miscellaneous fees—”delivery support,” “activity incentives,” and so on, it may approach one-third.

You always see some “money-off” or “super coupon” deals. Customers pay less, but what merchants actually receive also drops. Those promotional costs, it is said, are mostly “shearing the sheep’s own wool.”

Then there is something called “Point-something Promotion,” widely rumored and quite mysterious. You or he, may have tried it. It is like buying a lottery ticket without knowing if you will win. If you do not buy, you fear your orders will vanish into the sea; if you do buy, you fear the money will be wasted. Sometimes, the “promotion fee” for a single order may even exceed the profit from selling a box of lunch.

In the end, someone calculated: Revenue appears to have increased, but when the year ends and everything is tallied, what ends up in your pocket may be less than before. You or he, may have felt this way.

2. The “Three Axes” of Offline “Sales Representatives”

You were not defeated by the shop next door. Some say, you were “optimized” by a standardized process.

The first axe: Honey arrives at your door.
Usually nobody pays you any mind. But once your business picks up, people start loitering outside your door. They smile broadly, constantly saying “let us give you one more channel.” It is said there is a little “sweetness” at first, making you feel this might be a viable path.

The second axe: Boiling the frog in warm water.
You begin paying attention to words you never listened to before: exposure, conversion, repurchase rates. They teach you how to adjust your menu and run promotions. You or he,不知不觉 turn your shop’s “signature dishes” into someone else’s “data.” Some things, without you realizing, no longer fully belong to you.

The third axe: Burning the bridge after crossing it.
When you grow used to watching those numbers tick every day, you realize the customers walking through your door seem to be dwindling. That “sweetness” fades, then vanishes. You want to leave, but find you cannot. Because someone says, if you stop even that fleeting hope disappears.

They, or he, have finished their job, perhaps moving on to the next “promising” shop.

You are not working for yourself; you or he, may just be helping someone else hit a number.

3. The Invisible Cost: What Is Lost May Be More Than Just Business

The cost of this game may be far greater than imagined.

For those in the food trade: the craft may be lost.
Waiting for a deadline, many things must be rushed. Some things are no longer “made,” but “warmed up.” That warmth, that wok hei, that feeling of someone laboring half a day for it—slowly, it fades. You or he, go from “craftsman” to “heater.”

For the people who eat: their health may be “spoiled.”
You or he, may have noticed that some food tastes very “standard,” very “punchy,” very “addictive.” Some say, these things are more like “industrial products” than “food.” Whether eating too much of it is good for the body—you or he, probably has a ledger in your mind.

You think you chose convenience, but someone believes you actually had no choice.

4. The Breakthrough: Stop Being That “Node”

This game, you or he, can choose not to play it.

Later, someone figured out a way.

Mark “same price” online, but do not sell.

An item sells for 26 yuan in the store. It is also listed at 26 yuan online. But the online minimum order is set at 200 yuan. Why? Because selling an item at 26 yuan online—the platform takes a cut, then delivery fees are deducted further, and what remains is only a few yuan. Sell one order, lose one order.

So what is the online 26 yuan for? It is advertising spend. I spend 26 yuan to let someone know: this item is worth 56, but I only sell it for 26. That 30 yuan difference is taken by the platform. If you want to eat it, come to the store.

The 200-yuan minimum order is not a barrier—it is a loss-prevention line. Below this number, I do not sell. Above it—that is for group orders, gatherings, corporate catering.

Ordinary people ordering a single bowl of noodles or rice—sorry, the 200-yuan minimum means you cannot order. But you can look. You can see my dishes, my prices, my store online. Then, you come.

When you come to the store, one order or two, no price limits, no quantity limits, no time limits.

Offline, prices are not controlled. Come, and you are welcome.

Every delivery box sent out includes a card. No “good review for cashback,” no “scan to get a coupon.” Just one sentence: “The platform took a few yuan off this meal. Next time you want to eat, find us directly. The savings—use them for a side dish, on us.”

People in the group chat slowly increase. No pop-up ads, no promotions. Just occasionally a photo of kitchen steam, a recording saying “the fish is fresh today.” Someone asks how to order, and the reply is: “Just let us know.”

No money-off deals, no bidding wars, no “Point-something Promotion.” But business on that street, somehow, has returned.

Not flipping the chessboard over. But taking the pieces back into your own hands.

Conclusion: This Game, Perhaps, Need Not Be Played This Way

When someone comes to you, saying they will help you earn an extra bit of money, you or he, may have believed them.

Later, you or he, may realize: you were not earning money. You were just helping someone else complete one number after another.

You are not any platform’s “partner.” You or he, may just be a “node.”

Someone asks, how to break through? Not by investing more in “Point-something Promotion,” not by offering lower prices, not by begging for so-called “traffic.”

It is not being that “node.”

Bring the business back to this street. Keep the food hot. Recognize the familiar faces. If someone is cheaper, be even cheaper than them—pass those saved “toll fees” to the people who walk through your door. If someone is faster, be faster than them too—you walking over, feels more solid than anything.

Online is advertising, not a marketplace. Offline is real business, not a vassal.

I am not a “node” on any platform. I am just a “person” on this street.

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