Whether the purpose of a kitchen knife is to cut vegetables or chop people depends on the person holding the knife.
text / Ba Jiuling (WeChat official account: Wu Xiaobo Channel)
"As long as the customer places an order, the money can be received." When the minibus thought that his understanding was wrong and asked the money arrived in a small program mall again, the mall seller Hu Di seemed a little impatient. It seems that the question I just asked was "Does people need to breathe?" and I asked twice.
Surprisingly, mini programs do not seem to need to follow the inertia of the “goods first and then money” transaction process in e-commerce transactions. And using mini programs is not only the user who is convenient.
Henan TV Minsheng Channel " Xiaoli Helps " reported that on September 14, Xiaokang asked for help and said that he was engaged in mobile phone sales. A few days ago, he spent 150,000 yuan to buy iPhone 14 on a WeChat mini program called " Yilian Shopping". However, the customer service urged the shipment to stop returning. On the 14th, logging into the platform showed that the online mall had suspended service due to violations. The reason for shutting down is that the mini program Yiliangou online mall has suspended services due to suspected fraud.
Xiaoba search for the black cat complaint platform also found that since September 14, there have been 243 complaints about Yiliango, and the content of the complaint is consistent with Xiaokang.
Also According to First Financial , in the case of Yiliango running away with the money, there were about 400 orders for Apple mobile phones in which consumers paid the money but did not receive the goods, including iPhone 13, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 14 coupons, etc., involving an amount of about 5 million yuan. An incident like
is not an isolated case. In February this year, another internet celebrity Minsheng channel, 1818 Golden Eye, also reported that a consumer purchased an Apple phone on the "Infinite Tesco" WeChat mini program but had not received the goods. It is exactly the same as Yiliango, where consumers have no response to the urge, and the company closed the mini program and absconded it with the money.
"Does WeChat need to be responsible?" "What makes you believe that what you bought on the mini program is real?" In the comment section of the Yiliango incident, many netizens' comments revealed their doubts about the reliability of the mini program.
In fact, the positioning of mini programs in the WeChat ecosystem is different from that of online stores to shopping platforms, which brings about huge differences in supervision. This also exposed many loopholes in the mini program ecosystem to the public.
Easy mini program
At the end of 2019, when the epidemic broke out, Houdy found the opportunity that people could not go abroad frequently and started a duty-free shop purchasing business. Initially, he gradually switched to WeChat Moments, and then opened a Taobao store, and finally settled on the WeChat mini program. In his words, after trying so many platforms, mini programs are the easiest.
Since the WeChat mini program was launched on January 7, 2017, it has gradually met people's life service needs due to its light operation method that does not require downloading, leaves after use, and comes back at any time. At the same time, due to its advantages such as low opening threshold, small development workload, short conversion path, low churn and convenient payment, enterprises are also vigorously welcomed to settle in.
According to the data of the "2022 H1 Mini Program Internet Development White Paper" released by the Aladdin Research Institute, the DAU of WeChat Mini Programs exceeded 500 million in 2021, and the total growth rate of merchants' self-operated physical goods transactions exceeded 100%.
"Mainly, I heard from friends who are doing e-commerce that Taobao would apply for the corresponding business license, and then I had to issue an invoice after that. Then, the stores of JD.com will carry personal income tax in the future, so I was anxious to spend money to build a mini program before the New Year." Regarding the reasons for opening a mini program mall, Houdy was quite "desperate"
He found a service provider with a cost-effectiveness service, which cost nearly 7,000 yuan to build a basic version of the mini program mall. It has functions such as simply displaying the homepage of products, product classification list, shopping cart, customer service, coupons, etc.
He told Xiaoba that from the registration, review, to the construction of mini programs, and even subsequent products were put on the shelves, the service provider provided him with "lazy one-stop service". He only needs to provide basic information such as business licenses, without too many constraints. Compared with other e-commerce platforms, it is not easy to open a store on a mini program.
"And I have bought out for 20 years. Now several mainstream companies on the market pay annually, so it is more expensive."Woody paused for a few seconds and added, "Later, I met a friend who taught programming, and it would be cheaper if I asked him to do it. "
Minibus searched for "mini program development" on a shopping software and found that the price ranged from several hundred to thousands of yuan. After consulting several companies, they were told that with the system support, they would be paid in one lump sum and can be used for a long time. At the same time, the customer service also stated that it only takes less than 2 weeks to make a most basic mini program. In comparison, the development cycle of an App generally takes about 3 months.
is easy to open a store and develop, and it is easier to collect payments on the mini program.
