Originally published on October 21, 2016, updated February 11, 2021
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Two of the metrics that impact all third-party sellers on the Amazon marketplace are seller feedback and product reviews. Since both of these metrics involve customers leaving a review describing their experience on the Amazon.com website, we want to take a closer look at how they impact sales performance.
A product review is an opportunity for customers to describe and rate their experience with a product on a scale of 1 to 5. Product reviews do not represent buyer experience with fulfillment, delivery, or feedback to a seller. Product reviews are a reflection of what a buyer thought of the actual product.
Technically, anybody can leave a product review. However, customers who purchased an item on an Amazon site and left a product review will have their reviews marked as "verified purchase" right above the review. Amazon puts more weight on verified reviews, as it deems them to have more validity and relevance to the experience of other shoppers.
Product review counts and ratings are displayed right under the title name on a product listing. For product listings that have a parent-child relationship (such as an item that comes in different sizes, flavors, colors) reviews for each variation will show as a cumulative total number. For example, a product listing that has 4 variations with 10 reviews on each variation will show a total of 40 reviews regardless of which variation you are viewing on the product page. However, if you click "See all reviews" you are able to view the specific reviews for a particular variation such as color or size.
Product reviews are a very powerful factor in determining sales and the visibility of a product. Amazon prides itself on being very customer-centric. The prominent positioning of product review ratings on the top of each product listing right below the title is visual proof of how critical product reviews are in Amazon's search algorithm. With all other factors being the same, a product with a higher number of positive reviews will be placed higher in search results, thus increasing the likelihood of sales.
Product reviews are never linked to an individual seller, whether it is Amazon or a third-party seller. There can be multiple offers on a single product listing, and they will be equally impacted by positive or negative reviews. Product reviews become part of a product listing in Amazon's catalog. Sellers on a product listing can change, items may become unavailable (i.e. no sellers offering it for sale), but product reviews will always be connected to that product listing.
Unlike product reviews, seller feedback is given to a seller by the customer to evaluate metrics such as delivery, customer service, professionalism, and fair representation of the advertised product.
Seller feedback is an important variable in overall seller performance. You can look at it as a measure of your Amazon reputation in a similar way to a credit score that holistically represents your personal financial health and money habits. Seller feedback stays in your seller performance history even if your inventory or business model changes.
Similar to product reviews, buyers can rate their experience with a seller on a scale of 1 to 5. Amazon determines the overall percentage of seller feedback, with 100% being perfect seller feedback. The seller feedback percentage is displayed next to the seller name on the Buy Box or on an offer page.
To determine the positive percentage of seller feedback, Amazon considers feedback counts and feedback ratings over the periods of 30 days, 90 days, 365 days, and lifetime. It's important to note that recent feedback will be considered more relevant by Amazon, so a negative seller feedback within the last 30 days will bring your overall percentage down more than a negative seller feedback 6 months ago.
Every new seller will have a "just launched" badge displayed until they reach a handful of seller feedback and start establishing a track record as a seller. Amazon put certain limitations on brand new sellers and wants customers to know that a new seller does not yet have history with the platform. Additionally, "just launched" status sellers are not eligible for a Buy Box. This can be critical for sellers whose businesses model on arbitrage, wholesale, or liquidation, when sharing a Buy Box with other sellers is a common scenario.
Having excellent seller feedback improves a seller's chances of winning a Buy Box. While Amazon does not disclose its algorithm for awarding the Buy Box, it is known that seller performance is an important variable that goes into that decision. As mentioned earlier, the most recent feedback has the biggest impact on getting the Buy Box. With all other metrics being equal, a seller with a higher rating score and count will have a better chance of winning the Buy Box. If your business model involves competing with other offers on the same listing, this is an important variable to keep in mind.
All sellers who carry their own brand or private label product know that gathering product reviews can be a challenge. Here are some tips for increasing product reviews:
If you're ready to take your feedback and reviews to the next level, I recommend trying FeedbackFive.
You can now use FeedbackFive to send Amazon branded review requests for both product reviews and feedback. These messages are instantly translated into the buyer's preferred language.
Originally published on October 21, 2016, updated February 11, 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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