A Detailed Guide To Explain Amazon Seller Feedback - Lab 916

Amazon is known for its top-notch customer care experience. This reputation can undoubtedly be linked to the corporation’s immense sincerity towards customer feedback. The well-designed feedback system allows customers to provide honest feedback and enables an environment for sellers to learn from it. The Amazon Seller Feedback is a marker of a seller’s performance on Amazon.

Having a decent rating on it helps to build faith in the service of the seller and draws in more customers. But maintaining a good score on Amazon Seller Feedback is not as simple as it sounds. Let’s take a look at how we can improve our performance as sellers on Amazon Seller Feedback.

What is Amazon Seller Feedback?

Amazon Seller Feedback

Amazon developed Amazon Seller Feedback for customers to pinpoint reliable sellers. Its job is simply to keep an eye on the seller’s performance. Based on the monitored performance, the system rates the seller. This rating is open to the public eye revealing the quality of the seller’s services to the potential customers. 

In short, Amazon Seller Feedback is a scale provided to the customers to measure a brand’s performance on Amazon. A scale of one to five stars denotes how reliable or unreliable a business is based strictly on its provided services. Customers availing the services of a certain business can rate their experience and submit feedback within 90 days of their purchase.

However, remember that this feedback is confined to measuring the efficiency of a brand’s shipping, customer service, and the general experience that comes with buying from it. It does not rate the product of the brand itself. If this seems confusing–  don’t worry, we will come back to that later.

Amazon Seller Feedback is crucial in a saturated market. Customers have the option to buy from any brand they like. This is when the Amazon Seller Feedback comes in handy. This system will directly lead the customers to the brands with the highest rating. They know which company to trust with the help of Amazon Seller Feedback. 

How does Amazon Seller Feedback work?

How does Amazon Seller Feedback work

Amazon Seller Feedback is an apt way for customers to provide their feedback on a certain brand’s services on Amazon. Customers purchasing products from wholesalers and resellers can use this system. Usually, there are two ways a customer does this-

  • By accessing the feedback page on Amazon
  • By returning to the order page and going to the order they made in a particular time. 

How is Amazon Seller Feedback calculated?

Amazon gives customers 90 days from the day of order to leave their feedback through a number of basic yes-or-no questions such as

  • Has the product arrived on time?
  • Did the product match the description as provided in the listing by the seller?
  • Did the customer have a positive customer care experience upon contact with the seller?

Once these questions have been answered, the customers are asked to rate the brand’s order fulfillment out of 5 stars. Along with the star rating, they are also given the option to leave a comment. 5-star and 4-star ratings mean a positive experience for the customers whereas 1-star and 2-star represent negative ones. 3-star is considered neutral but it has the potential to make the business look bad to the customers. 

Amazon keeps track of all the feedback you have received as a seller. They keep you updated on how much positive feedback you have gathered over a period of 30-days, 90-days, 365-days, or throughout the lifetime of the brand. For instance, a brand receiving 90 4-star and 5-star ratings from 100 customers would be 90% despite the 10 customers leaving a somewhat neutral review. 

Seller Feedback vs. Product Review

The biggest confusion regarding the seller feedback system is whether it is synonymous with product reviews. Sellers and customers often tend to mix them up. To clear this confusion, let’s take a look at some of the points that make them different from each other-

Seller Feedback vs Product Review
Seller FeedbackProduct Review
Refers to the customer’s individual experience with the service a seller provides them.Refers to the performance or quality of the product that has been received by the customers. 
Evaluates product packaging and shipping time.Evaluates product performance and if the description in the listing matches the delivered product. 
All about the performance of the brand or business.All about the performance or quality of the received product.
The average feedback ratings tell a customer whether or not they would like to purchase a product from a business.These are ratings of the products that have been sold by the business. 
Can help sellers to win the exclusive Buy Box.Has nothing to do with a Buy Box. 

