Amazon is the biggest B2C (business to consumer) marketplace in the world. In 2021 alone, the retail platform reported an income of around $33 billion U.S. dollars. This is way up from its $21 billion U.S. dollar income in 2020 (Source: Statista). Even in the midst of a global financial crisis, Amazon continues to generate record sales numbers.
Because Amazon is a very competitive marketplace, third-party sellers make it a priority to maintain a pristine reputation. Amazon seller ratings are very important when it comes to attracting new customers and keeping old customers coming back for more. Some business owners even devote an entire division just to maintain their pristine Amazon seller ratings.
Because Amazon seller ratings are great indicators of credibility, customers often use them to decide whether to make a purchase or not. To the customer, seeing a seller with high ratings means that they are consistently providing great service. And this is something that could genuinely affect conversion rates for third-party sellers.
In this article, we will go over what Amazon seller ratings are all about. We’ll discuss how the Amazon seller rating calculation is done. Finally, we’ll also share some defining factors that affect your Amazon seller rating calculation. Hopefully, this will give you an idea of how to boost your reputation and enjoy the benefits that a great rating brings.
Table of Contents
What Are Amazon Seller Ratings?
Simply put, Amazon seller ratings encompass the overall performance of third-party sellers and merchants on AMZN. The rating system is based on a variety of factors that collectively form your seller ratings. Some of these include communication with customers, delivery time, product warranty, ease of refund, product replacement terms, and so on.
The parameters that encompass the Amazon seller ratings allow customers to make more conscious buying decisions. It goes without saying that a customer is more likely to purchase from a seller with a good reputation, right?
This is the reason merchants make it a priority to improve their rating scores. If the rating directly affects the conversion rates, it only makes sense to make sure it stays high at all times.
To be fair with their merchants, AMZN gives everyone a fair chance to prove their worth to the customers. To even the playing field, Amazon ratings and reviews from the last 365 days are used to assess the final Amazon seller reviews score.
Related: Best Products To Sell On AMZN
How To Check Seller Rating On Amazon
To check seller rating on Amazon, simply hover at the star icon that you can find under the product name. There is a prompt there that shows how many ratings the product has and the overall seller rating for that product on AMZN. You can find this on any product listing that is posted on AMZN.
What Is The Difference Between A Rating And A Review?
Before we discuss the defining factors that affect the Amazon seller rating calculation, let us first differentiate ratings from reviews. The terms are often used interchangeably, but there is a massive difference between the two.
Seller Feedback (Ratings)
Ratings are provided by AMZN based on different metrics that help calculate the quality of services that a seller provides. Ratings have more to do with the seller than the actual product itself.
For example, a product could be broken or damaged. But if the seller communicates well and offers a replacement, then the customer may still opt to leave a positive Amazon seller feedback.
So what is a good seller rating on Amazon? Any rating that is above 4+ stars is already considered good seller feedback.
Customer Review
A customer review, on the other hand, is the direct experience of the buyer with regard to the product itself that was bought. Customers can be thorough in leaving a review, and this usually involves rating the product based on its features.
For example, if a customer buys a Dog Chew Toy, then the review might revolve around different product features such as longevity, durability, choking hazard safety, and so on. In a way, a review represents the direct Amazon comments from actual customers who bought the product. It speaks more about the product that was bought. It does not really focus too much on the merchant’s quality of service.
So the next question is: how to get seller ratings on Amazon? And how do you go about leaving a product review?
To leave a rating or a review, all you have to do is log in to your AMZN account and go to your Order History. Check the Order Details of the product that you bought. You’ll be redirected to a dedicated order detail page where you can leave a rating (seller feedback) or a review.
However, take note that not everyone is eligible to write a product review. There are certain limitations that you have to unlock first before you can leave one. AMZN sets a number of minimum eligibility requirements to write a review. This includes the number of purchases made in the past 3 months, the number of buyer feedback received, and so on.
What Are The Different Factors That Play A Role In Seller Ratings?
Are you interested in learning the different factors that play a role in seller feedback ratings? Let’s discuss them in depth below.
Delivery Time
It goes without saying that delivery time plays a huge part in your overall seller feedback score. Some customers need to have their products delivered at a certain date. They are even willing to pay an AMZN Prime Subscription just to get their products delivered faster. So if you want a pristine score, make sure to deliver your items as per the agreed-upon stipulated time.
Order Defect Rate (ODR)
Some orders might arrive with a defect, and this will leave a bad taste in the customer’s mouth. The Order Defect Rate is the number of orders with defects divided by the total number of orders you have delivered. Keep this number as low as possible if you want to avoid getting your seller account revoked.
Tracking Update Rate
Most customers like to see constant updates on their orders. They appreciate a constant tracking update because it gives them an idea of where their shipments are. If you frequently update your order tracking information, customers will love you for it.
