This is a guest blog post from Becky Trowbridge of eComEngine. eComEngine provides powerful tools to Amazon Sellers to help them manage feedback, inventory sourcing and more.
Whether you’re launching a new product or continuing to sell your current items, product reviews are essential to your success as an Amazon seller. The more reviews you have, and the better the reviews are, the higher your products rank in Amazon’s algorithm. And that becomes increasingly important as sponsored ads take up significant real estate on the search results page.
So, the more reviews, the better, right? Well, sort of. Let’s take a look at what you need to know about verified purchase reviews and Amazon product reviews in general.
Verified Purchase Reviews vs. Unverified Purchase Reviews
Have you ever wondered about the difference between verified purchase reviews and unverified purchase reviews?
An “Amazon Verified Purchase” review indicates that the author of the review bought the product on Amazon. It also means that they purchased the product at full price without a discount.
Unverified reviews mean that the reviewers did not purchase the product on the Amazon marketplace. It can also mean that the reviewer purchased the product at a discounted price.
Why does this matter for your Amazon business? You need to know a little bit about how the reviews are shown in search results. Verified purchase reviews always rank higher than unverified reviews. Since these items were purchased directly from the Amazon marketplace, there is less concern about counterfeit products and other potential issues associated with unverified reviews.
How to Get Verified Purchase Reviews
In order to leave a verified purchase review, the buyer must have purchased the item from the Amazon marketplace and have spent more than $50 on their Amazon account with a valid credit or debit card in the past 12 months.
You can manually create and send product review requests to buyers through Buyer-Seller Messaging. However, that process is tedious and often unrewarding. Many Amazon sellers find that automating product review requests that are customized for their items saves time and generates better results. You can use a tool like FeedbackFive to send these messages through Buyer-Seller Messaging with minimal setup time.
What You Need to Know Before Requesting Verified Purchase Reviews
When it comes to requesting Amazon product reviews, it’s important to understand and follow Amazon’s guidelines. Many things you might consider including in the email are not allowed. These include things like a link to your storefront or a coupon for a future purchase. Some other things to be aware of:
- You cannot offer compensation, discounts, refunds or reimbursements in exchange for a review.
- Don’t ask for a positive review or imply in any way that you only want positive reviews.
- You can’t review your own product or a competitor’s product. You also cannot ask your family members or employees to review your product or a competitor’s product.
- If a buyer leaves a negative review, you cannot contact them with a request to change or remove the review.
We developed this product review compliance checklist to break the guidelines into a series of questions. This will help you quickly evaluate any communication you are planning to send to a buyer.
Start Getting Verified Purchase Reviews Today
Verified reviews on Amazon provide incredible value to your listings. The quantity and quality of reviews can increase your products’ visibility on search pages. You can only get verified purchase reviews from customers who have purchased your product on Amazon without a discount. Their account must also meet certain requirements. Following Amazon’s guidelines for verified purchase reviews ensures that your account will not have any issues.
Stay in the Know
Want to learn more about product reviews and compliance with Amazon’s Terms of Service? Check out this webinar!
Author Bio:
As the Content Manager at eComEngine, Becky Trowbridge works to share latest eCommerce industry news as well as strategies for running a successful Amazon business. When she’s not writing or managing content, she enjoys traveling, trying new recipes and reading.
