On e-commerce platforms, it is common for users to cancel orders or apply for after-sales after successful payment, which brings “regrettable” losses to merchants. However, this can also be seen as an opportunity for “rejuvenation”. This article will analyze the response strategies of mainstream e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo when users cancel orders, and explore how to accurately grasp the reasons for user cancellations and provide targeted solutions to achieve the goal of winning back users and facilitating transactions.
On e-commerce platforms, it is very common for users to cancel orders or apply for after-sales after successful payment.
Users may end up canceling their order for various reasons, including dissatisfaction with the price, wrong address, slow logistics, poor product quality, unwanted, or bought the wrong item.
But for both the platform and the merchant, this is a “regrettable” loss.
Why is it a pity?
Because it is not important to facilitate a transaction, it is necessary to present the user with the product he wants, introduce attractive enough buying points, guide users to place orders, provide a convenient payment experience, and allow users to complete the payment quickly…… After completing the previous series of complex processes, it was originally only necessary to ship, and when the user received the goods, the order could be completed, but it fell short in the last step. This must be a pity.
Converted into the process conversion rate on the product step, it is equivalent to the conversion rate of the last step of the transaction (from the successful payment to the final transaction) after experiencing the e-commerce arrival rate, the business details conversion rate, the order conversion rate, and the payment conversion rate.
To achieve these three challenges, product managers will only continue to appreciate
Good product managers are very scarce, and product managers who understand users, business, and data are still in demand when they go out of the Internet. On the contrary, if you only do simple communication, inefficient execution, and shallow thinking, I am afraid that you will not be able to go through the torrent of the next 3-5 years.
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Therefore, instead of trying to optimize the long process in advance, it is better to think about the method in the last step, whether it is possible to achieve real “rejuvenation”.
According to the data, the closing rate of mainstream e-commerce platforms after payment is about 10%. However, the difference between these different categories is also obvious, such as high customer unit prices or non-standard products (such as clothing, electronic products) may have a higher refund rate, up to 20%-30%. Especially in the shoes and clothing category, the psychological factors of users buying and trying will lead to a high return rate.
However, there is no solution, the focus is on prescribing the right medicine, providing different solutions at different nodes and based on different reasons, and finally achieving the unified goal – retention, recovery, and transaction.
We can first look at Taobao’s strategy.
Taobao will deeply display the selling points of the product on the order list page, such as XX people rushing to buy. Normally, this information is generally displayed in the discussion details and order process, stimulating users to place orders and convert as soon as possible.
However, this information is also displayed on the order list page, indicating that as long as it has not been sold, I will continue to hint to users how good and popular this product is.
Subsequently, if you choose to cancel the order, and select the reason after the successful cancellation. Taobao will recommend related products to you very smoothly, that is to say, Taobao thinks that you cancel the order and are not satisfied with the current product, then I will quickly recommend relevant products to you, and you can directly click on the order payment in the recommendation list, the whole process is extremely short, and the conversion is quite efficient.
If there is another possibility, you are not dissatisfied with the current product, and you still want to buy the current order after cancellation, Taobao still puts an entrance of “buy another order” in the order details page of the canceled state, which is still a very short path, and the user can quickly place an order and pay by clicking.
To sum up, Taobao’s strategy is to hint to you first, and after you choose to leave, it will push you other products to undertake, and try to convert it in the fastest way.
Next, let’s take a look at JD.com’s experience.
In JD.com’s experience, if you cancel an order now, you must select the reason.
At this time, if you choose a discount-related reason, such as missing or underusing the discount, you can clarify whether it is a coupon or a red envelope. If it is because of the wrong address and phone number, you can quickly choose to modify the order. This is equivalent to gaining an in-depth understanding of why you canceled an order and providing a step-by-step solution to the corresponding reason for cancellation. Try to let you solve the core problem directly, rather than canceling the order, after all, no one can predict whether you will place a new order and pay after canceling.
At the same time, there is also a “Add to Cart” turned on by default at the bottom, which means that after the order is canceled, the product will be automatically added to the shopping cart, and if the product has a price reduction or other changes, it can continue to market users in the shopping cart.
