China’s leading e-commerce platform companies have completely abolished the “refund without return” policy, which was put forward to attract customers.
The move came four months after the Chinese authorities took corrective action after a series of backlash from small sellers who entered the platform.
According to local Chinese media such as Jimu News on the 23rd, major Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo, Taobao, and JD Dotcom have abolished the “refund without return” policy at once.
These shopping platforms have implemented a policy in which customers do not have to return items when they request a refund.
This customer-first policy has spread to other platforms since it was first introduced by Temu’s parent company, Pinduoduo (PDD Holdings), in 2021.
However, as more and more consumers maliciously request a refund even though there is no abnormality in the delivered goods, vendors demanded the abolition of the unconditional refund rule.
Hundreds of small vendors supplying goods to Temu held a protest in front of the Temu headquarters in Guangzhou in July last year.
Vendors claimed Pinduoduo exploited their profits for a much-needed global expansion.
In response, Bloomberg reported in December last year that China’s National Market Supervision and Management Bureau and the Ministry of Commerce requested Pinduoduo to revise the policy.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
