The Douyin platform has announced significant revisions to its merchant experience rating system, marking another substantial update following last year's major adjustments. These changes, which concluded their feedback period on April 20, will soon implement a completely new scoring framework that directly impacts store visibility and traffic.
A Transformative Update for Merchants
Douyin's merchant experience score serves as a crucial metric affecting store visibility and operational strategies. The latest modifications introduce fundamental changes to both the scoring mechanism and evaluation criteria, requiring sellers to adapt their business approaches accordingly.
Four Key Changes to the Rating Mechanism
The updated system introduces four primary modifications to its assessment framework:
- New Scoring Scale: Transition from a 3-5 point system to a 50-100 point scale, allowing for more precise performance differentiation.
- Shorter Evaluation Period: Reduction from 90-day to 30-day assessment cycles, requiring more immediate attention to daily operations.
- Industry-Specific Weighting: Implementation of customized evaluation criteria based on different business sectors' characteristics.
- Benefits for High-Performing Stores: Removal of mandatory IM dissatisfaction rate requirements for merchants maintaining scores above 4.8.
Revised Evaluation Criteria: Three Core Components
The updated rating system maintains its focus on three fundamental aspects of merchant performance, though with modified specific requirements:
1. Product Experience: Emphasizing Negative Feedback
The revised system simplifies product evaluation to two key metrics: negative review rates and product return rates. This change requires merchants to place greater emphasis on quality control and accurate product descriptions.
2. Service Experience: Enhanced Response Requirements
Customer service evaluation now focuses on average response times rather than three-minute reply rates, while introducing a new metric tracking post-sale service rejection rates.
3. Logistics Experience: Stricter Timeliness Standards
The platform has implemented more rigorous requirements for order processing speed, replacing collection rate metrics with 24-hour collection timeliness measurements. The updated system also modifies delivery time calculations for greater accuracy.
Strategic Adjustments for Merchants
To adapt to these changes, sellers should consider several operational improvements:
- Implement stricter quality control measures to minimize negative feedback
- Enhance customer service responsiveness and resolution efficiency
- Optimize logistics partnerships and supply chain management
- Develop more precise performance monitoring systems
These revisions present both challenges and opportunities for Douyin merchants. While the updated system imposes stricter requirements in certain areas, the modified scoring mechanism and industry-specific adjustments may ultimately benefit sellers who can successfully adapt their operations.