07 Jun Importance of reviews on Amazon: what are they for and what to do to get them?

• Customer opinions are one of the most relevant aspects when it comes to making a purchase within the largest marketplace in the world.
• Amazon makes sure they are all real and fights fake reviews to ensure an excellent shopping experience.

With the emergence and rise of e-commerce, new advantages and opportunities have arisen for both sellers and buyers, but others have also disappeared. This time we talk about the relationship of trust that is created between a seller and a buyer. In traditional commerce, it is often decisive in closing a sale because customers can resolve their doubts and questions immediately.

But on the internet this is not so easy, so the opinion of someone who has bought the same product is essential when you want to buy something. In this way, it is possible to find out whether the item fits the description, whether it is of good quality or whether it will serve its purpose correctly.

Here’s why they are so important and what you can do to get them.

Why are they so important?

Firstly, they are essential because they help to generate the interpersonal trust that cannot be established in e-commerce and that represents one of the biggest problems in this type of business. According to a study by the consulting firm SeQura, just 5 positive reviews of a product can increase the likelihood of buying it by up to 270%.

On the other hand, with regard to positioning, as we have already explained here, reviews on Amazon are just as relevant as including links in content for Google: the more  reviews and better ratings, more visibility and more authority.

The problem is that negative reviews are easier to get than positive ones. This is because if the product has not satisfied customers, they use them to show their dissatisfaction and to complain. On the other hand, to get a positive comment it is not enough that the item in question is excellent value for money or that it works properly, but both the logistics and the after-sales service must be equally satisfactory. On average, the ratio of positive reviews to sales is 1%, which means that for every 100 sales, one positive review is left.

What to do to get positive reviews

There is no magic formula to increase the number of positive comments. The only way to get good customer reviews on Amazon is to be a good seller, be honest and offer quality products that match their descriptions. In addition, it is important to be vigilant, attentive, provide excellent customer service and constantly work to deliver a satisfactory shopping experience.

But, to complement this, a number of actions can often be taken to help increase the number of positive reviews.

1. Email automation: this consists of scheduling a series of emails to communicate with the customer and show interest in making their shopping experience as good as possible. Normally three emails are sent:
   1. Shipping confirmation: to thank you for your purchase and confirm shipment.
   2. Follow-up of the purchase: it is sent a couple of days later and the important thing is to make sure that the product arrived in perfect condition and to show the customer that you are available for anything they need.
   3. Request the review: it is sent 5-7 days later and should include some valuable content.

2. Include a card with a QR code: this code will link to a landing page (landing) where the customer can find valuable content, such as downloading the instruction manual in digital format, alternative ways of use, advice or a personalised customer service chat.

3. Amazon Vine Programme: this consists of sending a specific product free of charge to customers who are members of the programme, called Vine Voices, in order for them to generate a real and unbiased review. The downside is that they can be either positive or negative.

Prohibited practices to get reviews

Amazon has severely tightened its measures against this type of practices, having detected that their use can be a problem for customer satisfaction.  The following are some of the things that must not be done under any circumstances:

1. The seller, a family member or a company employee directly posting a positive review on your products or a negative review on your competitors’ products.
2. Offering rewards, refunds or discounts in exchange for positive reviews or explicitly requesting that a favourable review be left.
3. Exclusively soliciting reviews from satisfied buyers.
4. Generate a variant relationship between unrelated products to take advantage of reviews of one of them.
5. Manipulate the usefulness functions of reviews, in order to make certain comments stand out from others.