If you want to be a successful Amazon seller, you must first establish a good reputation. A poor review is something that no Amazon seller enjoys. Negative reviews affect your business by decreasing the exposure of your product and discouraging buyers from purchasing it. Your likelihood of winning the Buy Box is also influenced by your seller feedback rating.
Bad Amazon reviews are inconvenient. 1-star ratings, in particular, might lower a product’s average rating if it doesn’t already have a good number of positive reviews.
Of course, you want to deliver the greatest product and service possible. Your concern for your costumers well-being, however, is only part of the story.
In the eyes of a buyer, reviews are one of the most valuable resources at their disposal when making a purchase. Negative Amazon reviews are not only beneficial to the buyer; they also provide an opportunity for you to improve your product or the product listing description.
Furthermore, customers are more likely to trust your goods if you have more reviews.
Why do customers give negative reviews?
Customers leave reviews for a variety of reasons, but it also serves as free market research for vendors. Let’s have a look at how we can leverage user feedback to improve your business.
Customers leave bad reviews for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s positive or bad criticism, everyone has a different reason for submitting a review. To learn how to respond to critical criticism from customers, you must first understand why they provide it. It will also assist you in identifying solutions to some of their worries. Let’s take a look at some of the most frequent reasons why customers provide valuable feedback.
1. Unsatisfactory product or listing
The majority of negative reviews are consumers’ means of expressing their dissatisfaction with your goods or service. This could be for a variety of reasons, but it gives you the chance to address your concerns. Here are a few common reasons why a consumer might be dissatisfied with their service and leave a poor review:
Product quality
Customers can’t see the quality of the things they buy on Amazon, unlike in a traditional brick-and-mortar store. This can be bridged with a detailed product description and high-quality 360-degree photos. However, it is always possible that the customer’s expectations will not be reached, which will result in a poor review.
How can you prevent this from happening again?
A customer should be given all of the product information they need to make an informed decision. Be truthful about a product’s characteristics when listing it. Mistakes will inevitably occur, but if you’re on top of your game, you can successfully limit them.
Mix-up of products
Even if it’s merely a mismatch in size or color, delivering the incorrect product can ruin your reputation as a merchant. This frequently results in a poor review and, in some cases, a product return. If you’re an Amazon FBA seller, Amazon will handle the delivery; otherwise, double-check that you’re mailing the correct order before shipping it.
Delivery was delayed
Customers anticipate lightning-fast delivery, thanks to the rapid expansion of e-commerce and the introduction of services like Amazon Prime. One-day and two-day delivery have become the standard, and no one enjoys receiving a birthday gift many days after their birthday! Although it may not be your fault, a delayed delivery is a negative experience for the consumer. If you’re an Amazon FBA seller, you can be assured that Amazon is on your side. Although Amazon will advise the reviewer that delivery issues are beyond the seller’s control, the negative review will remain.
Product that has been damaged
It goes without saying that this is self-explanatory. A customer can legitimately complain about a broken product. Follow Amazon’s packaging standards to ensure your items don’t get damaged during shipping.
2. Being a proactive Person
Some users provide candid and critical feedback to assist both other consumers and the merchant. An unbiased evaluation aids others in weighing the benefits and drawbacks of a purchase. This is useful information, and you should take note of the issues raised and attempt to resolve them. Remember that a seller can benefit from free market research in the form of a constructive negative review.
3. A platform to be heard
People, including your customers, want their complaints to be heard. Many people who take the effort to provide feedback never hear back, which can be irritating. Do not make the mistake of dismissing unfavorable feedback. If a consumer raises a valid complaint, acknowledge it and figure out the best approach to resolve it. It has the potential to change a negative evaluation into a favorable.
Why Is It So Important to Manage Negative Reviews?
It’s worth noting that even if a product has positive reviews, many purchasers will skip right to the unfavorable ones. They want to obtain a sense of the potential problems with the product. They, like many other buyers, look for a justification to avoid making a purchase.
