Reviews and ratings are crucial to generating sales on any e-commerce platform – because they provide social proof about your product, whether your product is good or not. Not only that, they worked as a decision maker, because, by checking the product reviews and ratings, customers make the purchasing decisions.
But when it comes to Amazon, then they play a vital role to get success. On Amazon, several sellers sell the same product and it can be really difficult to distinguish one product from the others.
Also, Amazon’s A10 algorithms take into account the reviews and ratings factors. Products with more positive reviews and ratings are likely to rank higher in search results, increasing visibility to potential buyers. Usually, 75-90% of Amazon customers buy products from the 1st page and the rest from the 2nd and 3rd page on search.
In this comprehensive guide, we will discuss what is Amazon reviews and ratings, their impact on product success, what policy they maintain for review, and finally, some strategies to get more reviews and ratings fast and easily on your Amazon products.
Quick View:
- What are Amazon Reviews and Ratings?
- How does Amazon’s Reviews and Ratings Impact Product Success?
- Amazon Reviews and Ratings Policy
- Strategies for Getting Reviews and Ratings on Amazon
- Manually Request Reviews
- Review Tools
- Amazon Early Review Program
- Amazon Vine Program
- Product Inserts
- Launch a Giveaway or Discount Promotion
- Solicit Reviews from Friends
- Review Group
- Advertising on Social Media
What are Amazon Reviews and Ratings?
Amazon reviews and ratings are essential components of the customer feedback ecosystem on the platform. Reviews consist of written opinions and experiences shared by customers who have purchased and used a product, offering valuable insights into its strengths and weaknesses.
Ratings, on the other hand, are numerical scores given by customers to express their overall satisfaction, typically represented by a star system. Higher ratings indicate greater satisfaction.
Both reviews and ratings collectively serve as a crucial guide for potential buyers, aiding them in making informed decisions. 57% of consumers shop on Amazon at least once per week, and 61% of consumers say they’re influenced by the product with the best ratings and reviews.
How does Amazon’s Reviews and Ratings Impact on Sales?
On Amazon, reviews and ratings act as an Influencer and a Determinator of your product. Because customers are more likely to purchase a product with positive feedback from others. If your product has many positive reviews and ratings, customers will go with your products rather than your competitors.
On the other hand, if your products don’t have many reviews and ratings or have so many negative reviews, obviously customers will buy products from your competitors.
So, reviews and ratings are acting as Influencers. Or we can say – Salesman of a Physical Store.
Products with more positive reviews and ratings are likely to get the Amazon’s Choice Badge which can significantly impact sales and help to rank on BSR. Not only that, they affect your product’s Click-Through Rate (CTR), traffic, and visibility.
Just imagine, if your products are not ranking on Amazon SERP, how will customers find and go to the product detail page?
So, reviews and ratings will determine how your product will perform on Amazon. They’re not just comments; they’re like a roadmap guiding your product to success on Amazon.
Amazon Review Policy
Customer Reviews should give customers genuine product feedback from fellow shoppers. Amazon has a strict policy against reviews that are designed to mislead or manipulate customers. Amazon doesn’t allow anyone to write reviews as a form of promotion.
According to Amazon’s customer product reviews policy, the following types of reviews are not allowed and will be removed:
- A review by someone who has a direct or indirect financial interest in the product.
- A review by someone perceived to have a close personal relationship with the product’s owner, author, or artist.
- A review by the product manufacturer, posing as an unbiased shopper.
- Multiple negative reviews for the same product from one customer.
- A review in exchange for monetary reward.
- A review of a game in exchange for bonus in-game credits.
- A negative review from a seller on a competitor’s product.
- A positive review from an artist on a peer’s album in exchange for receiving a positive review from them.
It is also prohibited to review your product or a competitor’s product, even from your customer account. Your family members and/or employees should also refrain from doing so.
Please note: If you violate any of the points mentioned, Amazon may terminate, suspend, or Ban your seller’s account.
Strategies for Getting Reviews and Ratings on Amazon
1. Manually Request Reviews through Seller Central
Amazon’s Request a Review Button is a feature in Amazon Seller Central that allows sellers to request feedback and product reviews for a specific product. Pressing the button triggers an email to the buyer, asking them to leave a product review or seller feedback. The message is sent directly from Amazon to the buyer, and the seller does not have any way to customize the message or any other control over the contents.
To set up this button:
- From Seller Central go to your Manage Order page and select an Order for a review request to the customer.
- Then click on the Order and go to the Order Detail Page. On that page, click on the Review Request Button.
- Once you click on the button, you can see a message – Review Request Message. Please check the messages before moving forward.
- If you agree, click on Yes and Amazon will send both a Seller Feedback Request and a Product Review Request to the buyers. And the interesting thing is- the message is automatically sent according to the customer’s language.
You can send a Manual review request 5 to 30 days after the order has been delivered. This is one of the best ways to get reviews and ratings. The process is very manual and time-consuming.
However, there are some paid tools for review Automation. By integrating them into your Amazon seller account you can send a bunch of review requests with just a few clicks.
One of them is – JungleScout
For automated review requests with JungleScout
- Under the Orders tab on Seller Central, go to Manage Orders, then click on the JungleScout Chrome extension
- After that, Amazon asked you for permission,
- Finally, click on Request Review on this page to send a Review Request for every order on that page. Go through all the pages and use the same process.
2. Use Review Tools
You can use review tools like Feedback Genius to request reviews from customers. This is a White Hat strategy with a safety rating of 10/10.
