after the implementation of the new policy of "10 billion yuan tax relief", the business account book of a small merchant on pinduoduo
2024-09-23
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pinduoduo’s “10 billion yuan tax relief” is actually benefiting merchants’ operations.
the basic store deposit was reduced from 1,000 yuan to 500 yuan, the technical service fee for pay-later orders was reduced from 1% to 0.6%, and the logistics transit costs in remote areas are borne by the platform... each of these is a significant cost reduction for merchants.
as pinduoduo chairman and co-ceo chen lei said at the earnings conference, pinduoduo will invest tens of billions of resources to vigorously support new merchants and new industrial belts with product and technological innovation capabilities, and significantly reduce transaction fees for high-quality merchants, with an estimated reduction of 10 billion yuan in the next year.
"several policies are particularly beneficial to merchants, and trust in the platform has also increased." chen caibin, e-commerce operations manager of shantou chaoting food co., ltd., told the 21st century business herald reporter.
industry insiders analyzed that since its establishment, the pinduoduo platform has reached a considerable scale, and ecological governance is also necessary. the management has also reached a consensus and is ready to sacrifice short-term profits for long-term investment.
creating a healthier and more sustainable e-commerce platform is pinduoduo's current development focus. this will not only attract more merchants to settle in, but also enhance consumers' shopping experience, thus achieving a win-win situation for the platform, merchants, and consumers.
effective cost reduction
merchants opening stores on pinduoduo usually need to pay security deposits, technical service fees, and other fees including advertising and logistics, which are important components of merchant costs. pinduoduo's "10 billion yuan reduction" basically covers all the above-mentioned aspects.
in terms of deposit, merchants need to pay a basic deposit and a category deposit. the basic deposit is reduced from 1,000 yuan to 500 yuan. at the same time, the initial deposit for newly settled personal and corporate stores will also be reduced to 500 yuan. it is reported that the first batch of merchants enjoying this policy has covered nearly 70 categories.
"duoduo's deposit is already very low in the industry." chen caibin told the 21st century business herald reporter that this reduction will further reduce operating costs, especially for merchants operating multiple stores. for merchants or self-employed individuals who have not yet settled in, the entry threshold will also be lowered.
regarding the technical service fee, chen caibin said that previously, a technical service fee of 0.6% would be charged for each transaction order. if the pay-as-you-go policy was used, an additional 1 point of technical service fee would be added on top of this.
recently, pinduoduo launched a refundable technical service fee benefit to merchants who sign up to participate in the on-site resource position activity. after the user initiates a refund, the platform will proportionally refund 1% of the basic technical service fee for pay-later orders and 0.6% of the basic technical service fee for other orders.
subsequently, pinduoduo upgraded its "technical service fee refund benefit". in addition to enjoying the service fee refund benefit, the rate of pay-later technical service fees for orders generated by merchants participating in resource activities was reduced from 1% to 0.6%. in other words, for merchants' pay-later activity orders, the technical service fee was directly reduced by 40%.
as a result, merchants' costs in each transaction can be reduced, and consumers' preferred pay-later model can be more widely used, further improving consumers' shopping experience while merchant costs can be controlled.
on the other hand, logistics in remote areas is also one of the main pain points for merchants. in the past, when purchasing goods in xinjiang, tibet and other regions, the goods usually needed to be sent to a transit warehouse first, and then forwarded to the consumer by the transit warehouse. this process would incur transit fees. chen caibin told reporters that their previous transit fees for one order were more than ten yuan.
taking cost issues into consideration, some merchants have not opened sales services to remote areas, while others will adjust product prices based on the consumer's location to cover logistics.
as for orders currently transferred to remote areas, merchants only need to send the orders to the transfer warehouse, and the logistics transfer fees for the second shipment from the transfer warehouse to remote areas such as xinjiang, tibet, gansu, ningxia, and inner mongolia will be borne by the platform. at present, this new exemption measure has covered all merchants on the pinduoduo platform. industry analysts believe that this move is beneficial to reducing consumer consumption costs and merchant sales costs.
another major investment for merchants is in advertising and marketing. chen caibin told reporters that during the sales process, merchants usually conduct advertising promotions, which will incur certain promotion costs. however, after consumers place an order after seeing the advertisement, they may choose to refund for various reasons. in this case, although the consumer did not complete the purchase in the end, the merchant actually spent the promotion fee paid for the transaction.
now, pinduoduo has launched the "promotion service fee refund benefit" to merchants. if consumers request a full refund before delivery of an order, the platform will automatically return a promotion red envelope corresponding to the merchant's promotion software service fee, without the need for merchants to file a complaint.