As a result, negative evaluations can result in a significant decline in sales. As a merchant, you naturally want to avoid this, and you may be wondering, “What should I do about negative reviews?” Is there anything I can do?
In this article, we’ll go over the most effective techniques to deal with bad Amazon reviews. We’ll evaluate the effort required, the likelihood of success, and the expected outcome for each metric.
The Wrong Way to Deal With Negative Amazon Reviews
Some vendors have attempted to minimize unfavorable ratings in the past by contacting consumers directly and requesting them to revise or delete their reviews retrospectively (after resolving the customer’s issue).
Asking a customer to remove or modify a bad review is against Amazon’s product review policies.
Amazon takes the protection of customer reviews’ validity extremely seriously. Violations can result in your seller account being closed, cash being frozen, and even legal action being taken against you or anybody acting on your behalf!
As a result, this is NOT how you should handle reviews.
So, how do you deal with a negative review?
You can publicly respond to a customer review, which may assist to mitigate any damage to the product’s reputation (and of the seller or vendor).
If commenting on a negative review doesn’t work, you can request that Amazon remove the review. For sellers and suppliers, removal is the best option, but keep in mind that Amazon normally favors customers and will only remove a review if it violates Amazon’s community guidelines.
Finally, providing outstanding customer service and clear and comprehensive product descriptions is the only genuine approach to reduce the likelihood of a negative review.
However, there will always be a Grumpy guy who is unhappy with your product (and a reason for you to return to this article).
Let’s look at how to deal with negative Amazon reviews.
1. Commenting in Public – How to Respond to a Negative Amazon Product Review
You can do the following when you leave a remark on a review:
- Give your opinion on a topic covered in the review.
- Show that you care about your consumers and that you provide excellent customer service by describing what you did to fix a specific problem and why it won’t happen again in the future.
- Obtain a customer’s contact information through the Buyer-Seller-Messaging Service so that you can assist him with his issue.
Please don’t give out your email address!
…or a private phone number, or any other method of contacting you. It is against Amazon’s terms and conditions to encourage customers to contact you outside of Amazon. In most situations, your remark will be deleted or not posted at all.
Commenting on a review can provide you with the following advantages:
- The negative impact of the review is mitigated when you share additional information for other customers.
- Because you provided excellent customer service and assisted him with his problem, the client improves his rating. Do not, however, request that the customer change his or her review.
How do I comment on a negative review?
To leave a comment, go to the relevant review and select “Add a remark” (log-in is required). Ensure that users can recognise you as the seller, for example, by having a clear signature (Vendors enrolled in the Official Contributions Program already have a Manufacturers badge, see below).
Please keep in mind: If a vendor is engaged in Amazon’s “Official Contributions Program,” their comments or responses will be highlighted with a “Manufacturer Badge.” The blue label demonstrates a genuine connection to the goods and lends credibility to the answer.
The disadvantage is that buyers are unable to contact vendors in the same way that they can with sellers (i.e., not via the Buyer-Seller Messaging system).
Remember that you can’t publicly remark with your email address or other contact information because doing so violates Amazon’s rules and conditions. Customers can only contact Amazon Customer Service or continue the conversation on the product page if vendors offer it.
2. Deleting a Review : How to Get Rid of a Negative Amazon Review
You can’t wait to learn how to erase 1-star reviews on Amazon once you’ve seen their negative influence on your sales. It’s possible: if a product review does not follow Amazon’s review criteria, it will be removed.
Any unfavorable review that is eliminated is a good result: you lose one review, but you also lose the negative influence it has.
However, the chances of Amazon removing a review are slim. To be deleted, the review in question must clearly violate Amazon’s community guidelines.
Such a violation occurs only in exceptional cases (e.g., harshly inappropriate or deceitful reviews). The simple fact that a review is unjust does not entitle it to be removed.
It’s simple to ask for a review to be removed or revised: you may report a review to Amazon with a few clicks or by sending an email.
Go to your product’s product details page, find the suspicious review, and click “report abuse.”