Benefits of Amazon Seller Feedback

Amazon Seller Feedback is not only beneficial for the customers but also for the sellers. It helps businesses to stand out among the thousands of other businesses in the competition. Taking it seriously can improve the sales of a brand quite dramatically. So here are some benefits that you may get out of Amazon Seller Feedback- 

  • Influence the sales of a business

This feedback system has been designed to allow customers to leave honest reviews on the services they receive from a brand on Amazon. So naturally, if the services provided by a business are unsatisfactory, any customer might call them out on it through this system. And since the system makes all of it public, any potential client can see it and choose to rate the brand’s service. This in turn affects the sales of a business on Amazon. The same can be told for positive feedback as it can actively improve the sales of a business by drawing in more clients. 

The Amazon algorithm favors brands or businesses with good seller feedback. Although Amazon deliberately chooses to keep its algorithm discreet, anyone can deduce that having decent seller feedback is likely to improve the product SERP. And with a higher rank of your product, you can reach more customers and increase your sales. 

  • Increase the chances to win Buy Box

Not every seller is eligible to get a Buy Box. Sellers with a good rating on the Amazon Seller Feedback system are more likely to win the Buy Box. Winning the Buy Box can effectively increase the sales of a business. As Amazon wants to ensure an exceptional buyer experience, it ultimately favors the brands with good seller feedback. So in return, it offers the Buy Box to only businesses that can maintain a positive profile on the Amazon Seller Feedback system. 

How to view your Amazon Seller Feedback rating?

This is how you can view the seller feedback you have received on Amazon Seller Feedback- 

  1. Log into your Amazon account.
  2. Click on the Received Messages option under Communications in the left navigation.
  3. Click on the Seller Feedback tab. 
  4. Search by Order ID and sort by rating or status. 

In order to take a look at your Amazon seller rating, these are the steps you should follow-

  1. Go to your Seller Central dashboard.
  2. Click on Performance. 
  3. Click on Customer Satisfaction.
  4. Open the Customer Feedback tab.

This will reveal your overall performance over a period of the last 30 days, 90 days, 365 days, and your lifetime as a seller on Amazon. 

Rules set by Amazon Regarding Seller Feedback

Rules set by Amazon Regarding Seller Feedback

Amazon wants the sellers to reach out to their customers for feedback. But they have a list of guidelines they want sellers to follow while doing so- 

  • Sellers cannot incentivize feedback

Paying customers, offering discounts, free products or any other benefits to persuade them to give positive feedback or delete a negative one is not allowed. 

  • Only ask once for feedback

Sellers are allowed to ask for feedback once per order they deliver after the customer has received their product. Pestering and nagging customers for feedback with numerous feedback requests is prohibited.

  • No coercion

Customers should not feel coerced into giving feedback. It is a violation of Amazon policy and can result in extreme penalties. The Amazon Buyer-Seller Messaging service exists only as a platform to complete orders, provide proper customer service, and make a single feedback request to the customers. 

  • Respect buyer’s decision

If a buyer chooses not to leave feedback even after requesting, there is nothing the seller can do about it. Most buyers are happy to oblige by providing feedback, but for the few who do not like to receive unsolicited messages, sellers need to be professional and accept that decision.

Violating these rules can result in penalties that will not favor the business in any way. But complying with these guidelines can make you soar up the ranks on Amazon boosting your business. 

How to Motivate Buyers to Give Positive Amazon Seller Feedback

Motivating customers to leave positive feedback can be done in an amicable manner respecting their boundaries. If done correctly, this can actively help you out with increasing your sales on Amazon. Let’s look at the few ways you can encourage customers to do so-

  • Asking politely

Being polite to your customers can take you a long way as a seller. It is the most neglected yet the most impactful way to stimulate a customer to leave good feedback on Amazon Seller Feedback. Use Amazon’s messaging service to politely convey your request to your customer. 

