4 Ways FBA Sellers Can Deal With Negative Reviews on Amazon

‍In the age of ecommerce, customer reviews can be posted publicly for all to see. From review systems to social media, online shoppers 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. 

Taking this into account, it's pretty understandable that any bad reviews on Amazon that you get will directly affect your FBA business, not to mention your brand. 

For starters, negative reviews on Amazon do this by decreasing that product listing's visibility, not to mention the product's overall ranking. But it's not all bad news, because there are ways that FBA sellers like yourself can properly deal with negative reviews on Amazon to minimize the overall risks for your business. Curious to find out how?

Your FBA Business: Why (Positive and Negative) Reviews on Amazon Matter

‍When assessing the impact of bad reviews on Amazon, try looking at it from the point of view of a buyer. If you can't physically examine a product, the best way to get some sort of tangible grasp on any specific product is by checking out all of the reviews. We all look at the online reviews before booking a table at a restaurant when on vacation and we all check for any red flags when looking at hotel reviews.

And whether they are positive or negative, they will be visible on your Amazon store and will have an impact on potential customers (would-be buyers), customer loyalty, and could directly affect your daily sales performance.

How Amazon Reviews Make an Impact on Your Business

To take things a little further, here's just a few ways that good or bad reviews on Amazon affect your business:

• Negative reviews on Amazon lower 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 on your Amazon store. Customers tend to rely on the feedback of their peers and fellow Amazon shoppers to guide them on the best products to buy on the platform. If they are new to a certain business, consumers want to minimize risk before buying a product they cannot preview in person. As a result, a negative review that addresses a concern of any would-be buyer or even a returning customer could lower that buyer's confidence in your business.
  

• Winning the Buy Box: Another reason why negative reviews matter is that they will decrease your chances of getting that highly-coveted Amazon Buy Box. To stay successful as an Amazon FBA business, you want your product listings to be optimized as much as possible to get the Buy Box and maximize your sales.
  

• Conversion rates: Because the reviews you get on your Amazon store serve as a direct reflection of your business to the outside world (or virtual world, however you like to see it) and impacting buyer confidence, your conversion rates on Amazon will also be affected. And if this impact is negative, this means a drop in your store's ranking, less clicks on your products and brand - and ultimately, fewer sales in your store.

But it's not all bad news, because there are easy ways that FBA sellers can combat  any negative feedback from customers.

Negative Reviews on Amazon: Expert Tips for Professional Sellers

‍As an FBA seller, you’re bound to get plenty of positive customer feedback as well as a few negative reviews on Amazon at various points of your business journey. However, those bad reviews might 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:

1. Reach out to Directly Address the Concern

Amazon sellers can respond to negative reviews to limit risk to their FBA business. In fact, many customers expect a response from the seller within a week or so of posting the negative review. Which means that there's power in your hands to address the issue head-on to limit the damage that could potentially be done from a bad review.

On Amazon, you have the opportunity to publicly respond to every review, whether it's positive or negative. Responding to reviews in a swift and considerate manner will show that as a store owner you are aware of your customers needs and ready to make amends. 

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This may seem straightforward, but the first step is to make the decision to address the concern directly and respond to that negative review with a personal message to the customer. When responding to negative reviews on Amazon, make sure to keep these few tips in mind:

1. It’s important to not use a blanket statement to address each negative review. 
2. Offer options to fix the issue to the customer.
3. Be genuine in your response.
4. Lastly, do not 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.

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

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

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

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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.

3. Make a Request to Amazon to Remove the Review

If you received a negative review that violates Amazon’s policies, did you know that you can contact Amazon directly to request removal? According to Amazon's latest guidance however, it is only in the case of violating the platform's community guidelines. So it's best to use this option as a last resort.

How to remove negative reviews on Amazon

Here are three ways that sellers can request a removal of a negative review on Amazon:

1. Contact Amazon seller support
2. Go to the 'Report Abuse' section and open a new case
3. Send an email to community-help@amazon.com. You will have to note the ASIN of the product that received the negative review, profile name of the reviewer, and the date/time that the review was posted.

It can't hurt to note again that requesting a removal of the review from Amazon should be a last resort after attempting the other tactics suggested previously in this post, as there’s no guarantee that Amazon will remove the review.

4. Focus on the Positive When Dealing With Bad Reviews on Amazon

There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Another important thing to note when discussing the topic of bad reviews on Amazon 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. Don't you want to show the world what your business is all about?

One productive way to combat any discrepancy between good and bad reviews on Amazon is to 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 satisfied customers to post an honest, positive review of the product they purchased to your store's page on Amazon. 

Final Thoughts

For better or for worse, many consumer reviews posted online highlight either the exceptionally good or the very bad. And while negative reviews on Amazon aren’t ideal, they are an unavoidable part of having your own online business. 

The positive side is that negative feedback from your customers presents you with an opportunity to not only strengthen the operations at your Amazon 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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