Amazon Feedback: Managing Product & Seller Reviews
Selling on the Amazon marketplace can be highly beneficial for retailers, wholesalers and online businesses looking to expand their channel presence. However, managing the selling process on Amazon is often high-maintenance, complex, and time-consuming.
Amazon’s current feedback system is designed to monitor and evaluate seller performance regularly to identify whether sellers are good or bad. In turn, this will determine the seller’s product discoverability and positioning, meaning it is worthwhile for sellers to keep track of their feedback.
The Types of Feedback
Although sellers are aware that Amazon feedback is an integral part of maintaining stable seller scores and ratings, many are unaware about how to effectively manage seller feedback. Customer service is directly linked to sales performance on the marketplace, making it unique when compared to other sales channels. We have assembled a brief overview of Amazon reviews:
Product reviews
Individual product feedback is available for all items listed on the marketplace, consisting of a text review alongside a star rating. The star ratings can range from one to five, with the average rating displaying prominently on the product page and search results. All Amazon users can leave reviews for any ASIN, but only reviews from customers that have purchased the item will display “verified purchase”. Product reviews are hugely influential for each ASIN, influencing positioning, ad spend, and sales volume.
Seller Reviews
Unlike its counterpart, seller feedback is linked to your account in general instead of particular listings. Customers that have purchased an item from a seller have the option to fill out a seller feedback form which evaluates performance throughout the entire sales process including:
Speed of shipping
Whether the item arrived on time
Whether the item was as described
How good the customer service was
The buyer can also include any comments and a star rating. The seller feedback forms are then compiled to create an average rating that is displayed under the organisation name in the “sold by” link on a product detail page.
Seller feedback is directly linked to a seller’s ability to increase Buy Box share and can have direct effects on the performance of your entire sales on Amazon. Focusing on improving order and inventory management, customer service, and fulfilment is an ideal strategy for improving the core processes that will handle customer feedback.
Seller vs Product Reviews
Both types of feedback are important for maintaining a good seller score, but product feedback is more heavily linked to influencing conversions on a product detail page. The Amazon platform provides a product-centric focus, so customers will be more likely to see item reviews without delving into seller feedback.
Seller feedback is more important for channel management, as consistently poor feedback ratings can lead to decreased sales or account suspensions. It will have a direct influence over the Buy Box and product discoverability, so it is always worthwhile keeping tracking of your seller feedback.
Improving seller feedback
Building good seller feedback takes time, therefore it is essential to have a strategy process in place to increase the chances of speeding up the process. This can be achieved through:
Shipping on-time or ahead of schedule
Late shipments and “where is my order?” inquiries can be time-consuming to resolve and often lead to negative feedback. Keeping track of shipping to ensure that items are delivered on-time or early is an effective method for ensuring customers are satisfied. Upgrading shipment methods to expedite the delivery process is also an ideal method to satisfy customers ordering higher-value items.
Automate Returns & Refunds
Amazon has set specific policies to aid with buyer-seller relationships on the marketplace, which includes an emphasis on keeping track of return and refund policies regularly and providing full-product returns with minimal hassle.
Update your listings
By ensuring that all listings feature the latest information, images, and pricing, sellers can avoid any negative reviews from customers that were unclear about item specifications. It can also help to include any frequently asked questions about the product to present all the information in a clear, concise format.
Asking for feedback
Amazon offers buyer-seller messaging on the platform to enable sellers to request a review of their products once the item is delivered. Sellers can also follow up with buyers via email post-purchase to request product and seller feedback, however, Amazon allows buyers to opt-out of messages from third-party sellers.
Managing negative feedback
Not all feedback on the marketplace is permanent. Amazon has set out strict guidelines that customers must follow when giving feedback, and sellers that discover an invalid comment can have it removed. Offering promotional links or comments relating to other websites, sellers, or supplies is not permitted. Additionally, customers cannot use abusive or inappropriate language or reveal personal information. Sellers can submit removal requests in Seller Central by providing Amazon with a valid reason why a comment should be removed, with the process typically taking around three days.
Establishing a management process
Once an item is delivered, customers will have 90 days to review the product and leave feedback. Although all customer feedback is crucial to maintaining your account health on Amazon, negative feedback has the potential to severely impact sales and damage business reputation. Establishing an efficient feedback management strategy can be crucial for monitoring and resolving issues in a timely manner.
By proactively following these steps, sellers can address customer issues through:
Reviewing feedback
Proposing a solution to the problem for buyers
Approaching customers politely and awaiting their response
Over time the data gathered will enable you to create a better strategy that is more suited to your target customer.
It should be noted that when dealing with an unhappy customer, sellers on Amazon cannot:
Use any incentives in exchange for positive reviews
Provide refunds to incentivise reviews
Contact a buyer offering rewards
Conclusion
Maintaining higher feedback is essential to establishing for sellers looking to grow on Amazon. Feedback provides a foundation to draw more potential buyers to listings and builds trust with consumers in the long-term.
Although each seller’s strategy for feedback management will differ, providing good customer service throughout the entire purchase process is the best method for consistently satisfying customers. Negative reviews will always be part of the process, however, feedback can be used to improve the product, listings, and customer service processes to ensure customers will have a positive experience over time.