3 Easy Steps to Keep Up Your Amazon Merchant Reputation.

Posted December 31, 2020

In eCommerce, Fulfillment, Inventory Management

It is very important to keep your Amazon Merchant Reputation clean and highly rated. Industry experts estimate that less than 5% of customers who buy products on Amazon leave feedback. That is a pretty low rate when you consider that third-party merchants sold about $3.55 billion worth of products on Prime Day 2020 alone.

Even though price is the most important factor in consumer purchase decisions, Amazon merchant reputation plays a vital role too. If a merchant is constantly having problems with his customers, he is sure to get some negative feedback. This negative feedback will play a part in further sales.

Being a top rated merchant is one of the only ways to differentiate your store from all the other merchants who may be selling similar or identical products as yours. At times, even if your product is a little more expensive, consumers would rather buy from a top rated seller instead of one that has a lot of negative feedback.

So, in order to control your Amazon merchant reputation, you need to focus on these steps and maintain a high merchant rating or fix your low merchant rating.

1. Know Amazon’s Prohibited Seller Activities and Actions.

Amazon has very specific and extremely detailed guidelines on how third party merchants should conduct business. Amazon does this because it values its brand and customers very highly. They know that if the customer is not number 1, they could drop out of the online retail race very easily. Customer satisfaction and reputation management is very important for Amazon.

To maintain a good reputation, getting constant customer feedback is important. Under the “Misuse of ratings, feedback, or reviews” section of Amazon’s Prohibited Seller Activities and Actions, it says, “You may request feedback from a buyer. However, you may not offer pay nor any incentive to a buyer for either providing or removing feedback.”

You can ask for feedback and encourage customers to leave feedback but cannot reward them or pay them anything for a review. That makes it clear but not easy.

2. Make a Plan, Get Feedback, Repeat!

After studying Amazon’s Prohibited Seller Activities and Actions, make a plan to solicit feedback from your customers. It’s actually a very simple thing to do in Amazon Seller Central. But it may not be at the top of your priorities at the moment. That’s why you need to have a plan and schedule some fixed time to do it. All it entails is sending out specially crafted feedback requests asking your customers to leave feedback for you regarding their last purchase. Go to your Manage Orders section and initiate the Contact Buyer process, then select the option for Feedback Request.

One thing to definitely include in your feedback request would be to say that customer feedback will help you maintain a higher service standard and would inevitably be better for your customers (i.e. them). Remind your customer that customer satisfaction is your top priority.

Just keep in mind that response rates could be low, but keep at it and do not stop sending out those emails (and reminders) as it is the best way to control your Amazon merchant reputation.

3. Clear Up Negative Feedback Right Away.

Almost all customers that have had a bad experience will leave negative feedback that can hurt your Amazon merchant reputation. There’s no stopping unfortunate delays or the occasional defective product that was out of your control. Negative feedback can hurt you, but it’s how you handle it that will clear your name. If you leave even just 1 negative feedback unexplained, it will be hurt your Amazon store reputation.

At times the customer may confuse product reviews and the seller reviews. If that is the case, Amazon will delete the feedback. You have to keep watch and alert Amazon if that happens. Always contact the customer and work with them to come to an amicable resolution. If you sent out the wrong product, explain yourself and send out a replacement at once. As soon as the customer receives the correct item, ask them to remove the original negative feedback. Don’t procrastinate as you only have 60 days for that.

Bottom Line

To be a Reputable and Successful Amazon seller, you must have a stellar Amazon merchant reputation. Invest in the time needed to control your feedback as it directly affects your sales and bottom line.

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