There are a myriad of online shopping platforms on the market now, however, Amazon is still the unbeatable Titan in this industry. One of the reasons that Amazon succeeds and differentiates itself from its competitors is that it dedicates to improve buyer’s shopping experience by having unique and strict rules for sellers. From account settings, product management, logistics, customer service to feedback mechanism, Amazon sellers have to follow the rigorous rules set by Amazon. Therefore, if you do not understand Amazon’s ground rules, it is likely for you to fail on this world-famous e-commerce platform. Here are the 5 mistakes that Amazon sellers often make, read on to learn about how to avoid them.
Account Settings and Management
- Sign up for more than one account
- Account linked to other seller accounts
- Choosing incorrect categories for your products
- Managing your business in the same manner as on other platforms
- Re-direct Amazon shoppers to other platforms or personal websites
Remember, selling on Amazon is hard. Compared to eBay, Amazon sellers get less attention from their buyers. When customers shop on Amazon, they might think Amazon is the one selling the products. Amazon strives to optimize online shopping experience by having numerous restrictions for sellers, as listed above. Any kind of policy violation can possibly result in account suspension, so be sure to follow the ground-rules.
Product Management
- Title/Photo contains promotions, discounts, and other inappropriate statements or information
- Title do not conform to Amazon guidelines (html code, all capitalized, contains symbols)
- Colored background, misleading, low resolution, or too small photos
Many online sales platforms use luxuriant text, background, and photos to set off goods, or use promotional titles such as “50% off” or “the lowest price” to attract shoppers’ attention and increase their desire to purchase. However, this is a common Amazon seller mistake. This violates Amazon policy, as Amazon emphasizes on the characteristics of the product itself. Any product related text, title, offer and photo must accurately represent the product. Unrelevant product features are not allowed, such as using watermarks, illustrations, or any other form of images as side photos, because this may be considered as deceptive advertising.
Product Itself
- Products with misleading description
- No control of the use of low-cost sales
- Selling counterfeit products
- Having too much inventory
If a product does not deliver the value as described on the listing page or in the photo, it can easily lead to consumer dissatisfaction and negative product review. It is important for sellers to take full responsibility of the products they sell. Therefore, always double check that the product page description is correct, with clear label and product size and color, and is placed in the correct product category.
Another common mistake that sellers often make is being cost-conscious. Purchasing products at a low cost may be profitable for these businesses, but that may also mean products made with poor quality. Even though these businesses can sell poor quality products at low prices to lure in more customers initially, they may be left with an overflow of inventory in the end as these poorly made products will eventually backfire on their seller reputation.
Logistics and transportation
- High shipping rate
- Inaccurate delivery time
- Inventory data missing
- Logistics information missing
- Cut corners on packaging
FBA is Amazon’s logistics service, but sellers are not required to use FBA for product fulfillment. For sellers who handle their own fulfillment process, they often miscalculate the delivery time, packaging, and inventory level. With poor logistics management and lack of follow-up service, sellers will suffer from low customer satisfaction rate. Amazon’s FBA logistics services are fully responsible for the seller’s inventory shipment and logistics. It provides fast, efficient, and accurate transport process which can reduce potential package delivery issues that consumers may encounter, e.g. package lost or damaged during transit, delivery delay, etc. Good logistics and transportation can not only increase consumer satisfaction, but also enhance your seller reputation.
Customer Service
- Slow response on customer inquiries
- Out of service during weekends
- Do not take customer’s advice for real
- Argue with customers
It is difficult to provide 24/7 customer support, but online shopping is 24/7 available anytime and anywhere. Due to this reason, Amazon has a strict policy on buyer-seller contact response time. Sellers are expected to respond to buyer enquiries within 24 hours including weekend and public holidays. Customer service only on weekdays or slow response time are not acceptable and have an impact on seller metrics on Amazon. Although poor response time will not directly result in suspension, it can lead to negative feedback and claims which can potentially impact your selling privileges. Also, it is important to remember that the public response area is visible to the entire Internet and correspondence with customers in this space will reflect on your company, thus it is best to remain courteous, objective, and stay away from any negative responses. However, when customers offer honest opinion about your products or services, initiate contact and learn from their advice.
Customer Comments, Feedback, and Ratings
- Failure to gather customer feedback & reviews
- Purchase fake reviews
- Disregard negative feedback
Amazon’s seller score is an important indicator of how well a seller may be meeting buyer expectations on Amazon – the higher the seller’s score is, the better the purchase conversion rate will be. Therefore, sellers should closely monitor their seller scores. However, one thing to keep in mind is that Amazon strictly prohibits fake reviews and other false marketing practices. Amazon is continuing its effort to crack down sellers who purchase fake product reviews. Sellers should never offer pay or any incentive to a buyer for either providing or removing feedback. Also, in order to maintain positive seller score, sellers should have clear ideas on how to deal with malicious comments and give appropriate compensations to unsatisfied customers. In addition to the feedback and suggestions proposed by the customers, sellers should take this as an opportunity to learn from the feedback. It is vital for sellers to monitor and improve seller score.
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