Advertisement
Chinese e-commerce firms JD.com and Alibaba’s Taobao roll out ‘refund only’ policy to shoppers, heating up rivalry with budget retailer Pinduoduo
- Both JD.com and Alibaba’s Taobao this week added a new ‘refund only’ policy to their respective platform rules
- The two e-commerce giants are taking a leaf out of the playbook of rival Pinduoduo, which has had that policy in place since 2021
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Cutthroat competition in China’s vast e-commerce sector is poised to escalate, as leading shopping platforms JD.com and Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao offer a “refund only” policy so consumers can keep the goods they had bought but complained about – matching an option that budget online retailer Pinduoduo has had in place since 2021.
Advertisement
JD.com on Wednesday updated its platform rules to include the new refund policy covering goods shoppers have received, but they believe do not match up with the product description on the site. The new rules will take effect on December 29.
The Beijing-based company, which also promised sales staff a raise in the new year, can intervene in such disputes based on the complaint lodged by a consumer and the track record of the third-party merchants on the platform, according to its policy page.
Advertisement
That initiative comes days after Taobao added on Monday a similar policy to its platform rules, which also covers misleading product information and fraudulent goods. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
Advertisement