Originally published on February 3, 2016, updated February 10, 2021
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Ninety-nine percent of the time, your customer experience goes like this:
The customer spots your product and buys it at a price she will later brag about to her friends. When the package arrives, she is impressed at how it arrived before the delivery date and how nicely the item is packaged. She loves the product and is extremely happy with the service.
Then there’s that other 1 percent (or more likely less): a defective item, the wrong color, a mixed-up order. What happens next? The customer goes straight for the jugular – a negative comment on the Amazon marketplace. Sure, resolving negative comments is an important strategy for any Amazon seller, but you may be missing the even greater opportunity of getting all of your happy customers to leave glowing product reviews.
While customers pay attention to your seller ratings, it is overwhelmingly great product reviews that really lead to increased sales. When customers see dozens or hundreds of people happy with the product, they have much more confidence to make the purchase. And, a mountain of positive product reviews lets shoppers know they can take negative reviews with a grain of salt.
Products that don’t have very many positive product reviews leave the shopper questioning whether or not they should buy it. Similarly, if there are an equal number of positive and negative reviews, customers will quickly click off the page.
Requesting product reviews regularly can help you dramatically increase the number of positive ones. Here are four ways that product reviews can help your seller reputation:
No matter how great of a merchant you are, if people aren’t excited about a product, they probably aren’t going to leave a review. A great product is one that stands out, is hard to duplicate and leaves customers proud of the fact that they just bought it.
Look over your product list. Which items might create the greatest pride of ownership? Customers with a sentimental attachment are more likely to leave a positive product review. Start requesting product reviews for those items first.
Many customers leave comments to offer advice for future buyers. They want to help people like themselves by either confirming that something is worth the money, or warning them to stay away.
In your communication and messaging, try to create a sense of community around your products. If customers feel like they are part of a special group rather than just another credit card number, they will be much more likely to spend a few minutes helping out “people like us.” Telling buyers a little about your business can create a sense of community. For example, you could tailor your messaging to fellow organization junkies if you sell home organization products or to fellow parents if you sell products for infants. A little personalization can go a long way towards helping your buyers identify with you and your brand.
While seller feedback can be given as soon as an item is received, product reviews require a little more attention to timing. If you send it too soon, the buyer may feel unqualified to write a review and archive the request without getting back to it. If you send it too late, you may have missed a key window where the buyer’s excitement over the item has settled down.
Be sure to study your products and, more importantly, understand how customers consume or use them. Grocery products, cosmetics or supplements will likely have a shorter shelf-life than consumer electronics or home furnishings. Take this into consideration when creating a timing strategy.
Each SKU you sell has a different personality, which naturally means that a different type of person might purchase it. So it makes sense to send different product review requests for different SKUs. It may sound like a logistical nightmare, but with FeedbackFive, it’s actually pretty simple. Draft a different email for each SKU and let the automation take care of itself.
If you have SKUs that you know have issues, you can block out review requests for them. Similarly, you may not want to spend time on products you plan to phase out quickly. Target your best products that you plan to sell for a long time.
Positive product reviews give your customers the confidence they need to make a purchase. Test out FeedbackFive and see how easy it is to request reviews.
Originally published on February 3, 2016, updated February 10, 2021
This post is accurate as of the date of publication. Some features and information may have changed due to product updates or Amazon policy changes.
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