4 Reasons Why 95% of Your Customers Don't Leave Feedback

Most customers don't leave feedback on the Amazon marketplace.

It's just a simple fact.

As we discussed in our previous post, there are certainly steps that you can take to increase the likelihood of getting Amazon feedback. However, even in the best case scenario, it's unlikely you'll be able to get more than 5% or 10% of your customers leaving feedback.

Why?

Let's explore the four reasons why customers don't leave Amazon feedback.

1. People Still Think They're Buying from Amazon

Unlike the eBay marketplace or other popular eCommerce hubs, every aspect of an Amazon customer's shopping experience is Amazon-centric.

This starts with the industry's most convenient product search. Searching by brand name or keyword on Amazon.com yields a handful of highly relevant listings. When compared to auction sites that return dozens or hundreds of similar listings from competing vendors, Amazon.com, Inc. ("Amazon") funnels the buyer into a single ASIN-specific page. With a few taps or clicks, customers can add multiple items to their carts. For any given order, some items could be fulfilled by Amazon while others are merchant-fulfilled. To the customer, it's just another purchase on Amazon.com.

To further emphasize its brand leadership, Amazon sends order and shipment email confirmations. Each email is branded with the Amazon logo, even when being fulfilled by a third-party merchant. Customers can even log into their buying dashboards to track delivery status and estimated arrival dates.

As an experienced merchant, you already know all of this. It's a reality of selling via the Amazon marketplace, but it's also a major reason why customers fail to leave feedback. To create awareness for your own brand, you have to maintain a delicate balance between marketing to your customers and adhering to Amazon's guidelines.

2. People are Busy

You're a busy person - but so are your customers.

Getting a great price is of course important, but there's something many Amazon enthusiasts value even more: saving time. Thanks to an unrivaled breadth and depth of inventory and best-in-class technology, Amazon shoppers can reclaim hours of their lives otherwise spent in department store lines.

This type of shopping commoditization has created its share of issues for third-party merchants. In the minds of consumers, Amazon will always exist. If this is true, what benefit can the customer gain by taking time to leave feedback for a seller?

It's a valid question, and there's not an easy answer.

3. People Expect Perfection

Amazon arguably has the world's most efficient and effective eCommerce supply chain. As evidenced by the popularity of the FBA program, many merchants agree with this statement.

Having ordered hundreds of items on Amazon.com, I must say that it's very rare that anything goes wrong. In fact, I'm often pleasantly surprised when an item arrives a day ahead of schedule. There's nothing better than expecting standard shipping but receiving two-day!

With such high standards as the new norm, customers have grown to expect outstanding service. Simply meeting expectations doesn't cut it anymore.

4. People Aren't Thinking About Your Business

Your business consumes your every thought. That's natural.

Likewise, customers are thinking about their own priorities. The college student is studying hard for his next exam. The young professional is putting in extra hours to climb the corporate ladder. The grandpa is busy watching his grandkids compete in ball games and playing golf. People are focused on their own lives, which leaves little room for feedback ratings.

For these reasons, it's very important to solicit feedback at exactly the right moment. If you're soliciting manually, you reduce your chance of engagement. A feedback management tool like FeedbackFive allows you to build time-based rules, simplifying the entire process. FeedbackFive lets you solicit at a specific time of day or based on a certain number of days after the order (or delivery date). You can even build solicitation campaigns customized for particular SKUs. With logic like this, it's much easier to get people thinking about your business (and thus entice them to leave feedback).

Get More Customers to Leave Amazon Feedback

If you're frustrated with your low feedback rating, it's time to take control of your Amazon reputation. Sign up for a free FeedbackFive account today. Configure your campaigns, and let our tool do the work for you.