Pain points and opportunities coexist, how should social e-commerce break the situation?
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In recent years, as the cost of online customer acquisition has continued to rise, the centralized and low barriers to entry social promotion model has attracted much attention, and social e-commerce has become second only to self-operated e-commerce and platform e-commerce. The third pole".
However, the repeated occurrence of suspected pyramid schemes also makes social e-commerce questionable.
Experts pointed out that from a trend perspective, social e-commerce still has room for compliance development, but it requires operators to draw a clear line between MLM activities and provide consumers with products and services in accordance with laws and regulations.
At a time when traditional e-commerce traffic is peaking, social e-commerce that relies on social fission to harvest new traffic has successfully broken through and has become the focus of industry attention.
However, the repeated occurrence of suspected pyramid schemes also makes social e-commerce questionable.
Not only that, in the barbaric growth, the proliferation of fakes, consumer fraud and other labels also make social e-commerce poor reputation.
On October 13th, in order to further strengthen the compliance development of Internet platform companies and further promote the implementation of main responsibilities, the “e-commerce” under the guidance of the Price Supervision and Competition Bureau of the State Administration for Market "The Symposium on the Establishment of MLM Networks by Enterprises" was held in Beijing.
The participating experts analyzed the development status of social e-commerce, compliance issues and other aspects, explored the compliance of social e-commerce operation models, and provided reference for the better development of social e-commerce.
Many social e-commerce companies have been suspected of MLM
With the gradual disappearance of Internet traffic dividends and the rising cost of online customer acquisition, many platforms use decentralized social promotion with low barriers to entry as a magic weapon to harvest traffic.
Data show that in 2019, my country's social e-commerce market reached 2,060.58 billion yuan, an increase of 63.2% year-on-year; the number of consumers reached 512 million.
At present, social e-commerce has become the "third pole" second only to self-operated e-commerce and platform e-commerce.
However, in the development of social e-commerce, the issue of "MLM involved" has also become the "Sword of Damocles" hanging over the heads of industry practitioners.
Prior to this, the well-known social e-commerce platforms Yunji Weidian and Hua Shengji had both been punished by market supervision authorities for suspected pyramid schemes.
Since the beginning of this year, the risk of “involving pyramid schemes” still accompanies the social e-commerce industry.
From the news that the social e-commerce "Zebra Member" related company was suspected of pyramid schemes and was frozen by the court of 30 million yuan, it was reported that Fanxiang Life was once reported that the funds were frozen for 38 million yuan due to membership system issues, and then to Taobao. The small shop operator Guangzhou Sanshuai Liujiang Education Technology Co., Ltd. and related companies have been frozen for more than 44 million yuan due to suspected pyramid schemes. It can be seen that the future development of social e-commerce is also slightly "confused".
Why do social e-commerce companies frequently step on the red line of MLM?
Why do social e-commerce companies frequently step on the red line of MLM?
In this regard, Lawyer Ma Ce, the co-founder of Zhejiang Kenting Law Firm, told reporters that according to the "Regulations on Prohibition of MLM", the identification of MLM depends on three characteristics: one is the entry fee, whether it is necessary to subscribe for goods or pay fees for joining; To pull the head, do you need to develop others to become your own downline, and remunerate the developed personnel based on the number of directly or indirectly rolling development personnel; the third is the method of remuneration, whether it is based on the sales performance of directly or indirectly developing personnel Calculate compensation.
At the meeting, Cao Lei, director of the E-commerce Research Center of the Net Economics, believed that there are problems in social e-commerce such as multi-level rebates for product recommendation and community-based operation of remuneration. These problems are in line with the "Prohibition of MLM Regulations" for attracting heads and team remuneration. , Multi-level rebates are very similar.
Professor Lu Laiming of Beijing Technology and Business University also said that the basic core element of MLM is to develop members as its basic model, which is exactly similar to new formats such as social e-commerce.
But it does not mean that membership cannot be developed, but the method of membership development and remuneration cannot violate the provisions of the Regulations on Prohibition of MLM.
Taking the case of "Hua Di Di Ji" team compensation MLM as an example, the platform has formulated a three-tier commission accrual rule for the operator except the platform-the upper-level member of the shopping member-the shopping member.
That is, after the member’s shopping commission is generated, the shopping member accrues 50%, its superior member accrues 10%, the spire operator of the pyramid where it is located accrues 22%, and the platform accrues 18% as the management fee.
How to break the game under dispute?
Experts pointed out that, as an emerging industry, social e-commerce has suffered from "MLM-related" controversies during its development, but from a trend point of view, social e-commerce still has room for compliance development.
Moreover, social e-commerce has demonstrated its value in precision poverty alleviation and employment promotion, especially in the sales of agricultural products. Because of the high stickiness and rapid spread of social interaction, it has lowered marketing costs than traditional e-commerce and promoted such products. Of circulation.
In September of this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Leading the Accelerated Development of New Types of Consumption with New Business Types and New Models", which fully affirmed the role of new types of consumption characterized by new types of business and new models in promoting the economy, and provided a policy The development of consumption is strongly supported.
"When dealing with new business formats, we must adhere to the principles of encouraging innovation, tolerance and prudence, but how to balance tolerance and prudence and precision cracking down on online pyramid schemes will test the wisdom of law enforcement agencies." Lu Laiming said.
In this regard, Meng Huixin, an analyst at the Legal Equity Department of the E-Commerce Research Center of the Net Economics, said that as the "sharing economy" accelerates, the mode of realizing private domain traffic, low threshold, and light assets will enjoy great development in the current economic environment. potential.
Moreover, in the past two years, the state has successively introduced measures to optimize the development environment, from network infrastructure to tax cuts and increased financial support.
In view of the new business models and new models, the company will continuously adjust relevant policies, remove "obstacles" for its development, and continuously release positive signals to inject "cardiotonic agents" into the industry.
In addition, the promulgation and implementation of e-commerce laws and other laws and regulations will also help promote the overall standardized development of the social e-commerce industry.
Lawyer Wu Xuhua, the founding partner of Zhejiang Kenting Law Firm, believes that social e-commerce operators should operate in compliance with regulations, keep a clear line with MLM activities, and provide consumers with products and services in accordance with laws and regulations.
Relevant departments should further improve the legislation and enforcement of pyramid schemes.
At present, our country's legislation and law enforcement standards for the identification of pyramid schemes are not perfect, and should be updated and improved in time to follow the development of new e-commerce formats.
At the same time, it is necessary to further strengthen publicity and education, and promote cooperation in law enforcement, joint prevention and control in various regions, so that the new Internet business can develop in a healthy and sound manner.
Yang Zhaokui