Refunds
Refunds are part of any e-commerce business and can’t be avoided. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t lower your refund rate, right? Always ensure that your items are well-packed, in good condition as described, and not damaged. This will minimize your refund rate and reduce dissatisfaction among your buyers.
Late Shipment Rate
How many of your customers’ orders arrive on time? How many of your shipments are late? This metric calculates the rate of your late shipments and averages it over the shipments that arrive on time. Keeping this number low will help increase your overall score.
Negative Feedback
Needless to say, you don’t want to have too many negative reviews and feedback on your profile. Yes, some customers are just hard to please, and having negative feedback makes your listings more believable. After all, having perfect seller feedback is more suspicious, especially if you are selling thousands of products. However, you need to keep the negative feedback at a minimum.
Customer Response
Do you respond to your customers as soon as they send you a message? Or do you wait more than 24 hours before giving a reply? The faster your customer response is, the better this metric will be scored in your favor. Make it a habit to always respond within 24 hours. If possible, hire someone whose sole job is to answer customer queries from your store.
Out of Stock Cancellation Rate
Do you keep on running out of inventory? Were you forced to cancel your AMZN FBA fulfillment because you ran out of stock? If you are always running out of products to sell, it will also affect your overall Amazon seller ratings.
Returns Due To Dissatisfaction
Do your customers keep on returning your products because they don’t come as advertised? Are they are dissatisfied with the quality of the items you are selling? Amazon marketplace sellers need to ensure that their customer dissatisfaction rate is at a minimum to keep their selling privileges.
Importance of Having Positive Amazon Seller Ratings
As we have mentioned in earlier sections, the most obvious reason for maintaining a positive seller score is to attract more customers and improve your conversion rates. It’s a no-brainer that customers look at seller feedback scores first before clicking the checkout button.
However, there are also other reasons why you should aim for a consistently high seller rating score on AMZN. Not only will this give you an advantage when it comes to conversion rates. Ultimately, it will also give you an edge over your competition.
Here are some reasons why it is important to have a good seller feedback rating:
Improved Buy Box Position
Not many merchants know about this, but this is a big reason why getting a good seller rating is essential. Having a good rating can increase your chance to win the Amazon Buy Box, allowing you to get more sales.
The Buy Box is the place where recommended products are promoted by AMZN during a customer’s checkout. If you are promoted to the top Buy Box position, you will attract more customers who are ready to make a purchase.
Better Relationship With AMZN
Another reason why you need to maintain a high rating is because of improved relations with AMZN. Having a good relationship with AMZN gives you more opportunities for your business. It also allows you to expose your business to a wider audience.
AMZN loves sellers who make their customers happy because it makes customers come back for more.
Better Conversion Rates
It is a no-brainer that people with better seller ratings and good customer feedback are trusted more by the customers. If you are a buyer, would you buy from someone who has lots of negative feedback and a poor customer satisfaction rate? You’d rather look for another seller who gives better customer service, right?
People will always look at the seller’s feedback after checking out the product details. And having lots of Stars and positive comments will give you a higher chance to convert the sale.
3 Tips To Increase Your Amazon Seller Ratings
Do you want to know some tips, techniques, and strategies that can help you increase your ratings? There are no magic pills involved in this process, but it is definitely possible to achieve this. To help you out, we have laid out some of the tips that have worked wonders for us through the years:
Be Proactive In Your Customer Communication
Nothing makes a customer happier than getting constant updates and communications from the seller. Don’t wait until a customer gets pissed off or annoyed before you reply to their inquiries and questions. Especially if the questions are valid like tracking number location, missing parts, etc. Show sincerity and prompt action – customers will remember that and come back to you next time.
Try To Be Competitive In Your Pricing
Yes, it is important to make profits and keep your income flowing. But if you don’t update your prices to reflect current competitors’ prices, you won’t be able to attract customers. In fact, customers might even look at your store in a negative light if you are selling prices too high compared to your competition.
Make it a point to set an updated price from time to time, especially when a big holiday season is coming in.
Keep Delivery Times Accurate
We cannot stress enough how important keeping your delivery and shipping times accurate is. Some people purchase things and expect them to be delivered for a special occasion. If your delivery is delayed for whatever reason, the customer’s buying experience will not be a happy one.
Because of this, make sure to avoid any delays. If you are fulfilling orders by yourself, always pack your shipments right after the orders are made so you can minimize possible delays.
Conclusion
Keeping your customers coming back for more is something that you need to learn how to accomplish as a seller. Without loyal repeat customers, it would be hard to maintain a healthy business. Especially in a competitive environment such as AMZN. Hopefully, the information we shared in this article can help improve your Amazon Seller Ratings.
If you need an automated software solution that can help you improve your AMZN business, you should definitely take a look at Zonbase. Zonbase offers an array of AMZN tools that can assist merchants when it comes to product research, keyword research, listing optimization, and so much more.