If you decide to cancel the order, JD.com will also retain you through the selling point of the current product, such as telling you how much discount you have currently enjoyed, and canceling the order is equivalent to giving up the discount. The current product praise rate is so high that canceling it is equivalent to giving up a high-quality product. It’s a cost-free way to retain.
Finally, if you cancel the order successfully, unlike Taobao, JD.com focuses on attracting users to convert through discounts. Because you cancel the order, the coupon used in the original order will naturally be returned, and JD.com will tell you that the new coupon has arrived, which is actually the refunded coupon and guide you to continue using the coupon. From JD.com’s perspective, although you cancel the order, you may not be satisfied with the product, and everyone likes the discount, so I guide you to continue to buy other products through discounts, and you can still convert.
Or, if you are not satisfied with the original product, you can also use the list corresponding to the original product to see if you want to choose a higher-quality and higher-ranking product.
To sum up, in JD.com’s strategy, the reason for canceling the order will be as clear as possible and a solution will be provided. If you can’t provide a solution, try to keep it as much as possible, and if you can’t do it, you can add it to the shopping cart first. After the cancellation, it is more believed that it is because of the product, so the focus is on attracting re-conversion through discounts and lists.
Finally, let’s take a look at Pinduoduo’s experience.
Pinduoduo has a similar experience to Taobao and JD.com.
First of all, in terms of product interaction design, Pinduoduo is not like Taobao and JD.com, which put “Cancel Order” on the bottom button and sucks the bottom to display, but puts it in the middle of the page and displays it in gray font. With such a design, the “Cancel Order” button becomes less conspicuous and “not easy to find”.
This small interactive design will naturally increase the cost of users canceling orders, which also reduces the probability of operation. From the perspective of user experience, it is definitely not good, especially for users with clear operational needs. This is also more in line with Pinduoduo’s consistent design philosophy – efficiency is better than experience.
Then, after you cancel your order, the page will show you that the offer is about to expire and give a “sense of urgency” with a countdown. The main purpose is to tell you that although the order is canceled, the discount of the order can still be used, and it will be gone if you don’t use it again.
In addition, the page provides an entrance to re-order ordering, click to quickly submit the order payment, just like Taobao, using a simplified path to improve conversion efficiency. If you don’t pay, a pop-up window will display the discount information and the countdown to expire, stimulating you to pay as soon as possible.
Sum up
Pinduoduo’s main strategy is to weaken the entrance and increase the operational cost of canceling orders. And focus on the discount on the amount to stimulate users to convert again through the urgency of the discount.
Combining strategies from all parties, we can use this product solution when retaining users to cancel orders:
1. When the operation has not yet been canceled
First of all, users can be hinted at through the discounts enjoyed by the order, the number of people rushing to buy goods, the number of praises, etc., to reduce the psychological desire of users to cancel the order
2. When the operation is canceled
When the user cancels the operation, the reason can be clarified first.
- If it is a preferential reason, such as the price of the product is reduced after purchase, the price guarantee function can be provided at this time, allowing users to apply for price protection with one click, without closing the order or suffering losses;
- If it is due to the address, such as the user’s address is filled in incorrectly, the address modification function can be provided, and the user does not need to close the order to repurchase;
- If it is due to logistical reasons, such as the delivery is too slow, it can provide a marketing method of compensating for slow delivery, and give users a little compensation for small red envelopes;
- If it is due to the product, such as the user is not satisfied with the product, you can quickly recommend a new product to the user.
If it is other operations or users insist on canceling, one is to send new discounts, such as the current order is not closed, give you a 5 yuan coupon, which can be used next time, not only to retain users, but also to improve the repurchase rate; second, users can be guided to add products to the shopping cart first, and then when the product has a price reduction in the shopping cart, it can be remarketed to recall users.
3. After the cancellation has been made
After the user successfully cancels, the user can continue to place orders to enjoy the discounts for the discounts already enjoyed by the order, and by providing a quick order entrance, it is convenient for users to complete the order payment efficiently and quickly, which is also more conducive to conversion.
At different nodes, dig deep into different reasons, provide different tools, and finally form a progressive strategy and implement it accurately.
This is the beauty of “rejuvenation”.
