Customers come first on Amazon, and Amazon seller feedback and ratings (now referred to as “Account Health Ratings”) are perfect examples of this tenet in action. In order to show products with the lowest price and ensure the best quality products are prioritised for customers, Amazon relies on this data to help deliver a solid customer experience.
Why is seller feedback important?
Because Amazon is a virtual store, many customers rely on feedback to ensure they’re buying an authentic product that will actually arrive. Instead of being able to touch or inspect an item before buying, customers will look at product reviews, seller feedback, and seller ratings. While most people know what Amazon product reviews are, there’s far more confusion on seller feedback and seller ratings, how they differ, and how they’re calculated.
First off, many customers also don’t tend to notice if a product they’re purchasing is sold by a seller as FBA, or by Amazon. If it’s Amazon Prime eligible, customers are likely to purchase either way. But if you know what you’re doing, it’s often worth it to check a seller’s feedback and ratings, regardless of the product or fulfilment channel. These metrics will tell you what other customers have experienced with the seller, whereas a product review refers to their experience with the particular product.
What is seller feedback on Amazon?
Seller feedback is unrelated to the specific item. Instead, this feedback asks customers to rate the quality of their experience with the particular seller on Amazon. Customers can assess if the product matched the listing and descriptions, the fulfilment experience, the customer service, and the overall experience of buying an item with the seller. If the item was fulfilled by Amazon (such as with FBA), the customers cannot rate the delivery experience because Amazon takes responsibility for fulfilment.
Amazon seller feedback examples
The Amazon feedback will look slightly different depending on the fulfilment method.
Example of FBA item, where customers are only asked about the product page and if it matches the item received.
Example of a non-FBA item, where customers are also asked about delivery and customer service.
How is seller feedback measured
Customers can rate their overall experience from 1 to 5 stars. This reviews their experience on the factors above and creates a public score that any customer can view on the seller profile.
Seller feedback also includes customer comments. Oftentimes, customers will confuse this with a product review, which can be frustrating for sellers and confusing for other customers.
How to leave seller feedback
Customers often wonder how to give seller feedback on Amazon and where to leave feedback on Amazon sellers after a purchase. Unfortunately, this is often because of a negative experience. For instance, a package that didn’t arrive, the wrong item received, etc. Many customers are prompted by follow-up emails from Amazon to provide feedback.
Leaving seller feedback on Amazon is pretty simple. Follow the instructions below:
- Navigate to your Amazon account and log in.
- Click on “Account.”
- Go to “Your Orders.”
- Find the specific order you’d like to leave Amazon feedback for.
- Click “Leave Seller Feedback.”
- Select your options and write your feedback.
Removing sellers feedback for Amazon sellers
Like with customer reviews, Amazon wants to provide customers with an unbiased shopping experience. Allowing customers to leave poor ratings in the seller feedback area can be beneficial to customers, so Amazon doesn’t want them removed by the sellers. That said, if a customer leaves feedback about the product, rather than the seller, they can be removed.
If you are a seller looking for how to remove negative seller feedback on Amazon, follow these steps:
- Log in to Seller Central with your account owner credentials.
- Go to the “Performance” tab and hover over, then select “Feedback.”
- This will take you to the Feedback manager page.
- Scroll down to review all of your feedback from the last 365 days.
- When you find the erroneous negative feedback you want to be removed, go to the right drop-down menu.
- Click “Request Removal.”
- Note that Amazon only removes feedback in the following cases:
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- The feedback includes obscene language.
- The feedback includes seller-specific personally identifiable information.
- The entire feedback comment is a product review.
- Strikethrough feedback if it is regarding fulfilment or customer service for an order fulfilled by Amazon.
- Ensure your feedback removal meets the criteria above, and click “Submit.”
- The feedback will immediately be removed without further review.
In the Recent Feedback section of the Feedback Manager, you can also perform a few other actions, including viewing feedback comments, contacting customers, or posting a public reply. This is a great way for sellers to ensure the customer experience is accurate.
What's the difference between seller feedback and seller ratings?
Sellers can view their seller feedback through the Feedback Manager. The seller rating, however, is something different.
What's a seller rating on Amazon?
Seller feedback is just one piece of a much larger algorithm. Several factors contribute to this rating, even though Amazon doesn’t publicise exactly what goes into the calculation. We know the following details can impact this rating because they’re an important part of the customer experience:
Order Defect Rate: The percentage of orders that have received negative feedback, an A-to-Z Guarantee claim, or a service credit card chargeback. It allows Amazon to measure overall performance with a single metric.
Buy Box wins: When multiple sellers compete on a product page Buy Box, Amazon will heavily weigh order defect rate to encourage customers to purchase from the highest-rated sellers.
Returns: Obviously, Amazon doesn’t want customers returning items. It’s a costly hassle. Sellers with lower returns rates are rated higher. Returns dissatisfaction can also factor in, ie, how often a seller messes up returns and how efficiently they’re processed.
Shipping times: If the seller is not FBA, this will be a key factor in the seller rating. Amazon wants customers to get their items quickly, safely, and efficiently. If you choose to do seller-fulfilment options, ensure you have your logistics sorted properly.
Response times: Amazon will look at how often you respond to customers, how quickly you respond (under or over 24 hours, and average response time), if the complaint is resolved, and how frequently you receive complaints.
Seller Feedback: As mentioned above, your negative feedback and ratings on particular orders are taken into consideration to calculate your overall seller rating. Reducing poor customer feedback can boost the overall seller rating.
How to find your account health rating in Seller Central
If you are an Amazon seller, find your rating in Seller Central and monitor your performance. This can help you avoid account issues, the most severe of which would be suspension.
- Log in to Seller Central with your account owner credentials.
- Go to the “Performance” tab and hover over, then select “Account Health.”
- You can also look at “Voice of the Customer” to see specific returns reasons.
The Account Health tab will show sellers the performance targets, a rating, and any suggestions or problem areas for their account.
The Account Health Rating (AHR) is the new name of the feature that helps sellers monitor account health and ensure they are adhering to Amazon’s selling policies. It takes into account factors such as the number of unresolved policy violations, the relative severity of those violations, and the extent to which a seller positively impacts the customer experience via selling activities.
To maintain ‘Good’ account health, sellers should address all policy violations in a timely manner. If the AHR score is ‘At Risk’ or ‘Critical’, the account may be at risk of deactivation.
How to improve your seller feedback and rating
Once your account is up and running, managing the feedback from your customers should be a priority to ensure smooth operation. Buyers have a 90-day window to leave feedback, so it's important for businesses to send a request soon after the item is delivered. Educate yourself on feedback and the importance of ratings. We like this guide from eComEngine, which talks specifically about staying compliant with Amazon's terms of service and proactive feedback management options. for At eCommerce Nurse, we offer full account management, strategy, troubleshooting, and marketing support to ensure your products offer the best customer experience on the Amazon site. It’s also important to request feedback from your customers, so any issues can be addressed, customer queries can be answered, and any poor ratings can be balanced out with far more positive ratings.
If you need further assistance with your seller feedback, ratings, or adherence to Amazon’s selling policies, please contact us.
