Douyin store operation: Don’t cross these red line rules!

With the advent of the 5G era, ByteDance's quietly changing new models of Douyin + Selected Alliance, Toutiao + Selected Alliance, and Xigua + Selected Alliance will bring live streaming e-commerce to new heights.

Opening your own Douyin store and promoting your own products has become the hottest trend nowadays.

But are many new Douyin stores confused by the complicated platform rules? Will you choose to ignore the rules because you don’t understand them?

Totally wrong!

It will be too late if you are fined for violating the rules. Let us help you highlight the key points. This rule guide will help you understand the platform’s red lines!

When operating as a novice, which platform red lines should you pay attention to?

01. Product Release

The creation of products must comply with regulations and illegal and unauthorized product content must not be published. Select the appropriate product category, fill in the correct product information, and do not upload unauthorized product information that may cause infringement.

Specific requirements for product information release

1. Product categories

Fill in the correct product category based on the actual attributes of the product.

2. Product title

It should include the product brand, product name, basic attributes (material/function/features) and specification parameters (model/color/size/specification/purpose/item number), etc., and should not include other irrelevant brands and irrelevant information.

3. Product main image

All main images must not contain any text or watermarks other than the brand logo. The first main image must be a physical front view of the product. The remaining auxiliary images must include the side, back, flat and details, etc. The order is not mandatory.

4. Product details

1) Completeness

In order to ensure that consumers have full rights to know when purchasing goods and to facilitate consumers to have a more comprehensive understanding of the goods, merchants must clearly indicate the main information of the goods when publishing the goods. Merchants should enter basic information based on the actual attributes of the goods being sold and maintain it in a timely manner to ensure that the main information is true, correct and valid.

2) Consistency

The product description information must ensure consistency in each section of the product page (such as product title, main image, recommendation, detailed description, etc.).

3) Authenticity

The actual efficacy of the product must be described truthfully and must not contain false or exaggerated content. It must not involve descriptions of efficacy such as disease prevention and treatment, must not display the effects of real people, and must not include comparison pictures. The description content must be consistent with the information content of the physical outer packaging approved by the state.

5. Product price

Product prices must be set correctly and must not be adjusted arbitrarily. It is not allowed to falsely mark the actual price of goods as high, and it is not allowed to falsely reduce prices during sales activities.

6. Product SPU/SKU settings

The main combination form is color, size, series and other attributes. Unrelated products across brands, categories, series, etc. shall not be bound under the same SPU.

7. Product brand

Flagship stores, specialty stores, and franchise stores must provide brand qualifications when creating products.

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02. “Selling fakes”

It is strictly forbidden to "sell counterfeit goods" in small shops, and the handling measures for "selling counterfeit goods" are very severe! Once a merchant is found to be selling counterfeit goods, the platform may clear out the store and deduct all deposits.

Definition of Counterfeit Goods

1. Selling counterfeit registered trademark goods or imitations, that is, using the trademark on the goods sold without the permission of the right holder; or copying, mass-producing, and selling goods that are highly similar to the brand's goods without the permission of the brand owner.

2. Selling pirated goods, which refers to books, e-books, audio-visual works and software that are copied without the permission of the rights holder.

Identification of fake goods

If any of the following situations is met, the merchant will be deemed to have violated the legal rights of a third party, and the platform has the right to handle the situation in accordance with the "E-commerce Open Platform Store Service Agreement" and "Merchant Violation Management Rules" signed between the merchant and the platform.

1. The platform receives emails, appraisal reports, administrative investigation conclusions, judicial decisions and other evidence from official sources (including but not limited to administrative agencies, judicial agencies, brands, manufacturers, agents directly authorized by brands, etc.).

2. The user complains about counterfeit goods and the merchant fails to provide evidence within the evidence submission period (within 2 working days of receiving the notice of suspected infringement), and the merchant still cannot prove that the suspected counterfeit goods are genuine after providing evidence.

3. If the merchant proactively admits the fact of selling counterfeit goods, it will be deemed that the merchant has sold counterfeit goods.

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03. Order delivery

Merchants should complete delivery within the promised delivery time and upload the real and valid logistics order number within that time!

The platform will also assess the merchant’s delivery capabilities in real time. Please avoid overdue delivery or false delivery!

Definition of fake shipment

False shipment refers to situations where the logistics information corresponding to the order logistics number uploaded by the merchant to the backend is obviously abnormal, including but not limited to:

1. The order logistics number uploaded by the merchant contains abnormal or duplicate logistics information on the official website of the corresponding logistics company.

2. The logistics track corresponding to the order logistics number uploaded by the merchant does not match the delivery address shown in the consumer's order.

3. The order logistics number uploaded by the merchant has no subsequent logistics information update within 24 hours after the first logistics information appears on the official website of the corresponding logistics company.

4. Other situations where the order logistics information is abnormal, the logistics order number is abnormal, or the consumer does not actually receive the purchased goods within a reasonable period after the merchant ships the goods.

False shipment determination

Based on the definition of false shipments, the platform uses various channels such as logistics big data information comparison, user complaints, and platform proactive screening to identify whether there is abnormal logistics information in the logistics order. Each time an order is judged to be a false shipment, the system will record it as a false shipment in real time. Merchants can view the judgment details in [Order-Violation Handling].

False shipment violation handling

1) Deduction of security deposit

According to the above rules, if the system automatically identifies that an order has been falsely shipped, it will promptly send an in-site message to the merchant to remind them, and it is recommended that the merchant verify and correct the situation as soon as possible after receiving the reminder.

