Amazon is removing the feature allowing anyone to comment on a product review, per a Business Insider report. Amazon officially retired the feature on December 16th, 2020.
What relevance does this have for sellers?
Many sellers utilized this feature to respond to customer reviews as a form of customer service.
Furthermore, this likely signals more changes to come, as Amazon noted the development of other opportunities to connect with customers.
Following the update, a few sellers have received emails notifying them of change:
Dear seller,
You’re receiving this email because you recently left a comment on a review.
While reviews and feedback are important to our customers and sellers, the comments feature on customer reviews was rarely used. As a result, we are retiring this feature on December 16, 2020.We’re committed to your continued success and will innovate and develop other opportunities for you to connect with customers.
Thank you.
Amazon Services
Initially, the removal of this feature has been poorly received by sellers.
“Just like removing customer contact information from the order information page, this makes it harder for good sellers to provide top-notch customer service,” stated one concerned Redditor.
However, the update changes the buyer-seller communication experience, but doesn’t end it. Recently, Amazon FBA updates appear to be centered around the buyer-seller communication process.
Sellers and buyers can directly communicate in the Buyer-Seller Messaging Service. Even so, this service permits direct messages to customers and not visible to prospective customers.
As a result, sellers should continue to monitor Seller Central updates as more information becomes available. As mentioned by Amazon, we’d expect more policy or feature changes concerning buyer-seller communication.
What can you do?
Potentially, your listing copy may be a way to address this obstacle effectively. How so?
Let’s put ourselves in the customer position for a situation. You’re looking to purchase a product, but have reservations due to a recent negative review or stream of bleak reviews with a common theme. In the past, the seller could provide help to quell concerns from prospective customers.
Your listing copy can address these issues without replying directly to the review. If customers are misusing your product in a way that could lead to negative reviews, you might be interested in addressing the issue in the product description.
Of course, making changes to your listing copy results in a temporary decline in ranking. So it may not be worth revising your copy after each negative review. But if a review is affecting your conversions, it might be worth the short-term hit.
Did you ever use this feature? How does this change your selling experience? Drop a comment below and let us know how this affects your selling experience.
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