Tiktok Taobao's "volume does not move" low price
Friends of 36Kr
·2024-07-24 12:09
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Low prices have become a double-edged sword - while boosting platform performance and efficiency, it can easily lead to damage to the ultimate interests of merchants and users.
After discovering that low prices cannot become a "universal cure", major e-commerce platforms have begun to turn the tide.
On July 24, the interface news learned from multiple sources that Tiktok E-commerce will adjust its price comparison system and no longer pursue absolute low prices. Next month, the cancellation of price comparison adjustment may be the first to land on non-standard products.
At present, some merchants have found that the backend page of Douyin's premium price promoter has changed, and the comparison tags of "same product high price", "same product low price" and "low price across the entire network" have disappeared.
Another person close to Tiktok E-commerce told the interface news that the algorithm rules of Tiktok E-commerce in the future may return to the era of GPM from OPM (the number of orders closed with thousands of exposures). The difference is that the assessment criteria for OPM are order volume, and if you want more orders, you can only make small profits and sell more. Merchants who engage in low price competition or even brushing orders will also be encouraged. GPM assesses the amount of sales in live streaming rooms, and the higher the sales volume, the more valuable the live streaming room is.
A series of signals indicate that the platform no longer wants to blindly engage in low price competition.
Since last year, almost all e-commerce platforms have focused on "low prices". Tiktok E-commerce has set "price power" as the highest priority task in 2024, and launched the price comparison system before 618 this year, giving preferential traffic to products with low prices throughout the network and the same model.
The founder of a women's wear brand once told the interface news that during 618, Tiktok found that her brand had a discount of "99% off for two pieces" on Pinduoduo, and asked for further reduction of the discount. Cross platform price comparison has put more implicit pressure on merchants to choose between two options.
The intense internal competition of 618 has triggered a rebound on the merchant side, and many top merchants have chosen to escape the promotion, putting conflicts on the table. However, it was reported later that the low price strategy did not actually achieve significant results. In the first half of the year, the growth rate of GMV (total volume of commodity transactions) fell faster than expected. Tiktok has decided to put GMV back in the first priority.
Not only Tiktok, but also many businesses reported to the interface news that recently e-commerce platforms have generally adjusted their brakes on the "low price war", and traffic assessment will turn to sales, more inclined to the platform's own realization. The platform is re realizing that low prices are difficult to form a positive correlation with quality and service itself.
After 618, Taotian Group clarified its changes for the second half of the year in a closed door meeting for merchants, including reducing reliance on "five-star pricing power", weakening the strategy of absolute low prices, and returning to the traffic allocation logic of GMV.
The so-called 'Five Star Price Power' is a price competitiveness evaluation system launched by Taobao in the first half of 2023. After evaluating the price competitiveness of a product, the tool will give the product a rating of one to five stars, which directly affects the product's search ranking, traffic distribution, and display opportunities. The "five-star pricing power" used to be a product of Taobao's pursuit of low prices, but now GMV has become the top indicator, which means it has regained its traditional e-commerce business model that it is better at.
This is definitely a good thing for the industry. This year's 618 shopping festival, we have already seen the result of low price competition - bad money driving out good money. If we continue to roll it around, there will only be extreme supply chain and factory type merchants left in the market, and most merchants will be crushed, "said a merchant.
This also conforms to the previous judgment of Interface News: after the 618 shopping festival, all parties will re-examine the business strategy of low price competition. Low prices can indeed increase traffic and market share in the short term, but in the long run, it compresses the profit margins of businesses, ultimately leading to a vicious cycle of product quality mismatch and high return rates, while also causing a loss of user experience.
Recently, Taotian has also changed its supply strategy for low-priced white label products. Taochang has launched a "black label store" to provide "brand" identification and traffic support plans for high-quality supply; 1688 will also introduce high-quality factory supply to Taobao to achieve the overall upgrading and development of the supply chain.
However, not all e-commerce platforms have made the same choice as Tiktok and Taobao, and JD has not yet turned to low prices. In July, JD.com launched a long-term new promotion called "Super 18", attempting to attract new customers and retain existing ones through continuous low price discounts, and continue to promote low prices as the core strategy.
For Pinduoduo, low prices are the foundation of its survival, so it is difficult to change the logic of distributing traffic based on conversion rates. The platform encourages exchanging low prices for higher order volumes, winning with efficiency, and maintaining its stable low price competitive advantage.
In the future, platform strategies may further differentiate, and there may be more variables in the e-commerce landscape.
Some merchants also expressed that the platform's price comparison adjustment may be related to the "Interim Provisions on Anti Unfair Competition in the Internet" (hereinafter referred to as the "Provisions") announced by the State Administration for Market Regulation in May. This regulation defines and assigns responsibility for many operational irregularities in the e-commerce industry, and will be officially implemented from September 1st this year.
Regarding how policies are implemented and whether the platform shift is thorough, it also depends on the specific implementation effect. It can be confirmed that "low prices" have become a "double-edged sword" - while boosting platform performance and efficiency, it can easily lead to damage to the ultimate interests of merchants and users. How to make good use of this' weapon 'will also be a long-term proposition that major e-commerce companies need to consider.
