During the ongoing 618 pre-sale season, recent news indicates that,Taobao has launched the 'High Refund Customer Screening' feature, allowing clothing merchants to set screening groups on their custom promotion pages.It can completely block high-refund groups and abnormal refund groups, no longer reaching out, and can also reduce exposure to groups with higher refund rates.
According to the screenshots circulating on the internet, Taobao merchants can conduct crowd promotion.The custom promotion page settings block specific groups, including a 100% complete block of abnormal refund groups and high refund groups, to reduce exposure to groups with a high refund rate.。
Image source: the internet
Consumers and merchants have mixed reactions to this new feature.Some netizens said that this feature is friendly to merchants.It can significantly improve the quality of crowd promotion and transaction rate for Taobao merchants.Some netizens are urging Taobao to set up a feature for consumers that allows them to block merchants with a high return rate.This way, you don't have to spend time selecting them one by one.
Image source: the internet
On the other hand, merchants believe that by reducing ineffective promotional traffic, they can increase the conversion rate.This move can reduce the risk of being disturbed by "coupon hunters" or malicious refund users.。
A staff member from the Taobao promotion department stated that,The feature of blocking high refund rate groups is currently only available for Tmall and Taobao clothing merchants, and does not support applications from merchants in other industries.The function aims to optimize promotional effects and reduce interference from fraudulent refunds, but it may lead to a decrease in exposure, requiring merchants to weigh the pros and cons. Currently, this function is in internal testing, and it needs to be set to align with what merchants see in their backend during paid promotions.
Merchants who have been settled on Tmall for many years have revealed that the merchant backend can now see relevant explanations about "blocking high refund groups." In the clothing industry, it refers to all Taobao C-store and Tmall B-store merchants under the secondary categories of women's clothing, men's clothing, underwear, shoes for both men and women, bags and accessories, watches, and glasses.
Who is paying for the 'refund only and 7-day no-reason return'?
In fact, merchants have long suffered from "coupon farmers," especially in the clothing industry. Just recently, there have been several news stories causing quite a stir, such as a teacher encouraging over 60 college students to group together to purchase performance costumes online and return them, and tourists wearing long dresses with uncut tags. Each incident is a part of the clothing merchants' painful history.
Image source: the internet
On the surface, it seems that the merchants are at a loss, but in reality, all consumers are paying for the loopholes. A clothing store owner shared the data of their store: a 60% return rate before Labor Day is considered normal, but after the holiday, it skyrocketed to 130%—the extra 30% is due to people returning worn clothes.
The boss of the sunscreen clothes also calculated: the cost of each return is about 12 yuan, and if the returned goods cannot be resold, the merchant will lose 50 yuan.Platform fees are still charged, and shipping insurance prices are increasing. Ultimately, these costs will be passed on to ordinary consumers - you may be paying for someone else's 'free trial'.。
So where will these returned 'second-hand goods' ultimately go? If some businesses try to cut losses by simply processing returned items with minor defects and putting them back on the shelves, it will trigger a new round of consumer disputes, creating a vicious cycle. After trust collapses, the entire ecosystem will be the one that suffers.
Rules should not become a toy for 'scammers.' This model of 'a few people doing bad things while the majority pay the price' will ultimately raise the overall cost of the industry, after all,The original intention behind the launch of features like full refunds and the 7-day no-reason return policy has always been consumer protection, not unlimited exploitation.
Breaking the deadlock requires a platform to use big data to identify habitual offenders.
How can the platform maintain fairness?
In late April this year,Pinduoduo, Taobao, Douyin, Kuaishou, JD.com and other e-commerce platforms have completely canceled the "refund only" option.Consumers who apply for refunds without returning goods after receiving them will be handled by the merchants at their discretion. For example, in the future, the platform will not actively intervene in consumers' refund requests after they have received the goods without returning them; instead, sellers will first negotiate directly with consumers.
As a standard feature of the domestic e-commerce industry that is gradually taking shape in 2024, the launch of 'refund only' has significantly protected consumer rights. However, it is undeniable that under the malicious exploitation by some 'bargain hunters', the rights of many legitimate businesses have been harmed, leading to ongoing disputes and doubts.
Now that the 'refund only' policy is gradually being phased out, it indicates...Major e-commerce platforms have realized the need to restructure the balance of rights and interests between buyers and sellers, ensuring that the platform protects consumers' legitimate rights while also maintaining normal operations for merchants.Through technical means and data models, find a fair and reasonable balance between buyers and sellers.
It is noteworthy that this timeTaobao has also launched a new 'Real Experience Score' system to replace the traditional rating system.By dynamically evaluating store service quality through objective indicators, combining a 30-day update cycle with product experience scores, we effectively curb the chaos of score manipulation. High-rated merchants will receive more traffic support, creating a positive cycle where 'the better the service, the higher the exposure'.
In addition, the platform has upgraded its model for identifying refund-only exceptions, intercepting an average of 400,000 unreasonable requests per day, with a complaint resolution rate of over 95% within 7 days for merchants, ensuring consumer rights while using technology to prevent "arbitrage" behaviors.
Conclusion
This time, Taobao's attempt to block high refund users is not only a precise measure to address specific pain points in the clothing industry, but also reflects a deep-seated shift in the governance logic of e-commerce platforms — moving from a crude competition for traffic to refined ecological operations.
When 'refund only' and '7-day no reason return' are distorted into a carnival for opportunists, merely relying on moral constraints has proven ineffective. Future solutions may lie in: platforms filtering out bad merchants with algorithms, merchants using tools to filter out malicious users, and consumers using purchasing votes to filter out poor services.
Only through the collaboration of platforms, merchants, and consumers can the e-commerce ecosystem escape the predicament of 'mutual harm' and achieve sustainable growth. Taobao's new features are not the endpoint, but a new starting point for reconstructing a healthy e-commerce ecosystem.
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