In December 2020, Amazon removed the possibility for sellers to respond directly to customer reviews. Although it is possible to reply to comments on your store page (and ask Amazon to remove them when necessary) your ability to respond to customer comments has been disabled. But we know that research shows that customers READ REVIEWS before purchasing items!! You know how important customer reviews are to your success!!
Therefore, when sellers are able to show their side of the story in review comments, consumers are able to make more fully informed choices about their purchases. You’ll do everything you can (without violating Amazon’s terms of service) to increase the number of positive reviews. But….oh no! You’ve received a Negative Review on a product. NOW WHAT?
The customer experience is the DIVINING rod of seller success at Amazon
AND BECAUSE ….your rate of NEGATIVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES impacts your Account Health, here are the DO’s and DON’T’s for FEEDBACK & REVIEWS:
What you SHOULD do!!
- Regularly Check FEEDBACK under your performance health dashboard.
- Contact your customers through Amazon’s Buyer-Seller Messaging Services – Use the “Request a Review” button. (There are automation tools for this service)
- If the feedback violates Amazon’s TOS, ask Amazon to remove it!
Where is the Review Dashboard?
In Seller Central….head over to “Customer Reviews”, and you’ll see it has been updated! This customer loved the glass slipper they purchased….a reply was not needed!
Yes….that’s a 5-star review…..and you NEED to respond – after all, you sent them the wrong item, but you made it “right”. If they’re saying your customer service is great…then show them again and again and respond publicly!
But Here’s a Bad Review….
Why Bad Reviews are VALUABLE! Collect bad reviews, and analyze them. Evaluate what needs to be improved. What are customers complaining about? Shipping Times? Packaging styles? Listing discrepancies? Product mix-ups? This needs a response! It’s about the quality of your product! How would YOU respond to this customer?
How Will You Respond?
Whatever your decision, you’ll see a templated message to offer the customer a refund or replacement. Although you are not able to edit the template, the message will now appear on your “messaging dashboard”
Once you’ve decided on the contact reason, Amazon will generate a full template for you to send. And while you can’t edit the template, it’s a great communication tool.
Once your message is sent, it will show up on your Messaging dashboard!
What you SHOULD NEVER DO!!
- DO NOT contact buyers for marketing or promotional purposes (including via email, spam, physical mail, or telephone)
- DO NOT ask nor pressure a customer to change their review
- NEVER incentivize requests for reviews
Ask yourself: Is that feedback accurate? If yes….now you know EXACTLY what needs to be fixed! So, what do you do to get Amazon Reviews in 2022? How do you tackle negative reviews? Let us know your strategies!
Reviews are the holy grail to getting your items ranked. We know their importance and we want you to be able to collect and receive authentic reviews. Time to get more reviews? Have you considered product inserts? They are very effective and can really increase your review ratings – but you need to do them right!