This article is from "Interface News", reporter: Cheng Lu, editor: Song Jianan, authorized by 36Kr for publication.
The viewpoint of this article only represents the author himself, and the 36Kr platform only provides information storage space services.
Friends of 36Kr
·2024-07-24 12:09
follow
Low prices have become a double-edged sword - while boosting platform performance and efficiency, it can easily lead to damage to the ultimate interests of merchants and users.
After discovering that low prices cannot become a "universal cure", major e-commerce platforms have begun to turn the tide.
On July 24, the interface news learned from multiple sources that Tiktok E-commerce will adjust its price comparison system and no longer pursue absolute low prices. Next month, the cancellation of price comparison adjustment may be the first to land on non-standard products.
At present, some merchants have found that the backend page of Douyin's premium price promoter has changed, and the comparison tags of "same product high price", "same product low price" and "low price across the entire network" have disappeared.
Another person close to Tiktok E-commerce told the interface news that the algorithm rules of Tiktok E-commerce in the future may return to the era of GPM from OPM (the number of orders closed with thousands of exposures). The difference is that the assessment criteria for OPM are order volume, and if you want more orders, you can only make small profits and sell more. Merchants who engage in low price competition or even brushing orders will also be encouraged. GPM assesses the amount of sales in live streaming rooms, and the higher the sales volume, the more valuable the live streaming room is.
A series of signals indicate that the platform no longer wants to blindly engage in low price competition.
Since last year, almost all e-commerce platforms have focused on "low prices". Tiktok E-commerce has set "price power" as the highest priority task in 2024, and launched the price comparison system before 618 this year, giving preferential traffic to products with low prices throughout the network and the same model.
The founder of a women's wear brand once told the interface news that during 618, Tiktok found that her brand had a discount of "99% off for two pieces" on Pinduoduo, and asked for further reduction of the discount. Cross platform price comparison has put more implicit pressure on merchants to choose between two options.
The intense internal competition of 618 has triggered a rebound on the merchant side, and many top merchants have chosen to escape the promotion, putting conflicts on the table. However, it was reported later that the low price strategy did not actually achieve significant results. In the first half of the year, the growth rate of GMV (total volume of commodity transactions) fell faster than expected. Tiktok has decided to put GMV back in the first priority.
Not only Tiktok, but also many businesses reported to the interface news that recently e-commerce platforms have generally adjusted their brakes on the "low price war", and traffic assessment will turn to sales, more inclined to the platform's own realization. The platform is re realizing that low prices are difficult to form a positive correlation with quality and service itself.
After 618, Taotian Group clarified its changes for the second half of the year in a closed door meeting for merchants, including reducing reliance on "five-star pricing power", weakening the strategy of absolute low prices, and returning to the traffic allocation logic of GMV.
The so-called 'Five Star Price Power' is a price competitiveness evaluation system launched by Taobao in the first half of 2023. After evaluating the price competitiveness of a product, the tool will give the product a rating of one to five stars, which directly affects the product's search ranking, traffic distribution, and display opportunities. The "five-star pricing power" used to be a product of Taobao's pursuit of low prices, but now GMV has become the top indicator, which means it has regained its traditional e-commerce business model that it is better at.
This is definitely a good thing for the industry. This year's 618 shopping festival, we have already seen the result of low price competition - bad money driving out good money. If we continue to roll it around, there will only be extreme supply chain and factory type merchants left in the market, and most merchants will be crushed, "said a merchant.
This also conforms to the previous judgment of Interface News: after the 618 shopping festival, all parties will re-examine the business strategy of low price competition. Low prices can indeed increase traffic and market share in the short term, but in the long run, it compresses the profit margins of businesses, ultimately leading to a vicious cycle of product quality mismatch and high return rates, while also causing a loss of user experience.
Recently, Taotian has also changed its supply strategy for low-priced white label products. Taochang has launched a "black label store" to provide "brand" identification and traffic support plans for high-quality supply; 1688 will also introduce high-quality factory supply to Taobao to achieve the overall upgrading and development of the supply chain.
However, not all e-commerce platforms have made the same choice as Tiktok and Taobao, and JD has not yet turned to low prices. In July, JD.com launched a long-term new promotion called "Super 18", attempting to attract new customers and retain existing ones through continuous low price discounts, and continue to promote low prices as the core strategy.
For Pinduoduo, low prices are the foundation of its survival, so it is difficult to change the logic of distributing traffic based on conversion rates. The platform encourages exchanging low prices for higher order volumes, winning with efficiency, and maintaining its stable low price competitive advantage.
In the future, platform strategies may further differentiate, and there may be more variables in the e-commerce landscape.
Some merchants also expressed that the platform's price comparison adjustment may be related to the "Interim Provisions on Anti Unfair Competition in the Internet" (hereinafter referred to as the "Provisions") announced by the State Administration for Market Regulation in May. This regulation defines and assigns responsibility for many operational irregularities in the e-commerce industry, and will be officially implemented from September 1st this year.