According to Amazon’s review policy, you can request a review from the customers but can’t bias them. There are many feedback services, but Feedback Genius is one of the first and arguably has the most features.
Feedback Genius allows you to create template email campaigns and automate your requests through Amazon’s Buyer-Seller Messaging or Request Review systems.
You can monitor feedback and reviews received and view detailed analytics about your emails to structure more efficient campaigns.
3. Amazon Vine Program
Amazon Vine program is a great way to get reviews which is another White Hat strategy. It is safe and has a safety rating of 10/10.
This program is designed to help sellers get reviews on their new products. The program is available to sellers who have enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry. Amazon will send your product to Vine Voices, who are trusted reviewers on Amazon. They will leave an honest review of your product.
To learn more about the Amazon Vine program, please check this link – https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/amazon-vine-reviews-ratings-eligibility-enrollment-process/
4. Add Product Inserts:
Amazon product inserts are a form of printed marketing material that Amazon sellers include in their packages. The safety rating is 8/10 because there is a risk factor.
You can include an insert card with your product asking the buyer to leave a review. This is a simple and effective way to get reviews. You can also offer a discount or giveaway to customers who leave a review.
But, If you incentivize a customer to leave a review with the insert card, and if Amazon detects this then it might be an issue and warns you not to do it further. But if you do so, it may lead to suspending your account.
5. Launch a Giveaway or Discount Promotion with Facebook and Messenger
Typically, reviews have a higher chance of sticking when a sale on Amazon is made at a discount of less than 30%. Therefore, it is advisable to have customers initially pay the full price and subsequently provide reimbursement via platforms such as PayPal.
To implement this strategy, begin by selecting a product for review promotion on Facebook or Messenger. Create a Facebook Messenger purchase flow that automatically guides customers to your product using a 2-step URL or search-find-buy method. The Messenger purchase flow is designed to remind customers to leave a review after completing their purchase. Once the purchase is confirmed, customers are then reimbursed via Paypal.
This approach ensures that reviews are more likely to be retained, providing full credit for the sale and enhancing the credibility of customer feedback.
Please note: The safety rating is 7/10, so you need to be careful in every step.
6. Amazon Early Review Program
Amazon made incentivized review legal for sellers. Amazon allows sellers to give compensation for reviews as long as Amazon is the one providing it.
In 2016, Amazon introduced the Amazon Early Review Program. This program is designed to help sellers get honest reviews on their new products. It is safe and has a safety rating of 10/10. The program is available to sellers who have enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry.
Amazon will contact customers who have purchased your product and request a review. Customers who leave a review will receive a small reward.
Participating in the Amazon early review program costs $60 per product and here are the rules
- You should have the brand registry on Amazon
- Your product must have less than 5 reviews
- And, your product sell price should be more than $15
The number of reviews is too low, right? Actually, if you are launching a new product, 5 reviews are enough to jump-start. Usually, the number of sales and review ratio on Amazon is 10:1 this means that if you get 10 reviews from 100 sales, it’s really good enough.
Please note: The Amazon Early Review Program is closed now. We will let you know if this program re-opens.
7. Solicit Reviews from Friends
The safety rating for this strategy is 7/10.
Seeking reviews from friends is a straightforward method, but it requires caution. Amazon has mechanisms to identify connections to friends through platforms like Facebook or Google, making it essential to be extra mindful.
If you opt for this approach, ensure that the friends selected for reviews are not directly linked to you on social media. Additionally, avoid choosing friends who share the same Wifi, and IP address, or reside in the same location. Any detection of these practices could result in a manual penalty from Amazon.
It’s crucial not to overuse this strategy and refrain from utilizing the same friends for reviews across multiple products to maintain compliance with Amazon’s policies.
8. Run Advertising on Facebook and Messenger to Give Coupons
Implementing the Amazon Advertising approach can boost your product sales and traffic. Launch Facebook Messenger ads targeted at your desired audience; providing an attractive coupon incentive.
Upon clicking the ad, customers receive the coupon code via Facebook Messenger. Once the coupon code is activated, guide the customer to your Amazon store URL for the purchase. Following the completed purchase, use Facebook Messenger to send a message, encouraging the customer to leave a review. This streamlined process maximizes the effectiveness of your promotional strategy.
9. Take Part in the Review Group
This is one of the most popular Black Hat strategies to get product reviews on Amazon. It’s extremely risky and we are suggesting not following this strategy.
Still, if you want to follow this – please have a look at the below suggestions.
As we mentioned earlier, Amazon is too smart and monitors everything from social media to insert cards or incentivized language. So, they can easily detect if you take reviews from the review group.
Because the review groups work for multiple sellers and give reviews. This means the same group of people are providing the reviews over and over again.
If you still want to take part in the reviews group, don’t use more than one with a few numbers.
Final Thoughts
This is the method to acquire reviews and enhance your sales. As you navigate the intricate terrain of Amazon, let these reviews be the guiding stars, illuminating the path to success. So, armed with strategies and a commitment to excellence, embark on this Amazonian adventure.
It’s important to note that offering a complete refund to a customer in exchange for a review goes against Amazon’s review policy. Even if Amazon may not immediately detect it, customers can raise complaints if they discover a full refund was provided for a review. Please ensure that you avoid giving a full refund explicitly for a review to stay in compliance with Amazon’s policies.
If you need any help with Amazon reviews and ratings, feel free to let us know in the comment box or email us at the following email address: info@ecomclips.com
To know more about Amazon, please check out our other blog. Also, you can check our YouTube videos as well related to Amazon.
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