How to Respond to Negative Online Reviews as an Amazon Seller

In the age of ecommerce, customer reviews can be posted publicly for all to see. From review systems to social media, buyers have lots of tools to share the experience they had with your business or with a specific product that you're selling in your Amazon store. 

Which begs the question, how do negative reviews on Amazon affect your business and how can you properly deal with them? We outline our top expert tips at Mayan for FBA sellers in 2022 here in this post. 

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Why (Negative or Positive) Reviews Matter on Amazon

For better or for worse, most consumer reviews posted online highlight either the exceptionally good or the very bad. 

As an Amazon seller, this all matters for a myriad of reasons, including:

• Your Amazon conversions take a dip: One of the downers is that bad reviews on Amazon directly affect your conversion rates. This means a drop in your store's ranking, less clicks on your products and brand - and ultimately, fewer sales in your store. There are so many ways that Amazon conversion rates can impact your business.
  

• Negative reviews on Amazon lowers customer confidence: If a shopper is new to your store, one of the best ways for them to get to know you and your business is through reading the customer reviews. Customers tend to rely on the feedback of their peers and fellow Amazon shoppers to guide them - I mean, don't you do the same? This is especially true in ecommerce, because everything is online and buyers can't physically handle a product prior to purchasing it. If they are new to a certain business, consumers want to minimize risk before buying a product they cannot preview in person.

Another important thing to note is that satisfied customers might not feel the need to post a review, and unhappy customers may feel more of a pull to share their experience and post about it on your Amazon store. This means that the reviews written on your storefront page might not directly reflect your services. 

Here's what you can do to combat any discrepancy between good and bad reviews on Amazon: 

• Get those hard-earned positive reviews: If you're running a good business as an Amazon FBA seller, odds are that you have more satisfied customers than unsatisfied ones. So, don't you want to try and amplify the voices of those happy customers? To do this, you can start by creating an incentive for your happy customers to post an honest, positive review to your storefront. 

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How To Deal With Negative Reviews on Amazon: Tips and Tricks for Sellers

As an Amazon FBA seller, you’re bound to get plenty of positive customer reviews and a few negative ones along the way. And the bad reviews may come your way even when you thought you did everything right. 

While negative reviews on Amazon may scare away potential customers, there are ways to manage them to maintain customer loyalty and win the trust of a would-be buyer. Here are  ways you can do just that:

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1. Reach out to Directly Address the Concern

Amazon sellers can respond to negative reviews to limit risk to their business.

On Amazon, you have the opportunity to publicly respond to every review, either positive or negative, which shows as a store owner you are aware of your customers needs and ready to make amends. This may seem straightforward, but the first step is to make the decision to address the concern directly with a personal message to the customer. When doing this however, make sure to keep these few tips in mind:

1. It’s important to NOT use a blanket statement (we'll give examples of typical blanket statements further down) to address each negative review,  and…
2. NOT to ignore the bad review in the hopes it will fade into the past.

As a seller, responding openly and honestly to negative reviews on Amazon can help you maintain your brand image, boost customer satisfaction, and show future customers that you are there to help them fix problems down the line. This could even incentivize the customer to update the negative review or even remove it from the website entirely.

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2. Don’t Be Afraid (or Too Proud) to Make a Change

There are times that a negative review is justified. If you begin to see a pattern in the reviews you are getting, then there’s a potential issue with your business that needs to be addressed. This feedback, though may be frustrating at the moment, is especially valuable when it can help you improve your operations, therefore improving your Amazon FBA conversion rate down the line.

If you do decide to move forward with changes based on the good or bad customer feedback, it’s important to share with employees and customers where the idea originally came from. The knowledge that customers are holding your brand accountable could make your team feel all the more responsible for maintaining your brand's standards.

It’s also valuable to thank the customer(s) that brought this problem to light and explain the steps you’re taking to make a positive change in your business. This lets that customer know that they were justified in their response, and lets future customers know you are open to feedback and willing to fix issues.

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3. Request Amazon Removal

If you received a negative review that is untrue or violates Amazon’s policies, did you know that you can contact Amazon directly to request removal? Well you can, according to Amazon's latest guidance for sellers.

Requests should be made by opening a new support case in Seller Central. This should be a final resort after attempting the other tactics suggested previously in this post, as there’s no guarantee that Amazon will remove it.

Negative reviews on Amazon aren’t ideal, but they are an unavoidable part of having your own online business. However, they present you with an opportunity to not only strengthen the operations at your store, but to build upon your customer relationships and shine a positive light on your brand based on your willingness to respond to them. And you'll be rewarded for it!

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