Shopee ‘plays it cool’ by allowing cancellation of orders in progress

From June 20, Shopee began testing a policy that allows customers to cancel orders even when they are being transported from the seller to the delivery station. The platform applies to certain products, delivered by SPX Express.

With the new policy, Shopee is leading its competitors in Vietnam in terms of favoring users in canceling orders. Meanwhile, Lazada only allows order cancellation when the item is in the status of “Packed” and “Ready to ship”.

TikTok Shop allows cancellation if the package is not in the “Delivery – Waiting for pickup” status and must be shipped by TikTok. If the order is shipped by the seller, the buyer can cancel within one hour of placing the order, if the buyer wants to cancel after one hour, it must be accepted by the seller.

However, to “play it out” like that, Shopee has to receive both praise and criticism. Similar to recent preferential policies, customers support this additional benefit. Mr. Thanh Tan, 36 years old, a regular consumer of e-commerce in Ho Chi Minh City, said that Shopee’s new policy helps make shopping more flexible.

“Instead of receiving and then returning it, it’s troublesome and time-consuming, I find it more convenient to cancel it while it’s being delivered. Sometimes I ‘regret’ ordering something only to find out I chose the wrong thing, there’s a better place to buy it, or I accidentally got that item as a gift,” Tan said.

Meanwhile, some sellers are concerned that there will be more pressure. Ms. Huyen Tran, who sells household appliances online, has not had any orders canceled under the new policy but believes that overall, sellers will have to bear the risk and need to invest more in management.

“I understand that the platform increases policies to retain buyers, but that means more responsibility falls on us. Sellers with poor return and cancellation management processes will easily lose them,” said Ms. Tran.

E-commerce lecturer, Master Do Quang Huy said the policy is beneficial for buyers, but sellers may have a harder time. Because when the goods are in transit and the order is canceled, the delivery party cannot always bring the goods back to the warehouse immediately, due to the inconvenient route. When the goods arrive at the warehouse, they may have to wait for many orders to be collected before organizing the return delivery to the seller.

During this process, there is still a chance of returning the wrong item. “Therefore, the seller must have an additional department to control, generate and reconcile these cases,” he said. However, he said that the seller should not worry too much because the policy only applies to SPX Express and requires the consent of this delivery person before cancellation. It is not clear what the consent rate is.

Reply VnExpressShopee Vietnam said that the feature not only enhances user experience but also benefits sellers, with 3 advantages: limiting unsuccessful deliveries due to buyers refusing to receive; reducing the probability of returning goods for refunds after receiving; shortening the waiting time for returned goods thanks to timely delivery stoppage.

“Sellers will not be charged for unsuccessful orders, nor will they be affected by the return/refund rate, and will not need to pay for order shipping costs during this period. In case the order cancellation request has been accepted but the package is still delivered to the buyer, Shopee will compensate the seller for the value of this order,” said the floor representative.

According to the first quarter report of e-commerce channel development analysis and consulting company YouNet ECI, Shopee continues to maintain its leading position in the Vietnamese online retail market, with a market share of 67.9% in terms of total transactions (GMV).

However, the market is increasingly competitive and the “runner-up” TikTok Shop is growing rapidly. This platform accounted for 23.2% of the market share in the first quarter, an increase of 6.3 percentage points compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.

In an effort to consolidate its position, Shopee continuously launches policies to retain and attract customers in the face of the dynamism of other platforms, especially the “storm” of livestreaming with “floor-crashing” prices and hundreds of billions in revenue on TikTok Shop recently.

In March, Shopee allowed customers to return products within 15 days of receipt, instead of the previous 3-7 days, with free return shipping. The move, despite receiving a public backlash, immediately sparked a similar trend on other platforms. Later that month, TikTok Shop launched a policy allowing buyers to return items if they “no longer need them.”

Economist Dinh The Hien believes that the return policy of e-commerce platforms is good, civilized and appropriate. According to him, sellers need to be confident in their products and advertise truthfully. Allowing returns helps buyers trust more.

“These regulations seem to make it difficult for sellers, but in fact, this makes buyers more confident in buying online because consumers know that they are protected, buy properly, and if the goods are not as described, they have the right to return them. Therefore, this is not only good for customers but also good for sellers,” Mr. Hien argued.