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With China's burgeoning middle class enjoying deeper pockets and as the country continues to urbanize more opportunities are arising in the services sector. One in particular that caught our attention is increasing demand for sophisticated moving services. Our special series on Smart Spending focuses today on this growing business and how it's raising consumer convenience at a low cost.
Moving can be stressful and exhausting, especially for people like Jiang Haoyue. The white collar worker lives in Beijing, with a demanding full-time job and a young child. To save time and energy, she decided to splurge on a high-end moving service called EZ Move.
JIANG HAOYUE EZ MOVE USER "It saves me a lot of trouble. A big part of it is that they provide a one-stop service, which means that we don't have to be there to watch over their shoulders every step of the way, which is a big advantage. A lot of my furniture is from IKEA. If I were to get people from IKEA to disassemble them, then contact a moving company, and finally assemble the furniture again, it would take a lot of time and I'd have to manage a bunch of different people. EZ Move's people can take care of all of these steps on their own."
As China is becoming increasingly urbanized, more people and businesses are moving around within its cities. In an environment where time comes at a premium, a market has opened up for all-inclusive moving services.
ZHANG XIONG FOUNDER, EZ MOVE "Our business model is based on the Japanese model of moving, we solve several pain points such as packing the client's things for them, and providing transparent prices up front, we provide a one-stop service that takes care of everything."
Tuo Jianbo came to Beijing from Chongqing almost two decades ago and has already spent 15 years working for traditional moving companies here. Two years ago, he decided to start working tor Lanxiniu, an Über-like app.
TUO JIANBO TRUCK DRIVER, LANXINIU "The pricing system is very clear and transparent, so we don't run into disagreements with the customers. We began working for the app after some friends recommended it to us. It's very convenient and it's easy to get work."
One user is happy with the new service.
GU XIAOXUE LANXINIU USER "It's clearer what you're paying for. The app was very easy to use, and it lists very clearly how much it costs, based on the size and weight of the different items. It also clearly shows the distance, so they won't suddenly start charging you extra fees."
Lanxiniu was established in January 2014, and has already attracted 100,000 truck drivers to its platform. An average of nearly 20,000 drivers are active on any given day and can arrive to pick up your things within 15 minutes of placing an order.
WANG SU FOUNDER, LANXINIU "We support 24-hour services moving anywhere within the city limits. Once you place an order inside the app, drivers can respond as quickly as within five or ten seconds."
China's urban population reached nearly 810 million by the end of 2017, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. As China's urbanization drive continues, the market is set to continue to grow.