In order to verify whether the situation where Hudy can receive payment without waiting for the buyer to confirm the receipt is an isolated case, the minibus contacted the more mainstream mini program service provider on the market for consultation.
staff member Xiao Li gave the same reply: "Don't wait for the customer to confirm the receipt, the money will be transferred to your WeChat merchant account the moment the customer pays. If you set up manual withdrawal, you need to manually withdraw it from the backend merchant account. The money will be sent to your bank card the next day. If you set up automatic withdrawal, it will be T+1 to be credited. "
In other words, once the buyer pays, the payment can reach the seller's account the next day. can explain why small programs like Yiliango can also easily escape with the payment without shipping.
Store and kitchen knife
so, do the mini program need to be responsible for the ease of "my door is always open, and my arms are waiting for you"? The case may not be what netizens expect.
All this has to start with the origin of the mini program.
In 2017, the report of Aurora Data showed that the average number of apps installed on domestic mobile phones has reached more than 50. In 2020, this data further increased to more than 70.
But with the rapid development of apps, people often complain: "My mobile phone is insufficient memory and is stuck." "A survey conducted by
安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全安全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全全The concept of App. Baidu defines it as a full-featured app that does not require downloading and searching.
In the end, Baidu's dream was realized by WeChat.
On January 11, 2016, Zhang Xiaolong revealed that it will set up a new WeChat "application account" outside the subscription account and service account.
The second year, Zhang Xiaolong announced that the mini program was officially launched on the 2017 WeChat Open Class Pro.
October 2017-January 2018, the mini program entered the explosive period. Before "Double Eleven", the phone The business mini program exploded, and a large number of e-commerce programs such as comprehensive, clothing, group buying, maternal and infant, and fresh food were born.
December 28, 2017, the 6.6.1 version updated by WeChat opened the mini-game mini program.
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For the definition of mini-programs, Zhang Xiaolong described it as follows: "Mini program is an application that does not require download or installation. It realizes the dream that can be opened at your fingertips. Users can scan or search and open the application, and also realize the concept of leaving when they are used up. Users do not need to install too many applications, and applications are available everywhere, but there is no need to install or uninstall. ”
Let’s draw the key points: ① Mini programs are applications; ② Open by scanning or searching. Here, WeChat seems to have become an application store, while mini programs become Apps.
At this time, it will be much easier for us to discuss the issue of “whether WeChat needs to be responsible for the security of mini program transactions”.
The " E-Commerce Law of the People’s Republic of China ", which was officially implemented on January 1, 2019, regulates the protection measures such as "T+7 collection" and "7-day no-reason return", thereby cultivating users’ inertia for online transactions.This trust and habit obviously also continued to mini program transactions.However, although the WeChat mini program carries some of the functions of e-commerce, it is essentially different from online shopping platforms. Yao Zhiwei, a professor at the School of Law of Guangdong University of Finance and Economics, said in an interview with First Financial Daily that judging from the existing judicial and administrative law enforcement cases, it is not found that providers of small programs and providers of business formats such as WeMall are classified as e-commerce platforms.
Wukong Health founder Wang Dong also said: "The status of Taobao and WeChat is different. Taobao has not reached the level of 'social infrastructure', but whether everyone agrees or not, WeChat is indeed the case. The positioning of the mini program is an App within the WeChat ecosystem, and the mall function is only a functional way of the mini program."
In other words, the mini program may be more like Taobao to the application store, rather than online stores to Taobao.
The store ensures that the kitchen knife coming in is a serious knife that is legally produced, but whether the kitchen knife is used to cut vegetables or chop people depends on the person holding the knife.
"Do you want to care or not" and "do it care or not"
In this way, is the mini program a completely free-range business ecosystem? Actually, it is not the case. Under Xiao Li's guidance, Xiaoba discovered that creating a WeChat mini program that can be used for commercial activities requires at least 3 rounds of review.
is the first thing to do is register a mini program. Enterprises need to provide business license, legal person account, ID card, mobile phone number and other related basic information. The official will authenticate the submitted basic information and charge a 300 yuan certification fee, which is the first level. After registering the
mini program, as a merchant, you also need to apply to open a WeChat merchant account so that you can follow-up store collection, withdrawal, business data, marketing layout and other operations. Similarly, when applying for a WeChat merchant account, you also need to provide the company-related basic information and verify it by the official. This is the second level.
needs one more explanation here. According to Xiao Li, only by opening a WeChat merchant account can consumers use WeChat to pay in the mini program, and merchants can enjoy the "T+1" credit service.
bought land and opened the road, so it was time to build a building next.
