Since the launch of the "refund only" service by Pinduoduo, Taobao and JD.com have recently announced that they will support the "no return only refund" service, which is seen as following up on Pinduoduo's pace and causing market discussions.
At present, several major e-commerce platforms in China have launched a "refund only" after-sales mechanism, which means that major e-commerce platforms are increasingly valuing user experience, and "refund only" has become an industry standard for domestic e-commerce platforms.
Industry insiders analyze that Taobao and JD.com are not blindly following Pinduoduo to compete for users. This rule is actually beneficial for the rectification of e-commerce platforms and the overall improvement of the quality of platform merchants. This also means that Pinduoduo plays an important role in promoting the overall progress of the internet e-commerce industry.
Taobao and JD.com have released new regulations supporting "no returns, only refunds"
On December 25th, the official website of Taobao released a public notice on changing the dispute handling rules of the Taobao platform, which added provisions for quick refunds or returns based on the platform's own big data capabilities, combining single or multi-dimensional methods, for buyers to initiate after-sales service that meets relevant conditions. This rule change was announced on December 19, 2023 and officially took effect on December 26.
Specifically, Taobao mainly supports buyers to "only refund" merchants with multiple negative reviews or violations. Merchants who have received too many negative reviews or violation records on the Taobao platform may make a refund only judgment against consumers once they receive a complaint. In addition, for merchants who delay or force shipments without the buyer's consent, the system will also support consumers to only refund.
On the merchant side, in order to protect the rights and interests of merchants, the Taobao platform also provides a fast appeal channel for merchants, and orders within 30 days can be appealed. At the same time, Taobao has also proposed a big data solution, and the new regulations will make judgments based on the actual operation of sellers, in order to determine whether to support buyers' quick return and refund requests, which is equivalent to avoiding the risk of "wool party" poaching wool for sellers.
Taobao stated that the purpose of this mechanism is to provide consumers with a better user experience, while taking stricter measures against businesses with long-term inadequate service and unreliable quality.
At the same time, JD.com is also closely following the pace of friend merchants supporting "refund only". The weekly rule update released by JD's official website recently also shows that JD has recently revised the "JD Open Platform Transaction Dispute Handling General Rules", which mainly includes adding support for user only refunds for transaction disputes. Another newly revised rule, the JD Open Platform After sales Service Management Rules, has added a standard for refund and non return execution.
It is understood that "refund only" is the first after-sales mechanism launched by Pinduoduo. When a consumer applies for "refund only" to the platform, if the merchant does not take action within 48 hours, the system will assume that the merchant agrees to the refund application and automatically initiate the refund.
On September 21 this year, Tiktok E-Commerce also updated a rule of "refund only" in the After sales Service Management Standard for Merchants: "The reputation rate of the commodity is lower than 70%, and the platform has the right to take measures to support consumers to only refund, return and refund the freight package for the after-sales application of the commodity transaction order, and the reputation rate of the commodity can be lifted if it recovers to more than 70% for 7 consecutive days."
Wang Yujian, a special researcher at the Internet Economic and Social E-commerce Research Center, told Securities Times reporters that several major e-commerce platforms in China have launched a "refund only" after-sales mechanism, which means that major e-commerce platforms are increasingly focusing on user experience, and "refund only" has become an industry standard for domestic e-commerce platforms. The implementation of the "refund only" rule on major e-commerce platforms is conducive to regulating seller behavior and purifying the online consumption environment, To avoid false advertising, poor quality, and incorrect products, and provide consumers with a better user experience.
The "refund only" rule may potentially improve the quality of platform merchants in the long term
Regarding the new regulations of "no returns, only refunds" released by Taobao and JD.com, many netizens have joked that these two top e-commerce platforms are "understanding Pinduoduo and becoming Pinduoduo". However, it is worth noting that the after-sales service of "no return only refund" has been facing controversy against merchants since the launch of Pinduoduo.
Wang Yujian stated that after Taobao and JD.com introduced the "refund only" rule, the refund rate may increase as consumers can receive refunds more quickly and do not need to return goods. Although the Taobao platform has taken a series of measures to prevent malicious refunds, there is still a risk of malicious consumers abusing their refund rights, which may cause certain losses to sellers in the short term.
"But overall, platform merchants need to pay more attention to product quality and description accuracy to reduce refunds caused by product issues, and may also strengthen sellers' standardized operations to achieve good coins driving out bad coins," Wang Yujian admitted.