Regarding how policies are implemented and whether the platform shift is thorough, it also depends on the specific implementation effect. It can be confirmed that "low prices" have become a "double-edged sword" - while boosting platform performance and efficiency, it can easily lead to damage to the ultimate interests of merchants and users. How to make good use of this' weapon 'will also be a long-term proposition that major e-commerce companies need to consider.
This article is from "Interface News", reporter: Cheng Lu, editor: Song Jianan, authorized by 36Kr for publication.
The viewpoint of this article only represents the author himself, and the 36Kr platform only provides information storage space services.
抖音淘宝们“卷不动”低价了
低价”已成为一把“双刃剑”——在拉升平台业绩与效率的同时，极易导致商家和用户的最终利益受损。
发现低价无法成为“万能解药”之后，各大电商平台已经开始掉转船头。
7月24日，界面新闻从多个信源处获悉，抖音电商将对其比价系统进行调整，不再追求绝对低价，下个月，取消比价的调整或将率先在非标品上落地。
目前已有部分商家发现，抖店的优价推手后台页面发生了变化，过去“同款高价”、“同款低价”和“全网低价”的比价标签已经消失。
另一位接近抖音电商处的人士告诉界面新闻，未来抖音电商的算法规则或将从OPM（千次曝光成交的订单量）重回GPM（千次曝光成交的销售额）时代。差别在于，OPM的考核标准是订单量，想要订单多就只能薄利多销，低价内卷、甚至刷单的商家也会受到鼓励。而GPM考核直播间销售的金额，销售额越高，证明直播间越有价值。
一系列信号表明，平台不再希望一味地低价内卷了。
从去年开始，几乎所有的电商平台动作都紧紧围绕“低价”。抖音电商将“价格力”设定为2024年优先级最高的任务，今年618前上线了比价系统，对全网低价、同款低价的商品给予流量倾斜。
某女装品牌创始人曾告诉界面新闻，618期间，抖音发现其品牌在拼多多上有“两件99折”的折扣，便要求进一步降低折扣。跨平台比价让商家们遭遇了更为隐性的“二选一”压力。
618的激烈内卷引发了商家端的反弹，不少头部商家选择逃离大促，冲突被摆到台面上。但据晚点报道，低价策略实际上并未获得明显效果，上半年GMV（商品交易总额）增速下滑之快还是超出了预期，抖音已经决定重将GMV放回第一优先级。
不仅仅是抖音，多个商家向界面新闻反馈，近期电商平台普遍在“低价战”上刹车调整，流量考核将转向销售额，更倾向于平台自身变现。平台正重新意识到，低价和品质、服务本身难以形成正相关。
618之后，淘天集团在一场面向商家的闭门会议中明确了下半年的变化，其中包括减少对“五星价格力”的依赖，弱化绝对低价的策略，重新回到GMV的流量分配逻辑。
所谓“五星价格力”，是淘宝在2023年上半年上线的价格竞争力评估体系。工具评估商品的价格竞争力后，会给予商品一星至五星的评级，并直接影响商品的搜索排名和流量分配、展示机会。“五星价格力”曾经是淘天追求低价的时代产物，但如今GMV再成第一指标，意味着其重拾更擅长的传统电商经营方式。
“这对行业来说肯定是件好事。今年618，大家已经看到了低价的竞争结果——劣币驱逐良币。如果继续卷下去，市面上只会剩下玩极致供应链和工厂型商家，大部分商家都会被卷死。”一位商家表示。
这也符合界面新闻此前的判断：经历了618之后，各方会重新审视低价竞争这一商业策略。卷低价，短期内的确能提升流量与份额，但从长远来看，是商家利润空间的压缩，最终传导到产品质量上，极易进入货不对版与退货率居高不下的恶性循环，同时导致用户体验受损。
近期，淘天在低价白牌商品的供给策略上也有变化。淘工厂推出“黑标店”，为优质供给提供“厂牌”标识和流量扶持计划；1688也将为淘宝引入优质工厂供给，以实现供应链整体的升级发展。
但并非所有电商平台都做出了和抖音、淘宝一样的选择，苦战低价的京东仍未转向。7月，京东推出一项名为“超级18”的长期新促销活动，试图通过持续不断地低价优惠，吸引新客户，留住现有客户，将低价作为核心战略继续推进。
而对于拼多多来说，低价是其安身立命之本，因此很难改变按转换率分发流量的逻辑。平台鼓励以低价换更高的订单量，用效率取胜，维护其依旧稳固的低价竞争优势。
未来，平台的策略或将进一步分化，电商格局或许会有更多变量出现。
也有商家表示，平台此番比价调整，或许与5月市场监管总局公布的《网络反不正当竞争暂行规定》（以下简称《规定》）有关。该规定对电商行业中的诸多经营乱象进行了定义与归责，将于今年9月1日起正式实行。
关于政策如何落地，平台转向是否彻底，还要看具体的执行效果。可以确定的是，“低价”已成为一把“双刃剑”——在拉升平台业绩与效率的同时，极易导致商家和用户的最终利益受损。这把“利器”如何用好，也将是各大电商需要思考的长期命题。
本文来自“界面新闻”，记者：程璐，编辑：宋佳楠，36氪经授权发布。