At this time, it is the turn of the engineering team - the service provider, and the technical team will design and develop the functions of the mini program. Xiao Li said that what the service provider does is to build basic functions, and the subsequent store decoration and goods on and off the shelves still need to be completed by the company itself.
Mini Program Registration Page
Of course, before delivery to the company, according to the answers of other mini program service providers consulted by Xiao Li and Xiaoba, they will at least help the company to list one product, because there is a third level here. After the registration of the
mini program is completed, it will not be published directly. Instead, it needs to be improved (if it is a mall, you need to upload the product) before clicking to publish. The official will review the actual content of the mini program with the business license and business qualifications, and it can be displayed to the public after passing.
At this point, another new product has been launched in the WeChat store. Regarding subsequent supervision, Wang Dong said: "WeChat's supervision is still quite strong, and they are also banning all kinds of violations by themselves. But to be honest, there is still a gap between 's 'want to care or not' and 'whether you can't care'."
In February 2018, WeChat officially issued an announcement stating that more than 2,000 WeChat mini programs involving fake high imitations, pornographic vulgarity and illegal "cash loans" have been permanently banned.
On July 30, 2018, WeChat mini programs such as "Beijing Men's Health SPA" were suspected of maliciously bypassing platform review, abused the mini programs for advertising and marketing, and guided externally to publish pornographic, vulgar and other information in violation of the WeChat mini program platform operation specifications. The company has banned the relevant WeChat mini programs.
reviews the enterprise's entry qualifications and removes the shelves of the mini programs that are "controlled" by WeChat, and some are "controlled" by WeChat but cannot control it, such as the service providers and payment methods chosen by the enterprise.
mentioned above that due to the low difficulty in developing WeChat mini-programs, service providers are mixed. Compared with WeMall and Youzan , which often have service fees of tens of thousands of yuan per year, companies can choose niche service providers with higher cost performance, like Woody. In addition to the price advantage, the collection cycle has also become varied due to the different service providers. The regular "T+1" withdrawal of is suitable for all forms of WeChat merchants including e-commerce and membership services. Mainstream service providers such as WeMall and Youzan have their own regulations on the collection rules of e-commerce companies.
For example, after the consumer pays, the funds will be transferred to the Tenpay supervision account, and will be transferred to the merchant account after the consumer confirms receipt. The staff of Youzan said that the arrival time of the payment in the goods complies with the provisions of the E-Commerce Law, namely "T+7". In addition, we will cooperate with insurance companies to guarantee the payment for the goods, and when a dispute arises, we will pay the buyer in advance.
But these are just rules within the service provider and have not formed industry norms. At the same time, minibus discovered that these security guarantees also had loopholes.
The mini program Yiliango, which is suspected of fraud, is technically supported by WeMall. A person in the payment industry said in an interview with "Finance" that merchants can apply for withdrawals in advance, "as long as they apply, they can be mentioned, because the regulator does not know whether the goods have been shipped or whether they have arrived."
Coincidentally, Youzan’s internal staff also told Xiaoba that if the company needs it, Youzan also cooperates with insurance companies to provide quick collection services.
cannot manage WeChat, service providers are not strictly managed, mini programs have been established for 5 years, and the road to funds supervision still seems to be unclear. In response, Wang Dong said: "Mini programs are WeChat's 'infrastructure', and WeChat is already the 'infrastructure' of this society. I personally believe that WeChat should provide basic data openness, and relevant national regulatory agencies will gradually participate in the supervision process in depth."
* In the article, Hu Di and Xiao Li are both pseudonyms.
Reference:
1. "Ten Years of Growth of Mobile App", "Even and Even Pattern
2. "The History of Development of Mini Programs", Staying up late but not bald ape
Author of this article | Ji Yiao | Duty Editor | Ma Jiang
Editor in charge | He Mengfei | Editor-in-chief | Zheng Yuanmei | Source | VCG
