How Does The New Lazada Chat Response Rate/Response Time Affect Sellers?

It’s said that the tiniest changes have some of the biggest impacts. How true is this for Lazada sellers relative to the new Lazada chat response rate/response time? Read on to know more. 

What Is The Impact Of The Lazada Chat Response Rate/Response Time In General?

The Lazada chat response rate/response time is one of the biggest determinants of one’s seller rating. 

If you fall below the minimum rate or response time set by Lazada, your seller rating could go down. This can potentially lead to reduced conversions, traffic, and visibility. It also could lower your chance of becoming eligible for certain marketing opportunities like Seller Picks and Lazada CEM. 

Old Vs. New Lazada Chat Response Rate/Response Time

The original Lazada Chat Response Rate states that a seller must reply to customer queries not later than the next working day. This means sellers only need to reply during Mondays thru Fridays. If you fail to reply during the weekends, this won’t be included in the calculation of your chat response rate. 

The same rule applies to your average response time. Lazada will only calculate your response time relative to business days excluding weekends and holidays. 

But the formula for the Lazada chat response rate/response time has recently undergone some changes. The focal point of the adjustment is that weekends will now be included upon calculating sellers’ chat response rate both in terms of chat response time and same-day response (the new chat response rate still excludes holidays).

How Will The New Lazada Chat Response Rate/Response Time Affect Sellers?

We can think of a few reasons namely:

1. Sellers Need To Work Weekends To Retain Their Seller Rating

Due to the impact of chat response rate/response to seller ratings, Lazada sellers need to readjust their schedules. 

Sellers need to set a time to check their Lazada accounts to read and reply to customer inquiries. Otherwise, it would reflect on their chat response rate/response time and will inevitably lead to a lower seller rating. 

2. Sellers May Need To Hire A Virtual Assistant

If freeing part of their weekend isn’t an option, the next logical thing to do would be to hire a part-time virtual assistant so they can have someone to accommodate the concerns of their customers during the weekend. 

By hiring a VA, Lazada sellers will be able to have days off during the weekend but it will cost them additional expense to make it happen. 

3. Stiffer Competition For LazMall Sellers

It’s particularly easy to become a LazMall seller given that you have the right documents. The challenging part is maintaining your position. Per Lazada’s terms, a LazMall seller needs to maintain the following to stay in the Mall market:

• A high seller rating
• Low order cancellation rate
• Consistent on-time shipping
• High chat response time
• At least 30 orders each month

Two of those qualifications lean towards chat response performance to maintain good standing. Hence, it will increase the degree of competition in LazMall. 

4. Gaining Access To Certain Marketing Opportunities Will Become More Difficult

Lazada CEM and Seller Picks are examples of marketing tools that are only available to Lazada sellers who are able to obtain and maintain the standard Lazada chat response rate/response. These are tools that boost visibility and conversion. One that’s worth noting is Lazada CEM because it gives sellers the ability to reach out to particular groups of customers to encourage them to complete the buyer journey. 

Now, with the new chat response rate/response time, sellers have to push further to gain access to these luxuries. 

What are your thoughts on this new change in the Lazada ecosystem? We’d love to know in the comment section.