Three tips for building your Amazon seller reputation
by December 1, 2023
Please note: This blog was originally published in 2019. It’s since been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Every seller wants a greater share of the Buy Box.
Although there are many aspects to winning more Amazon orders, one thing is for certain: feedback matters.
In this post, we’ll explore three tips for building a stronger Amazon seller reputation in 2017.
Understand feedback’s impact on your Amazon reputation
Amazon makes very clear the importance of a strong feedback score. As the company points out here, “Your feedback rating is one of the most important measures buyers use when making purchasing decisions. To be a competitive seller, you must build up your feedback score.” If given the option of multiple vendors, it’s logical why customers naturally gravitate to sellers with lots of positive feedback.
On a deeper level, seller feedback also influences your relationship with Amazon. For example, Amazon considers negative feedback frequency when calculating its overall seller rating. Sellers and Amazon alike use this metric to track performance. In addition, feedback plays a major factor in determining Buy Box eligibility. If two FBA sellers are competing for the Buy Box, there’s a strong likelihood that feedback would be used as the determining factor.
Start soliciting with purpose
If Amazon feedback is so important to how Amazon and customers interact with you, what steps can you take to get more of it?
The most obvious step is to provide best-in-class service. Since seller feedback is a rating of the services you (and/or Amazon if you’re selling via the FBA program) provide, it’s vital to exceed expectations in communication, delivery, packaging and dispute resolution.
With rock-solid business practices in place, you might then consider implementing a feedback solicitation program. Yes, soliciting feedback from Amazon buyers is permitted (in fact, Amazon encourages it). Just be sure to play by the rules and never incentivize a buyer to provide a rating.
If you’re just getting started as an Amazon seller, manual solicitation might be a good approach. To do so, simply log in to your Seller Central account, view your completed orders, click “Contact Buyer,” and send your feedback request. As new orders are fulfilled and delivered, repeat this process in a pattern that makes sense for your schedule. Some sellers even develop spreadsheets for tracking their actions, such as feedback solicitation date and actual outcome.
Of course, as your order volume increases, you might also consider a more automated approach, such as using our FeedbackFive tool. FeedbackFive automatically solicits on your behalf and tracks each order’s feedback status, notes and other important metrics.
Track your progress
Everything you do should offer measurable value to your eCommerce business. Feedback management is no different.
If, after soliciting for a few weeks, you’re seeing positive results but want to take things to the next level, perhaps it’s time to shake things up. Ask yourself these questions:
- What percentage of my solicitations result in feedback? (As a point of reference, some FeedbackFive users average well over 10%.)
- Given my order volume, have I stuck to this process long enough to accurately measure ROI?
- Am I allowing too many days to pass before soliciting?
- Is my feedback solicitation template too generic?
- Do I provide customers clear enough instructions for leaving feedback?
- How can I customize my messaging in order to boost engagement?
- Are some products simply not worth soliciting?
- Would sending a second or third reminder email increase my chances with the buyer?
- Of the times I’ve received feedback, are there any common threads (product category, timing of solicitation or other criteria)?
- How can I track feedback progress without so much manual effort?
Asking such questions should not be a one-time event. Rather, if you’re serious about boosting your Amazon seller reputation, you should continuously seek innovative ways to improve.
