Using the Amazon Customer Reviews Tool to Address Negative Feedback

This blog was updated on March 13, 2024.

Great brands provide exceptional customer service, especially in situations where the customer is unhappy or disappointed. The Amazon Customer Reviews tool empowers brands to engage customers directly via email by responding to critical customer reviews (1 – 3 stars). This tool provides two templated emails that allow you to respond easily to customers. You can choose to either offer a full refund or request additional information about the order to help resolve the issue. Amazon launched the Customer Reviews tool to provide the following benefits:

• Elevate your brand with exceptional customer service
  Reach out to customers who provided negative reviews to improve their experience and build trust.
• Understand how your product resonates with customers
  Monitor reviews to quickly identify customer sentiment, correct product or listing defects, and detect and report abuse.

The Importance of Customer Reviews

To utilize the Customers Reviews tool, brands must be enrolled in Brand Registry and associated with a Professional selling account in good standing. The account will need to be the brand owner for the given brand. The brand owner must also be the seller of record for the order associated with a particular review.

It is important to note that you are only permitted to reply to critical reviews that meet the following criteria:

• The purchase is verified.
• The order was placed in the last 12 months.
• The order is not for a digital subscription.
• The customer has not opted out of communication.

How to Use the Amazon Customer Reviews Tool

1. Navigate to Brand Customer Reviews
   Navigate to Customer Reviews option under Brands tab on Seller Central.

2. Filter
   You can filter the customer reviews by Star rating, Brand (applicable only when the brand owner is a “Brand Representative” for multiple brands), or Time Period using the filters on the top right.

• Contact Buyer
  If you are the seller of record on a transaction that resulted in a critical review, and if the review is from a verified purchase, you will see the option Contact Buyer on the top right of the critical review. After clicking Contact Buyer, you will be presented with two options: 1) offer a full courtesy refund, or 2) check with your customer to clarify any product issues based on their review.
• Select a Contact Reason
  If you select Courtesy Refund, an automated email will be generated offering a full refund to the customer. If you need to gather additional information before you can help the customer, select Customer Support as the contact reason. An automated email will be generated seeking the customer’s permission to be contacted via the Buyer-Seller messaging.
• Click Send
• Customer Receives Brand Message
  Customers will be able to view the message within the Message center in Your Account page. When a customer replies to the brand owner’s message, a buyer-seller message will be generated in Seller Central within the Messages page.

Why the Amazon Customer Reviews Tool is Important

The Customer Reviews tool highlights the power of customer feedback on Amazon. The key to understanding its importance is a concept called social proof. The term was coined in 1984 by Robert Caldini, a renowned psychologist who is globally credited as the foundational expert in the science of influence. In its essence, social proof is a psychological and social phenomenon wherein people are persuaded to mimic the actions of others. Applied to business, it simply means people are more likely to purchase a product if they have proof that others have bought it and like it.

With ecommerce at an all-time high, product reviews have never been more influential. A report by Spiegel Research Center found that 95% of customers read reviews before making a purchase and that most trust these reviews as much as they would a recommendation from a friend. In fact, upon visiting a product page on Amazon, many customers skip immediately to the first few reviews to determine whether they should read more.

The Customer Reviews tool does not guarantee a customer will modify or delete their negative review, but it does provide the seller with an opportunity to address the complaint. All brands on Amazon should monitor their reviews regularly and leverage this tool to help reduce criticism and maximize positive feedback, which will result in greater social proof.

Amazon’s Customer Review Insights Tool

Customer Review Insights automate product review analysis, making it much easier to read and analyze thousands of customer reviews. You can find this tool within Product Opportunity Explorer in Seller Central under the Growth section in the main menu. These insights can help sellers understand customer sentiment, identify trends, pinpoint areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to enhance their products and customer experience.

Some key aspects of Amazon Customer Review Insights include:

1. Sentiment Analysis: Analyzing the tone and sentiment expressed in customer reviews to gauge overall satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the product.
2. Feature Analysis: Identifying specific product features or aspects mentioned frequently in reviews, both positive and negative, to understand what customers value most and where improvements may be needed.
3. Competitor Analysis: Comparing customer reviews of similar products from competitors to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for differentiation.
4. Trend Identification: Detecting emerging trends or patterns in customer feedback over time, such as common issues that arise after product updates or seasonal fluctuations in demand.
5. Actionable Recommendations: Providing actionable recommendations based on customer feedback to help sellers prioritize areas for improvement and implement strategies to enhance their products and customer satisfaction.

Amazon Customer Review Insights empower sellers with valuable information to optimize their products, address customer concerns, and ultimately drive sales and success on the platform.

Channel Key Takeaway

As an Amazon seller, you should work to accumulate as many positive reviews as possible. That said, you will never make every customer happy. Even the most trusted brands receive a negative review from time to time. When you receive criticism, analyze the validity of the complaint. Listening to your customers is a good way to improve your products, which will result in more positive reviews and fewer negative ones. Remember to always address critical reviews quickly and professionally. Even if an unhappy customer does not remove their negative feedback, adhering to exceptional customer service will prove more impactful in the long run.