Amazon reviews and product questions: this is how you do it (right)!

Amazon is one of the largest online marketplaces in the world, offering millions of products. For sellers on Amazon, customer reviews and product questions can be crucial to increase sales and build customer trust in their products.

Our guide to Amazon product questions is aimed at user, vendor and seller accounts. Here you can learn what to consider when answering product questions.

General answering guidelines from Amazon

Just as each of us as a private person wants a individual and authentic response or advice to questions about the product – the customer online also wants this on Amazon.

That is – and especially in professional customer service it is essential – to give the customer on Amazon and other online marketplaces, mobile apps, Google Locations the feeling of being advised as individually as possible here.

Amazon has also set some more answer guidelines for questions here, which should be followed so that the answer is actually published on Amazon.

Generally applies:

• The answer must be factual and substantive to the customer problem.
• The texts must contain an individual response to the customer question or issue.
• Companies should respond to reviews as quickly as possible.
• Amazon is highly likely to delete standard responses that are given in a “copy/paste” manner, especially if they are published hundreds of times without reference to the content of the review or product question.
• The answer must not contain any advertising.
• For customers to make better decisions, comprehensive answers are essential. It is rated positively by both Amazon and other customers.
• Link shorteners such as bit.ly will not be allowed.
• You have to answer negative reviews professionally and respectfully.

Every online seller also receives negative reviews from time to time it is important to write a proper response, because according to the Customer Journey Study 2021, customer reviews are the first priority during the information phase for customers within the customer journey. 

Negative reviews allow companies to show their personality and empathy. In addition, it becomes clear that problems should be taken seriously and solved. In doing so, they put customer proximity and satisfaction first, and thus the company gets a face and becomes more human.

Dealing with negative reviews is not always easy, that is why we have compiled guidelines in our blog article “Responding to negative reviews” to help deal with negative feedback.

For Vendor Accounts applies

Manufacturers and brands with Vendor Accounts have access to a number of benefits and features that enable them to effectively sell their products on the platform and grow their business. Additionally, they have the ability to include expanding information in response to questions.

For queries, contact options such as.

• phone numbers,
• support pages,
• direct links to user manuals

can be inserted.

For Seller & User Accounts applies

Current comments/responses that also contain the following criteria will not be published:

• Stringing together of: word.word i.e. e.g. even at the end of a sentence where space is missing/forgotten AFTER a period, this is considered as a link: e.g. “… thank you very much for your review. We are sorry…” 
• E-mail addresses or mentions that include an @ sign. For example word@word.word
• Phone numbers
• URLs (meanwhile also to support pages)
• And also link shorteners such as bit.ly

The following are allowed:

• word. word
• word(dot) word
• word[dot]word
• word/word
• @word
• word@

Our recommendation: To avoid deletion by Amazon, we recommend that you strictly adhere to Amazon’s guidelines when writing a reply.

In order to nevertheless enable the user to contact customer service directly, the following is possible: Manufacturers can store alternative contact options in their Amazon profile and refer to this profile in the reply text.

In addition, true to Amazon guidelines, you must ensure that the texts contain an individual response to the customer’s question or problem.

Amazon deletes, with high probability, also standard answers, which are “copy/paste”-like, above all, if these are published a hundredfold without reference to the contents of the review or product question.

Example of referencing a customer service contact option within the response:

“Thank you for sharing your experience here and giving us the opportunity to respond…..”. Sample text… All ways to contact us are given on our Amazon profile page.”

Note about product reviews on Amazon

Amazon has stopped commenting on reviews for quite some time. Some room for maneuvering, however, is possible:

Reviews should give the consumer a good overview of the product. Here, Amazon has review guidelines that clearly define what should be described or “rated” in a review.

The Amazon guidelines are described in detail what to consider when writing reviews and questions and their answers. Reviews that violate this policy may be removed and may result in the reviewer or seller’s account being suspended. For more on Amazon’s policies, please see the following links:

• https://www.amazon.com/gp/forum/content/seller-guidelines.html
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/forum/content/qa-guidelines.html

“Report” button

Reviews that rate a delivery service or a merchant, for example, can be requested for deletion – using the “Report” button.

Unacceptable ratings will be deleted – this has a direct effect on the star rating. If a negative and at the same time inadmissible rating is deleted – the rating average for the product will increase.

When you click on the report button, a drop-down menu opens with different options, such as “inappropriate content”, “fake review” or “error”. You can then provide a brief description of the problem and click “Report” to notify Amazon about the issue.

Amazon will review all reported content and reviews and remove them if they violate Amazon’s policies. It is important to note that reporting content or feedback that do not violate Amazon’s policies may have a negative impact on the reporting party’s account. Therefore, it is advisable to only report relevant content that violates Amazon’s policies.

“Helpful” tags

Reviews, on the other hand, that describe the product and give helpful criticism – can be marked as “helpful”.

The more “helpful” a review has – the “higher” it is in the ranking: both in the placement on the page itself – and the calculation of the star value of the product.

Additionally, it helps other customers find and read the review faster when they are browsing for product information.

It should be clear that the “helpful” button is not a substitute for doing your own research or critical review. Customers should always read reviews carefully and apply them to their experiences and needs.