  • Shipping on time

Make sure to deliver your orders on time. Delayed shipping can be the cause of a lot of negative feedback. However, if you can ship on time as promised, your customer will likely be more than happy to leave a good review. To be as punctual as possible on these deliveries, remember to polish up your process of fulfillment

  • Easy returns

Always provide easy returns for your customers. This way the buyer knows to trust you with the products they are buying. As a result, they are most likely to leave positive comments on your services. 

  • Accurate product listing

It is imperative for your business to have an error-free and accurate product listing. Don’t try to oversell your product to beat the competition. Instead, be honest about your product so that the customers know what to expect once the product has been delivered. This leads to customer satisfaction and motivates them to leave positive feedback. 

How to deal with negative Amazon Seller Feedback?

Negative feedback is a part of everyone’s life. You might even end up getting a few even if your business doesn’t deserve one. However, this does not indicate the end of the world or your business by any means. The slight blemish to your brand image might be tackled in a few ways- 

  • First, call Amazon and talk to them about it. There is a possibility that the negative feedback is a result of something completely out of your control such as the parcel getting lost in the mail. However, if you are using FBA then you don’t really have to worry about negative feedback at all as everything is being done by Amazon. 
  • In case of a buyer mistakenly leaving a negative product review on Amazon Seller Feedback, you can simply ask Amazon to remove the comment as it falls in the wrong category. 

Nevertheless, Amazon’s latest feedback rules prohibit sellers from asking their customers to change or remove their reviews. In the years past, the seller could request a customer to reconsider a given review. 

Things to Avoid While Dealing With Unhappy Customers

As mentioned before, you cannot satisfy every customer with your service. Some customers tend to be more demanding than others. This results in a few unhappy buyers. These are some of the things you should avoid while dealing with these customers- 

  • Contacting the customers according to the guidelines provided by Amazon is mandatory and you can only reach them for customer service. 
  • Don’t offer refunds to unhappy customers with an intention of persuading them to remove the negative feedback. 
  • Unhappy customers want to see a resolution to their problems. Amazon gives the seller a 60-day time period to work on the highlighted issue. Utilizing this time well to come up with an efficient solution is the best way to deal with unhappy customers. 
  • Don’t engage in a conversation or an argument with a customer. Make your responses specific to the point. If they point out a mistake you have made, apologize and reassure them that you will work on the problem to improve the buyer’s experience. 

How to manage Amazon Feedback Seller Like A Pro

The basics of the Amazon Seller Feedback system can be summed up in this way-

  • The seller delivers the item to the customer.
  • The customer receives the product. 
  • The customer has a period of 90 days to leave a review and 60 days to change or remove the review. 

These reviews are crucial to the success of your brand on Amazon. So you need an exceptional seller feedback management strategy to boost the number of positive feedback. The proactive steps to efficiently improve your performance on the Amazon seller feedback system are-

  • Reviewing the feedback left by the customers
  • If there are any problems, coming up with a solution to the problem.
  • Approaching the customers politely and respecting their boundaries. 
  • Waiting patiently for their response.
  • Resolving the issue in a practical and effective manner. 

As you follow these steps over time, Amazon will give you more access to the data that can help you to formulate a better plan to manage Amazon seller feedback. 

Moreover, the “3-emails strategy” can be an effective way to contact your buyer post the delivery of the product. Send 1 email after the delivery of the product, and follow up after a few days of product review and feedback. On the reception of positive feedback, send an email asking for seller feedback. This process can help you as a seller to attain more product reviews and seller feedback at the same time. 

Another important thing to remember is that seller feedback is market-specific and so it is unique for each marketplace. Having good or bad feedback on one marketplace will not affect the ratings on another marketplace.

Conclusion

Managing the Amazon seller feedback system effectively can make your business flourish on Amazon. Neglecting it can hinder the performance of your brand. Hence, it is of utmost importance to follow Amazon’s guidelines on how to boost positive seller feedback and how to avoid negative seller feedback. Set yourself up for success on Amazon with a few sincere steps taken to handle Amazon seller feedback efficiently. 

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