L'Oreal Paris ampoules face mask promotion controversy continues to ferment
[People's livelihood and economic highlights] The lowest price on the entire network, who has the final say?
Reporter Yang Zhaokui, "Workers' Daily" (November 23, 2021, version 04)
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The deep-seated problem reflected in the promotion of L'Oréal's ampoule mask is that the head live broadcast is challenging the brand's pricing system, and this kind of game will still exist in the future.
However, some consumers have quietly "discounted" their psychological expectations of the "lowest price on the entire network" for live broadcast rooms.
In the long run, the sustainability of live streaming cannot rely on low prices.
Recently, the promotional storm of L'Oreal Paris ampoules has appeared on Weibo's hot searches, which has become one of the focus issues of consumers' attention.
The event itself is not complicated.
During the "Double 11" pre-sale period, Li Jiaqi, Wei Ya and other head anchors sold a L'Oréal Paris ampoule mask in the live broadcast room. L'Oréal officially announced that its discount rate is "the most powerful of the year", and the price of 50 masks is 429. Yuan.
However, many consumers discovered in early November that they could buy 50 facial masks of the same type in the live broadcast room of the L'Oréal brand at nearly half the price.
This has made many consumers deceived.
The two leading anchors "Hard Bar" L'Oreal Paris
Some consumers thought they had bought the "lowest price of the year" in Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room and Wei Ya's live broadcast room, but they did not expect it to be much more expensive than the brand's live broadcast room.
They believe that L'Oreal Paris is suspected of false propaganda and hope to refund the difference.
However, the customer service of the official flagship store of L'Oréal in Paris responded that due to irregular promotional activities, the prices of different activities will change.
On the evening of November 17, Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room and Wei Ya's live broadcast room simultaneously issued a statement stating that they had conducted multiple rounds of negotiations with L'Oréal Paris, but L'Oréal Paris has not yet given a clear solution.
If 24 hours later, L’Oréal Paris still fails to provide a reasonable solution, Li Jiaqi’s live broadcast room and Wei Ya’s live broadcast room will provide corresponding compensation for consumers who bought the L’Oreal Paris ampoule mask in the live broadcast room on October 20, 2021. plan.
In addition, until the matter is properly resolved, Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room and Wei Ya's live broadcast room will suspend all cooperation with the official flagship store of L'Oreal in Paris.
On November 18th, L'Oréal Paris apologized and proposed a solution to supplement consumers who participated in the "Double 11" pre-sale with different amounts of coupons.
"There is no sincerity in giving coupons, it is better to refund the difference directly"
Although L'Oréal Paris has issued an apology and provided a solution, it still has not been recognized by most consumers.
Some consumers think: “If you don’t have the sincerity to give coupons, it is better to refund the difference directly.”
However, some people believe that L'Oréal Paris is promoting the "full year's greatest strength" and does not say "the lowest price of the year", so it is not false propaganda.
"This kind of behavior is not false propaganda, and whether it has caused misleading to consumers should be judged based on the perception of ordinary consumers." said Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Protection Law Research Association of the Chinese Law Society According to the general understanding of consumers, “the greatest strength throughout the year” is undoubtedly the “lowest price throughout the year”, and after placing an order, consumers find that there are cheaper prices, or even greater incentives, This behavior is obviously suspected of deceiving and misleading consumers, and is suspected of infringing consumers' right to know and choose.
"The conduct of L'Oréal Paris is suspected of price fraud. According to the "Provisions on Prohibition of Price Fraud", operators use false or misleading pricing forms or price methods to deceive or induce consumers, or other operators to conduct transactions with them. The behavior is price fraud.” said Zhang Xiongwei, a lawyer at Beijing Weiheng (Hangzhou) Law Firm.
"If the consumer's right to know and choice is infringed, the compensation that can be claimed is at least a refund of the difference. If it is found to constitute a fraud, the consumer can also demand compensation of 3 times the price. Therefore, L'Oréal Paris issued coupons instead of compensation. The solution is definitely unreasonable." Chen Yinjiang said that consumers can claim compensation from the flagship L'Oreal Paris store that sells facial mask products.
If the merchant insists on using coupons instead of compensation, consumers can complain to the consumer association or market supervision department where the flagship store of L'Oréal in Paris is located.
In addition, Chen Yinjiang also stated that in this incident, if Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room and Wei Ya's live broadcast room also declared "the greatest strength throughout the year", they should also bear corresponding responsibilities in accordance with the law.
Consumers can seek rights protection from L'Oreal Paris, or directly to Li Jiaqi's live broadcast room and Via's live broadcast room.
The sustainability of live streaming cannot rely on low prices
Some people in the industry believe that L'Oréal Paris’s "mysterious operation" has made all parties unable to get to Taiwan. They wanted to use the traffic to make money, but it turned out that they had selfishness and were not at ease with the anchor.
The anchor is now very embarrassed, and his self-righteous bargaining power and the most favorable selling point during the "Double 11" period are also being questioned.
The reporter noticed that in addition to L'Oreal Paris, brands such as Di Jiating and Fila also face price differences.
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of the Zhejiang Provincial Consumer Protection Commission stated that the best way to gain consumer trust is sincerity and integrity, and the best way to eliminate misunderstandings is openness and transparency.
If the operator discards "sincerity", he will definitely lose the "trust" of consumers.
Whether it is a complicated pricing routine or a promised pre-sale that is the most powerful but not fulfilled, it is a great consumption of brand image and reputation.
Even the strongest commercial building may collapse at any time if it loses the cornerstone of integrity.
Dong Yizhi, a lawyer of Shanghai Zhengce Law Firm, believes that in the cosmetics industry, the brand side is relatively strong.
The pricing must be controlled by the brand, otherwise there will be cross-selling, or the difference between online and offline prices is too large. This incident is actually a pricing game between the official live broadcast room and the so-called third-party live broadcast room.
"The pricing game between live broadcast e-commerce and brand parties has always existed, and this game may continue to exist in the future, and even intensify." Dong Yizhi said.
This incident also quietly "discounted" some consumers' psychological expectations of the "lowest price on the entire network" in live broadcast rooms.
In this regard, Mo Daiqing, director of the online retail department and senior analyst of the e-commerce research center of the Net Economics, believes that live e-commerce has attracted a large number of users with low prices. To a certain extent, users pay more attention to prices than the brand itself. .
However, it is difficult to sustain live delivery of goods only at low prices. The sustainability of live delivery of goods is still in the product itself. Only by continuously bringing good products and continuously optimizing services can we win the trust of users.