Alibaba’s credit rating agency Sesame Credit and online shopping platform Tmall recently announced the introduction of online shopping on the basis of credit points for all merchants on the e-commerce platform.

(Photo/China.org.cn)

Customers who have over 650 credit points on Sesame can buy on Tmall and pay seven days later if they are satisfied with the products purchased.

They can try this through Sesame Credit authorization and can decide whether to pay or return the products they have tried out after the seven-day cooling-off period.

Reports confirm that the credit rating agency tested this function for some Tmall merchants in 2018, which were popular among young customers, most of whom were part of the post-90s generation in first-tier cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Until now, most products for the function have been novelty items with a high unit price, such as a robot vacuum cleaner with laser floor mapping, said Zhao Hanning, marketing director of the credit firm, adding that more products will be included soon.

For merchants, the mode of buying first and paying later will help attract new customers. China’s home appliance manufacturer Midea piloted the function during the Nov. 11 shopping festival last year. Now, the credit point-based turnover of the Midea fridge flagship store on Tmall accounts for 5 percent of its total sales volume, and is expected to reach about 10 percent by the end of this year.

Kuang Xianmin, director of the China Institute for Reform and Development, said credit point-based shopping would protect the interests and rights of customers, boost consumption, promote consumption upgrading, and stimulate the real economy.