Seller Feedback Ratings & The Impact of Poor Amazon Account Health

What are Amazon Seller Feedback Ratings?

If you’re selling on Amazon’s marketplace, understanding how your performance is measured is crucial, and Amazon’s Seller Feedback rating system is a key part of this. The Seller Feedback rating system is based on a buyer’s experience with the service you provide as a seller. It’s used to score individual transactions based on various factors, using a scale from 1 to 5 that’s then displayed as a percent.

It’s important to note that the Seller Feedback rating does not relate to product quality or the product experience itself.

In this article, we’ll walk through factors that impact the Seller Feedback rating, what makes it so important, and key steps to take if you have a low rating or account warnings.

Where to Find Amazon Seller Feedback Ratings

For Your Store: You can view your average Seller Feedback rating for the last month, year, or the entire lifetime of your account in Seller Central (Performance -> Feedback).

For Competitor Stores: You can view a competitor’s Seller Feedback Rating by clicking on their name directly from their product page. Navigate to the buy box, select the seller, and then view their rating.

Factors That Impact Your Amazon Seller Feedback Rating

The Seller Feedback rating is entirely based on customer experience. Therefore, a negative customer experience will hurt your rating (just as a positive customer experience will strengthen it).

Here are some various factors that impact customer experience and therefore your Seller Feedback rating:

• Customer Satisfaction of Shipping Time: Thanks to Prime, shoppers now expect packages within 2 days. If your brand promises to deliver packages within a short time frame and misses it, this can cause buyer frustration with shoppers leaving poor feedback as a result.
• Condition of Product and Packaging: Buyers expect well-packaged items that arrive in good condition, without any damage. If an item arrives damaged or just poorly packaged (even without product damage), buyers may leave negative feedback, encouraging the seller to improve their product packaging quality. Missing or lost items are also key to avoid or resolve as fast as possible.
• Customer Service: If buyers message you with questions or concerns pre-purchase or post-purchase, responding in a timely, professional, and genuinely helpful way is crucial.
• Inaccurate Product Listings: Product titles or images that don’t match the received item. Another example would be if a customer orders a new item but receives a used one.
• Policy Violations: Often a result of poor seller performance, such as selling inauthentic items or misusing buyer messaging, negatively impacting Amazon account health metrics and Seller Feedback ratings.
• Negative Amazon Account Health Metrics: Poor account health does not impact your Seller Feedback Rating, however it is an indicator that consumers aren’t having a good experience and are likely to leave a lower review, resulting in a lower feedback rating. This includes metrics such as Order Defect Rate (ODR), which includes chargebacks and A-Z claims, as well as Late Shipment Rate and Cancellation Rate. These seller performance metrics can be negatively impacted by policy violations and poor shipping performance. For example, if you tend to ship items late or cancel orders often, this leads to both poor account health and a negative customer experience, resulting in poor Seller Feedback ratings from frustrated buyers.

Why is the Amazon Seller Feedback Rating Important?

A low Seller Feedback rating is not just a number; it can have significant consequences for your selling operations. Specifically, consistently poor feedback from customers can lead to warnings from Amazon and, if the rating falls too low, potentially result in account suspension or even a permanent ban. Furthermore, a poor rating can impact specific ASINs facing deactivation as a direct result.

Seller Feedback ratings also play a vital role in eligibility for key Amazon programs, such as Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP). SFP, for example, requires a high on-time delivery rate and a low cancellation rate to maintain program eligibility. Therefore, having poor account health can impact both your Seller Feedback rating and Amazon program eligibility status.

Amazon actively tracks your Feedback rating to identify and inform your brand of issues impacting customer satisfaction. Amazon wants to provide its customers with a positive experience so that they continue shopping on the marketplace. The Seller Feedback rating is one lever Amazon can monitor, and pull, to ensure that customers are regularly having a positive shopping experience on the platform.

What Types of Amazon Sellers Have a Feedback Rating?

The Seller Feedback rating applies to every Amazon Seller Central brand. However, it’s most important for Amazon Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) sellers. This is because Amazon FBM sellers are fully responsible for the entire customer experience, including:

• Order fulfillment
• Shipping speed
• Customer service
• Returns and refunds

Unlike Vendor Central brands and FBA sellers, where Amazon plays a significant role in fulfillment and customer service, FBM sellers are responsible for the entire customer experience, including detail page setup, order fulfillment, and direct customer support. As a result, maintaining a high Amazon Seller Feedback rating is especially critical for FBM sellers.

