On December 26, 2023, Taobao's change to the Taobao Platform Dispute Settlement Rules officially came into effect, introducing "refund only", and the topic of "Taobao will support refund only" rushed to the hot search on social platforms the next day. Prior to this, in the "General Provisions for the Settlement of Transaction Disputes on JD's Open Platform" revised by JD.com, there were also "new implementation standards for refunds without returns" and "new support for transaction disputes to support users to refund only".
Why are leading e-commerce platforms scrambling to follow Pinduoduo's lead and introduce "refund-only"?
Market success is the ultimate criterion for testing a business model or rule. It is human nature for the successful to dismantle and study the reasons why the successful ones are successful and to imitate the practices that are considered to be successful, and they are often effective. For example, where there is KFC, there is often McDonald's, and vice versa. This is because the business model of the two is similar, the customer group is similar, the customer unit price is similar, one party can successfully open in one place, which is equivalent to having done a market feasibility study for the other party, as long as the market capacity of the place is enough, the other party can open in the vicinity with a high probability of success.
Taobao, Jingdong and Pinduoduo, as the national and full-category head e-commerce platforms, although in the eyes of some people, the customer groups are different, but the overall degree of overlap is still quite high. Many buyers use all three platforms, but the frequency of use varies depending on personal preference or price discounts. Therefore, if the rules introduced by one company prove to be good, it is wise for other platforms to learn from them and make adjustments that are suitable for the platform.
Or some people say that the legal person can never surpass others. In general, this is true, but following the practice of others can at least keep yourself from falling behind others too much, and even narrow the gap. But don't say "forever", because the first mover may not succeed, and the "first step" imitates the "first two steps". The inventor of the bike-sharing bike is already cold, but there are later bike-sharing platforms that are still alive and well.
So, why did Jingdong and Taobao introduce "refund only"? Everyone knows, and it is impossible for the platform not to know: "refund only" is a kind of tilt to buyers, and it will inevitably provide a bad incentive: some buyers will use this clause to "pick wool" and "prostitute for nothing", so that merchants will suffer losses. Knowing that there will be bad incentives, why do platforms still introduce "refund-only"?
The direct reason, as mentioned above, is that Pinduoduo has proven that this set of plays works.
The underlying reasons deserve to be carefully discerned.
China's production capacity is facing the world, in the case of weak external demand, the competition for domestic demand from fresh agricultural products to industrial products, the production capacity of all walks of life is basically excessive, the supply of all kinds of commodities is very sufficient, the general oversupply, which means that it is now a buyer's market, relative to producers and merchants, consumers have greater choice and dominance.
Now is the era of stock games, and consumers have given higher weight to "price" and "cost performance", so it is necessary for platforms to cater to or even "please" consumers, which is the reason why unilateral consumer-friendly rules such as "refund only" have been introduced.
The stock game and buyer's market mean that compared with merchants, platforms must give more priority to competing for consumers, so that consumers can come here, stay here, and buy things here, so that consumers can have a better experience. Empowering consumers is a good starting point. In this way, on the whole, merchants will inevitably suffer some losses, and some unscrupulous consumers will take advantage of the privilege to gather wool.
However, there are various restrictions on this consumer privilege, and no platform will agree to a buyer's request for a "refund only" for any item without any restrictions. E-commerce platforms can buy precious metal jewelry and even airplanes, and after a plane arrives, you can "refund only" and think about it is also drunk.
And taking Taobao as an example, Taobao launched three rules of "refund only".
First of all, Taobao writes in the General Rules for Dispute Resolution: Based on the protection of buyers' rights and interests and the reasonable reduction or exemption of the buyer's threshold of proof, Taobao will, based on the platform's own big data capabilities, form a multi-faceted comprehensive assessment of the goods sold by the seller through a single or multi-dimensional combination of the platform's penalties at the information or product level, the seller's store quality indicators (such as quality scores), a large number of customer complaints on the buyer's side, and the perception of counterfeit and shoddy problems. A high degree of probability. Furthermore, based on such determination of probability, Taobao will directly provide quick return refund or refund support to the buyer for the after-sales service that meets the aforesaid relevant circumstances.
In other words, "refund only" is to some extent a punishment for bad merchants with bad records, and the platform will not judge "refund only", and it is estimated that products involving high value will be sentenced to "quick refund and return" to protect the interests of merchants.
In September 2023, Douyin e-commerce's "Merchant After-sales Service Management Specification" also updated the "refund only" rule: if the merchant's product praise rate is less than 70%, the platform has the right to take measures to support consumers to refund only and return the refund package for the after-sales application of the product transaction order, and the product praise rate can be lifted if it recovers to more than 70% for 7 consecutive days. It has similar considerations to Taobao.
Secondly, Taobao's delivery specifications stipulate that if the seller has not delivered the goods beyond the agreed delivery time or the buyer applies for a refund, the seller shall obtain the buyer's consent before delivering the goods. If the seller delivers the goods without the consent of the buyer, and the buyer does not receive the goods or refuses to accept the goods, the relevant costs and risks of damage, damage and loss of the goods arising therefrom shall be borne by the seller, and the order supports refund to the buyer. This "refund only" is based on the premise that the seller is at fault or ignores the buyer's wishes.
Finally, Taobao's specifications for signing for delivery stipulate that if the product is returned within 7 days without reason or the product is rejected by the buyer as judged by Taobao, the product is successfully rejected by the buyer, and the transaction supports a refund, and the seller shall promptly recall the goods in accordance with the relevant agreements or agreements with the logistics company and bear the risks of damage or loss of the goods.
This "refund only" is limited to some goods that have been "successfully rejected" by the buyer, and theoretically the goods still have to be returned to the merchant, but it may not be worth it because the value of the goods is lower than the shipping cost, so it is simply left to the buyer or logistics company. The interpretation of "successful refusal" in Taobao rules is that the information displayed on the official website of the logistics company or the Taobao platform system shall prevail, such as "rejected", and the return record has been generated. Buyers can rely on this rule to "prostitute" low-value goods, which will attract some alternative "hard-working idlers" with low bottom lines and more time. However, if the platform deems it necessary, it can also flag or refuse to trade buyers who are "white prostitutes".
In short, everyone has introduced "refund-only", reflecting the objective reality that e-commerce platforms are becoming more and more popular. This volume is designed to compete for consumers in a buyer's market position.
Chen Bin
Editor-in-charge: Xin Provincial Chronicles