2026-01-12 07:59Investment Rating - The report does not explicitly provide an investment rating for the e-commerce industry Core Insights - The fourth quarter is the most critical operational peak for e-commerce merchants, supported by various platforms like JD, Taobao, Pinduoduo, and Douyin through promotional activities and resources [5] - Intense competition for advertising during key events like "Double 11" and "New Year Goods Festival" may increase customer acquisition costs and marketing expenditures [5] - Merchants face pressure on profit margins due to fierce price competition and evolving platform policies, requiring continuous adaptation to maintain traffic support [5] - A significant complaint from merchants involves issues like arbitrary refunds and excessive consumer protection measures, leading to widespread dissatisfaction [5][6] Overall Data Complaint Platform Distribution - The distribution of complaints across platforms in Q4 is as follows: Douyin E-commerce (38.75%), Pinduoduo (33.55%), Taobao (10.92%), JD (2.08%), and others [7] Complaint Issue Type Distribution - The main types of complaints include: arbitrary refunds (37.09%), excessive consumer protection (19.97%), withholding deposits (9.99%), arbitrary fines (9.73%), arbitrary store closures (2.72%), and mandatory shipping insurance (0.52%) [10] Complaint Regional Distribution - The top 10 regions for merchant complaints are Guangdong (23.86%), Zhejiang (14.53%), Shandong (11.80%), Hebei (6.10%), Jiangsu (5.71%), Henan (5.45%), Fujian (3.76%), Shaanxi (3.50%), Anhui (3.37%), and Hunan (2.72%) [12] Complaint Business Category Distribution - The top 10 business categories for complaints are: apparel (15.95%), 3C digital products (10.64%), fresh food (9.08%), outdoor products (6.49%), home goods (6.36%), personal care (3.89%), home appliances (3.50%), maternal and infant products (2.98%), jewelry (2.46%), and pet supplies (2.33%) [14] Complaint Amount Distribution - The majority of complaint amounts are concentrated in the range of 0-50,000 (95.07%), with smaller percentages in higher ranges [16] Complaint Merchant Responsible Gender Distribution - The gender distribution of complaint merchants shows 70.78% are male and 29.22% are female [17] Platform Data Douyin E-commerce - In Q4, Douyin E-commerce had 298 merchant complaints, with the highest issue being arbitrary refunds (46.64%) [18] Taobao - For Taobao, the main complaint issues are arbitrary refunds (30.95%), excessive consumer protection (28.57%), arbitrary fines (13.10%), withholding deposits (8.33%), and arbitrary store closures (2.38%) [25] Typical Cases - The report includes ten typical complaint cases involving various platforms, highlighting issues such as arbitrary fines, unreasonable penalties, excessive consumer protection, and arbitrary store closures [31]