Industry insiders analyze that Taobao and JD.com are not blindly following Pinduoduo to compete for users. This rule is actually beneficial for the rectification of e-commerce platforms, which also means that Pinduoduo plays an important role in promoting the overall progress of the internet e-commerce industry.
Zhuang Shuai, a special researcher at the Internet Economic and Social E-commerce Research Center and founder of Bailian Consulting, told Securities Times reporters that the rule of "no return only refund" has a positive effect on both users and merchants. From the user side, this rule can improve user experience and satisfaction to a high extent, thereby enhancing user stickiness; On the merchant side, it is to increase the operating costs of low-quality product merchants, thereby improving the quality of their products and achieving a better platform remediation effect.
In fact, it has always been difficult and costly for open e-commerce platforms to eliminate counterfeit and substandard products. There are still problems with counterfeit and substandard products, refurbished and sold second-hand goods, and there has been no suitable solution before. However, the "refund only" method adopted by Pinduoduo has to some extent alleviated or even solved this problem, because merchants cannot retrieve products under the "refund only" rule, resulting in operating costs The increase and lack of profitability have led to a decrease in the number of merchants selling counterfeit and inferior products, overall improving the quality of platform merchants. This is also a positive aspect of Pinduoduo's adoption of the 'refund only' rule for the industry Zhuang Shuai's analysis.
Emerging e-commerce platforms coexist with traditional e-commerce platforms
The market's focus on Taobao and JD.com launching this new after-sales regulation is also on whether "refund only" will help Alibaba and JD.com compete for users in the existing e-commerce market, and how will it affect the future competitive landscape of Alibaba, JD.com, and Pinduoduo?
The short-term impact on Pinduoduo is unknown as Taobao and JD.com introduce the "refund only" rule. Some analysts believe that this move will not have a significant impact on Pinduoduo in the short term. "Refund only" is only a part of Pinduoduo's overall business and sales strategy. There are other factors contributing to Pinduoduo's high performance. In addition, there is a mature and complete mechanism behind Pinduoduo's "refund only" rule, and Taobao and JD.com may need to go through a process of trial and error, adjustment, and optimization.
Some professionals have also expressed that after Taobao and JD.com support the new refund only policy, the platform's refund processing time, user service, and other aspects will bring a better experience. It will also attract some users from Pinduoduo to migrate to the platform. For Taobao and JD.com, the increase in traffic and sales will have a certain degree of inhibition on Pinduoduo's high-speed growth.
"However, the business strategy of e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and JD.com is to serve merchants, rely on merchants, and lean towards merchants; while Pinduoduo chooses buyers who are close to the grassroots level. There are significant differences in operational ideas and strategies between the two platforms, and it remains to be seen how much impact they can bring." Wang and Jian also analyzed to reporters.
The consensus in the industry regarding this move is that in the long run, the widespread implementation of this rule by top e-commerce platforms is expected to improve the overall level of the industry, and Pinduoduo may become a beneficiary of it.
Pinduoduo achieved a total revenue of 68.8 billion yuan in the third quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 94% compared to 35.5 billion yuan in the same period last year. Alibaba and JD's revenue in the third quarter were 224.8 billion yuan and 247.7 billion yuan respectively, with year-on-year growth rates of 9% and 2%.
Wang Yujian stated that Pinduoduo's latest quarterly growth rate undoubtedly far exceeds that of Taobao and JD.com, which undoubtedly brings enormous pressure to Taobao and JD.com. Taobao and JD.com also have to adjust their strategies. For example, in June 2023, Jack Ma convened a small communication meeting with the business leaders of Taobao and Tmall Group, pointing out three directions for Taobao Group: returning to Taobao, returning to users, and returning to the Internet.
In the current stock market stage of China's e-commerce industry, internet e-commerce platforms may be in a competitive pattern of mutual growth and competition in the domestic market for a long time. Wang Yujian believes that, on the one hand, Tiktok and Pinduoduo will maintain a high-speed growth trend in the future, forming a pattern where new e-commerce platforms such as Tiktok and Pinduoduo coexist with traditional e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and JD, and form different user minds and customer groups. On the other hand, consumer demand continues to upgrade, shifting from a single scenario to a "consumption+" multi scenario, multi mode, and multi industry cross-border integration, innovation, and penetration, continuously expanding business boundaries.