How To Resolve a Poor Amazon Seller Feedback Rating

If you have a poor Seller Feedback rating, there are a few key steps you can take to improve it:

Amazon FBM Sellers: Focus on Logistics

If you’re an FBM seller, it’s likely that most of your negative Amazon feedback is regarding a poor shipping experience (view a detailed breakdown of seller feedback in the Feedback Manager dashboard to confirm issues that need addressing). Therefore, to improve your rating, focus on a stronger logistics workflow and experience for your customers by:

• Aiming to get the right products shipped to the right customers within 2 days (this is your best change at improving and maintaining a high Amazon Seller Rating)
• Keep products in-stock and ready to ship immediately
• Use reliable, on-time carriers

Improve Customer Service Experience

Customer service is important for all sellers, regardless of their fulfillment method. Aim to:

• Resolve any issues or complaints within a timely manner
• Respond regularly to buyer messages in a professional manner

We know that for brands with large catalogs, keeping up with buyer messages and questions can be time consuming, especially when aiming to respond to inquiries within 24 hours. That’s why our team offers customer service capabilities on behalf of Amazon brands, ensuring that professional and helpful responses are sent within a timely manner. If you’re interested in exploring this option, learn more about how our customer service capabilities work and reach out to us to schedule a call.

Ensure Accurate Product Page Content

Product page content is extremely important on Amazon. In terms of Seller Feedback ratings, your detail page needs to accurately reflect the product size, quality, etc. that is being shipped to customers. We recommend providing details (in images and product descriptions) that explain how to use the product to avoid frustrated or confused customers leaving any negative feedback down the line.

Utilize Product Inserts

We discussed this more in our Amazon Review Guidelines article, but product inserts can encourage satisfied customers to leave positive feedback, helping to boost your Feedback rating. If you’re going to use a product insert, just make sure it does not display an image of 5-stars as this goes against Amazon’s guidelines.

Regularly Monitor Seller Feedback Rating for Improvement

Whether or not you already have a low Seller Feedback rating, your team should be monitoring it regularly to ensure it stays positive. Keep track of new feedback received, especially negative feedback, and address issues promptly when they arise. We offer monitoring services that can be of assistance for brands without the capacity to regularly monitor their ratings.

How To Resolve an Amazon Warning of Account Suspension

If your Seller Feedback rating gets too low, Amazon may issue you a warning, and later potentially suspend your account altogether if gone unaddressed. When Amazon notifies you of the warning or pending suspension, the marketplace may provide some context as to where the bulk of your issues are. In this case, look for corrective actions, contact Amazon for clarification, or reach out to a marketplace partner, like Brandwoven, for assistance.

The good news is that warnings don’t necessarily mean you’re going to immediately be suspended. Warnings come long before suspension typically occurs, so don’t freak out if you see the warning of “your Amazon account may be suspended” – just make sure to promptly address the negative feedback you’ve received.

Amazon Account Health Assurance

Amazon offers a benefit called Account Health Assurance for professional sellers who consistently achieve a high Account Health Rating (AHR). If eligible to enroll, Amazon promises that it won’t deactivate your account as long as you work with them to resolve account issues. Regardless of whether you use Account Health Assurance, we recommend regularly monitoring your account health dashboard and metrics to ensure a solid standing with Amazon and be able to quickly address any issues that may arise.

Key Takeaways About Amazon Seller Feedback Ratings

• Seller Feedback ratings are critical for Amazon Seller Central brands, and especially FBM sellers.
• Ratings are directly tied to overall Amazon account health and the ability to continue selling on the marketplace.
• Regularly monitor Ratings to ensure you do not have the potential to be suspended or banned from Amazon’s marketplace.
• Work with an Amazon marketplace partner to promptly address any issues that arise.

For Amazon sellers, understanding the importance of your Seller Feedback rating is crucial for maintaining a healthy business on the platform. High Seller Ratings ensure you stay in good standing with Amazon and customers. If you’re struggling with your Seller Feedback rating, reach out to our team for assistance.