After the platform reviews the false delivery orders that have been warned, if it is confirmed that the order has false delivery, a deposit of 500 yuan will be deducted for each violation. The maximum deposit deduction for the store in a single day shall not exceed 5,000 yuan.

2) Product removal and store closure/clearance processing

If the same order has not been shipped in a timely and standardized manner or a refund has not been made after being penalized multiple times, the platform has the right to remove the product from the shelves; if the circumstances are serious, the platform has the right to directly close or clear out the store.

3) Impact on merchant ratings

False delivery behavior is one of the negative evaluation indicators of merchant ratings. The judgment records of false delivery will be simultaneously calculated in the merchant rating score, affecting the merchant rating score, and further affecting the merchant’s various rights and interests on the platform.

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04. After-sales service

Merchants must promptly resolve consumers' after-sales issues. If they do not answer consumers' calls, have invalid after-sales contact information, reject consumers' after-sales requests without reason, or fail to respond to customer service requests within a certain time limit, the platform will deduct a certain deposit.

Dealing with merchant violations/breach of contract

1. For free shipping and cash on delivery orders, the merchant will deduct the shipping fee, cash on delivery fee, or other amounts that the platform does not allow to be deducted when making a refund.

2. The merchant cancels the order without reason or without reaching an agreement with the consumer.

3. The merchant’s after-sales contact information is invalid.

4. The merchant refuses to accept the goods without reason or the consumer is unable to return or exchange the goods due to unclear address/contact information, or no one signs for the returned or exchanged goods.

5. The merchant refuses the consumer’s after-sales request without reason.

6. For three-guarantee products, the merchant is unable or refuses to provide three-guarantee services.

For each violation of the above behaviors, 500 yuan of deposit will be deducted.

Poor service attitude

1. After the user cancels the order, the merchant still forces the consumer to accept the transaction.

The relevant products will be banned, and a deposit of 2,000 yuan will be deducted for each violation.

2. Leave the platform and trade with consumers offline.

3. Merchants induce buyers to withdraw complaints, cancel refund applications, or modify negative reviews.

4. The merchant modifies the order information without the consumer’s consent.

5. Merchants insult consumers or platform staff, or leak consumer information or maliciously retaliate against consumers.

ps: For 2-5 behaviors, 5,000 yuan of deposit will be deducted for each violation, and the relevant products will be banned.

▲The picture comes from the Internet

05. Random inspection of goods

In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and maintain normal business order, the platform will conduct random inspections of products on a regular basis.

Sampling Process

1. Sampling

The samples are purchased by designated personnel of the platform as ordinary consumers through the promotional links of the relevant products, and the actual samples received are entrusted to a third-party quality inspection agency with relevant qualifications recognized by the state for testing.

2. Testing party

The testing party is a third-party quality inspection agency with nationally recognized CNAS and CMA qualifications and commissioned by the platform to conduct testing.

3. Test items

1) The physical product is consistent with the description on the product details page.

2) Testing items required by national mandatory/recommended standards, industry standards, product standards, etc. applicable to the products.

3) Product brands, trademarks and labels.

4) Other items related to the quality of the goods.

4. Testing basis

The basis for random inspection of goods includes but is not limited to:

1) Product Quality Law of the People's Republic of China

2) GB/T 5296-2012 Instructions for use of consumer products series standards

3) National mandatory/recommended standards

4) Industry standards or other appropriate product standards

5) "Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China" and other relevant national laws and regulations

5. Specific process

Product sampling is an activity in which the platform conducts planned mystery sampling and commissioned inspection and appraisal of products listed for sale by merchants, announces the sampling results and handles them according to platform rules. Random inspections follow scientific and fair principles.

6. Sampling inspection fee

The costs involved in the random inspection (including but not limited to mystery purchase fees, logistics costs, initial inspection fees, etc.) shall be borne by the platform (except for special categories).

During random inspections, if any problems are found with the products, the platform may ban the products or deduct the store’s deposit.

Merchants need to pay a certain technical service fee when selling goods. But there will be preferential policies for new merchants and merchants with high-quality services!

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06. Preferential Plan

Starting from May 1, 2020, merchants newly joining the platform can enjoy a discount of as low as 1% on technical service fees for non-advertising orders for up to 30 days. If the platform records the merchant’s entry date as [T] (subject to the platform record), the discount will take effect at 00:00 on [T+2] and will expire at 23:59 on [T+31], for a total of 30 days.

To enjoy the technical service fee discount, the merchant's orders must meet the following conditions:

1. Merchants operate honestly and in good faith and do not violate relevant national laws and regulations or platform rules, otherwise the platform has the right to cancel relevant preferential qualifications.

2. If the platform records the merchant’s entry date as [T], the order generation date must be between [T+2] 00:00 and [T+31] 23:59.

3. This offer only supports non-advertising orders (including online payment and cash on delivery orders), and does not support advertising orders.

For example: Merchant A's entry date recorded on the platform is August 6, 2020. For non-advertising orders (including online payment and cash on delivery orders) generated between 00:00 on August 8, 2020 and 23:59 on August 6, 2020 (30 days in total), the platform only charges a 1% technical service fee.

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07. Conclusion

Pigs standing on the wind will fly. Douyin Store and Toutiao Store are just the pigs standing on the wind. As long as they are managed well, they will fly directly.

If you want to run your own shop well, the first thing you must ensure is that you do not violate the rules. In a legal society, everything is done under the rules. If you want to make good use of ByteDance's traffic, you must strictly control the quality and strictly abide by the rules.

No matter which platform you use to implement the no-source model, you must follow the rules and never violate them.

Having missed Taobao in 2008 and Pinduoduo in 2019, will you miss Douyin Store which started in 2020?