Workflow
“今年‘618’ 我不投流了”
Jing Ji Guan Cha Bao·2025-06-13 09:43

Core Insights - The article highlights the challenges faced by food merchants during major promotional events like "618," where discounting is essential for traffic but leads to reduced profit margins [1][3] - The increasing marketing costs on e-commerce platforms are squeezing profit margins for small and medium-sized businesses, prompting some to reconsider their participation in these promotional events [1][3][4] - The recent draft of the "Guidelines for Compliance with Charging Behavior of Online Trading Platforms" is seen as a potential relief for merchants, aiming to regulate platform fees and reduce the financial burden on businesses [4][10][11] Group 1: Marketing Costs and Strategies - Merchants are experiencing rising marketing costs on e-commerce platforms, with some reporting near-zero profits from their investments [3][5] - A specific case shows that the cost per thousand impressions (CPM) has surged by 57%, while the conversion rate has dropped by 17%, leading to a 38% decrease in return on investment [5][6] - Merchants are shifting their marketing strategies, with one company reducing its online-to-offline marketing ratio from 9:1 to 5:5, favoring offline channels due to lower costs and less dependency on platform algorithms [1][3] Group 2: Platform Fee Concerns - Merchants express frustration over opaque fee structures and repeated charges for the same promotional efforts, leading to questions about the fairness of platform practices [6][8] - The article discusses a specific case where a merchant faced unexpected costs due to a lack of transparency in the platform's advertising fee structure [6][8] - The draft guidelines aim to address these concerns by prohibiting unreasonable charges and ensuring that platforms provide adequate services for the fees collected [10][11] Group 3: Regulatory Developments - The article notes that regulatory bodies are increasingly focused on reducing the financial burdens on e-commerce merchants, with recent guidelines aimed at clarifying acceptable charging practices [10][12] - The guidelines outline specific unreasonable charging behaviors that platforms must avoid, such as double charging and lack of service provision [11][12] - Experts believe that these guidelines will enhance merchants' awareness of their rights and encourage platforms to adopt fairer practices [12]