But in response, our operation team is actively formulating product strategies and exploring the development of packages that are more suitable for low-frequency direct shippers. In addition, although direct shipper members contribute less revenue from ARPU perspective, their specific characters, such as willing to accept higher freight rates and demonstrate a better fulfillment rates provide us with a greater potential for cross-selling with online transaction services and value-added products. So in the long run, direct shippers will not only serve as the primary catalyst for future freight listing revenue growth will also present growth opportunities across other segments of our business.
Operator: The next question comes from Jiulu Li with CICC.
Jiulu Li : Okay. My first question is about the commission strategies. So what are the overall commission strategy for 2024? And in particular, what is your plan for commission rate and commission coverage improvement in 2024?
Simon Cai: Thank you, Jiulu. The substantial increase in our commission revenue in the past quarter was fueled by the rapid growth rate of the platform’s overall orders. The number of commission orders rose by 41% year-over-year and nearly 10% from the third quarter. From an operational level, this quarter, we will continue to prioritize growth in users and order volume rather than just expanding to additional cities under the commission model. By the end of 2023, our commission model has been successfully rolled out in 204 cities. In the meantime, we have also stress test higher commission parameters in randomly selected cities and verified its viability. So entering into 2024, we will remain — we will maintain our prudent approach for our transaction service business.
In addition, we will continue to enhance the value of our transaction services to users through ongoing product functionality improvements. For instance, we recently launched our [indiscernible] Saving Package 2.0 product for truckers, which include various privileges and protection features for those who subscribed. And truckers who purchased the Saving Package 2.0, will also receive discounts on future commissions as well as the bonus order points, which they can redeem for additional benefits such as expedited deposit refunds. From a long-term perspective, we believe that our current commission rates are very conservative and there is still ample room to boost our commission revenues in the future. Looking ahead into 2024 as the platform’s network effects strengthens and users’ reliance on our platform deepens, we expect that year-over-year commission revenue growth will remain strong and potentially surpassing the growth rate that we achieved in the past year.
Jiulu Li: My second question is that non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses increased by 50.6% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, outpacing revenue growth for the same period. What are the main reasons for the high growth in sales and marketing expenses in the quarter? How do you expect the sales and marketing expenses to trend in 2024?
Simon Cai: Thank you. The high growth rate of non-GAAP sales and marketing expenses in the fourth quarter was primarily due to the increase of investments in marketing to acquire new users, both through online and off-line channels as well as our brand promotion to increase our brand awareness. Online, we mainly advertise through app stores, information streams, and search engine marketing, among other venues. And offline, we primarily acquire users through truck stickers and advertising and our field marketing teams. Moving into the coming year, we will continue to employ a very active user acquisition strategy to grow our user base and optimize our user structure. Our overall user acquisition strategy will continue to attract shippers and truckers to our platform via a combination of online and offline channels, driving expansion in our logistics network.
We expect to increase our user acquisition efforts in comparison with last year. In the longer run, we anticipate a continued increase in sales and marketing expenses aligned with the expansion of new business ventures. However, as our revenue quickly scale up and especially as we optimize commission penetration and improve — further improved operating leverage, sales and marketing expenses will gradually decline as a percentage of total net revenues.
Operator: This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to management for any closing remarks.
Mao Mao: Again, thank you, everyone, for joining us today. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at Full Truck Alliance directly or TPG Investor Relations. Our contact information for IR in both China and the U.S. can be found in today’s press release. Have a good day. Bye-bye.
Operator: The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today’s presentation. You may now disconnect.