"for us, this change has a relatively large impact." chen caibin did some calculations to the reporter. in the past ten days, the promotion fee has basically been returned by three to four percentage points.
"based on the current monthly promotion fee of around 600,000 yuan, according to the current preferential policies, we can get back about 20,000 yuan of promotion fees," said chen caibin.
he calculated based on his own business situation that after the implementation of several reform policies, his total expenses could be reduced by about 0.2%. for large-scale sellers, this is not a small amount.
building a merchant ecosystem
by reducing various expenses, pinduoduo's subsidies have actually alleviated the financial pressure on merchants. especially in the highly competitive e-commerce market, a healthy merchant ecosystem is the key to the sustainable development of the platform.
in order to further optimize the user experience of merchants, pinduoduo has also upgraded the merchant after-sales service system, opened a green channel, established a special after-sales service team, and fully supported merchants to file appeals against abnormal orders, malicious complaint orders, and consumer negative experience orders. after the merchant's appeal is successful, the platform will compensate for the relevant orders.
at the same time, pinduoduo has also made special adjustments to the complaint service for merchants' after-sales disputes, and no longer limits the number of complaints that can be made. currently, this new benefit is undergoing preliminary testing and is expected to cover all merchants in the near future.
chen caibin said that in the past, when consumers made demands, the platform would intervene and directly refund the consumers. if the order was unreasonable, the merchant would need to complain to the platform, but the number of complaints was very limited. "we have tens of thousands of orders a month, and after-sales service accounts for about 2%, but the number of complaints is only ten."
chen caibin believes that this change is also very important, which is undoubtedly a protection for the merchants on the platform. industry analysts believe that both merchants on the platform and merchants outside the platform will have a stronger sense of trust in the pinduoduo platform.
this is related to pinduoduo's development strategy.
over the past year or so, pinduoduo has firmly deepened its high-quality development strategy, gradually established and implemented the "10 billion ecosystem" project, allocated resources to high-quality merchants and products, promoted quality growth of small and medium-sized enterprises and high-quality merchants, and improved the overall service efficiency and quality of platform merchants.
pinduoduo is also attracting more brand merchants to join. its data shows that among the new merchants receiving the 10 billion yuan subsidy, the number of agricultural product merchants increased by 83% year-on-year, the number of digital home appliance merchants increased by 86% year-on-year, and the number of beauty merchants increased by 105% year-on-year. merchants in categories such as food, general merchandise, maternal and child care, personal care, clothing, sports, outdoor, home furnishing, and overseas shopping all maintained rapid growth, and domestic and international brands are accelerating the influx of the 10 billion yuan subsidy.
at the just-concluded 2024 second quarter financial report meeting, chen lei stated that pinduoduo's high-quality development will enter a new stage, and will continue to build a healthy and sustainable platform ecology through "strong support" and "resolute governance."
continuous investment in the platform ecosystem and reduction of tens of billions of transaction fees mean that future revenue and profits will be affected, but pinduoduo still firmly chooses to invest in the long term.
pinduoduo is moving towards a more diversified and high-quality e-commerce platform. with the deepening of its branding strategy, pinduoduo is expected to achieve longer-term development in the e-commerce field.
mo daiqing, director of the online retail department of the e-commerce research center of china internet network information center, said in an interview with a reporter from 21st century business herald that the cost reduction strategy implemented by pinduoduo has indeed reduced the operating costs of merchants to a certain extent and helped to enhance their profitability. however, whether these measures can be transformed into actual revenue growth for merchants is also affected by the effectiveness of the merchants' own business strategies and the complex and changing market environment.
merchants should take a positive attitude when facing these cost-reduction measures, make full use of the cost advantages they bring, and optimize their own business strategies in depth, focusing on improving product quality and service levels to attract more consumers and promote sales growth. in addition, merchants need to maintain a keen observation of market dynamics, keep abreast of market trends, strategic adjustments of competitors and other information, so as to respond flexibly and ensure the effectiveness and competitiveness of business strategies.
source: 21st century business herald