You can also send an email to community-help@amazon.com with the ASIN of your product, the date and time of the review, the reviewer’s name/pseudonym, and, ideally, a link to the review.
Increase your chances of success by describing the user’s violation of the review guidelines.
Before you start reporting each 1-star review, keep in mind that Amazon will only delete reviews if they violate these criteria in any way.
Don’t try to bulk-report all of your negative reviews to see how many will be removed – it won’t work, and it could hurt your internal reputation and Amazon seller rating.
Only report a review if it is found to be in violation of one or more of Amazon’s community guidelines.
Too many offensive reviews to read? You can also report your entire listing to Amazon by contacting community-help@amazon.com if you believe your listing has been victim to a malicious attack by a number of negative reviews. Include any reviews that you believe are in violation of Amazon’s policies, and they will look into it.
How to Spot Inappropriate Amazon Reviews
You may not agree with a customer’s statement, but even a negative review can be reasonable. Fake negative reviews, on the other hand, are frequently suspiciously generic. You might be able to recognize them, but is Amazon up to the task? This list will assist you in identifying reviews that should be flagged.
The Amazon Review Removal Policy
- The product, not the vendor, must be the focus of the review (or anything else)
- It is not permitted to make comments on comparable pricing, product availability, or alternative ordering alternatives.
- Libelous, defamatory, harassing, threatening, or abusive information is not permitted (e.g., profanity and hate speech)
- Obscene, pornographic, or lewd content, as well as nudity or sexually explicit photos.
- Anything that intrudes on someone’s privacy, such as phone numbers and email addresses.
- By posting from many accounts or coordinating with others, you’re drowning out other people’s perspectives.
- Product promotions, including URLs
- Offering or demanding payment in exchange for material. This is a competitor’s evaluation.
- A single buyer has left several negative reviews for the same product.
Bad Reviews Can Be Beneficial Information
Customers submit negative Amazon product reviews for a variety of reasons, but in most situations, they provide you with the opportunity to make significant changes.
For example, you may alter your product description in response to a review (don’t forget to thank the reviewer for the heads-up!).
Another example: gather and analyze all of your negative reviews. Learn about your clients’ problems and use that information to create new products.
How to Completely Avoid Negative Amazon Reviews
You now know that your options for dealing with poor Amazon reviews are limited. That’s all there is to it. You can either write a comment or report the review. You have the best chance of having the review removed or amended if you use these alternatives properly. This article has demonstrated how to do so.
If unfavorable reviews do occur, your major goal should be to try to avoid them as much as possible while also identifying and eliminating the main causes. Dealing with unfavorable reviews starts with a decent product and excellent customer service. Focus on these to avoid headaches and increase revenue over time.
Keep your Amazon reviews under your control.
If you monitor a variety of items, good review management can become extremely time-consuming. To save time and effort, develop a set of standard texts that you may use and alter as needed to reply to criticism. The most detrimental 1-star reviews should be prioritized, as they will be read by far more users than 2-star evaluations, for example.
When a reviewed product only has a few (less than 20) reviews, make sure you react: When these products acquire a negative rating, their overall rating becomes much more “susceptible.”
A low overall rating might cause a product’s ranking to drop, resulting in fewer sales and reviews.
Conclusion
Customer feedback, both positive and negative, is an important element of the Amazon seller experience. Learning from unfavorable reviews and correcting previous mistakes is crucial to becoming a successful vendor. Feedback is a gold mine of data that may help you uncover important keywords and fill in holes in your product listing.
When it comes to a negative review, the one thing you should never do is become discouraged. Obtaining positive feedback requires a significant amount of effort and time. As Rome wasn’t built in a day, don’t expect to see immediate results when you begin your seller journey.
Some negative reviews are unavoidable, and they can even help your product gain credibility! A product with only 5-star reviews can be cause for concern. Even the most well-known businesses and goods do not have a faultless track record. You’re well on your way to being a super seller if you have a fantastic product and excellent customer service.
