As an Amazon seller, the success of your products depends on a number of things - the quality of your listings, the individual product reviews, and your Amazon seller rating being just three of the top ones.

Your Amazon seller rating is one of the most important factors to focus on for a number of reasons - not least because it is something that you can both control and improve with work and attention to detail. And that’s exactly what we’re focussing on in this blog post- taking our experience with Amazon sellers across all industries and markets and translating it into a series of tips and strategies to improve your own seller rating.

What affects your Amazon seller rating and why is it important?

Your Amazon seller rating is controlled by users and customers who buy your products and interact with your store. They are invited to rate and review their purchase whether or not you message and engage with them directly, which means that the seller rating is made up of more than just your customer service attitude and demeanour.

Customers who chose to fill in seller feedback and contribute towards a rating are asked questions and encouraged to share their views on everything from the quality of the listing copy and imagery to the fulfilment experience and how good delivery was. This feedback is then compiled into an average rating and ranking for your seller profile, which tells your captive audience of prospective buyers exactly how well ranked previous interactions from customers have been.

Why is this important? Well, in our experience as buyers as well as seller advisors, the seller rating can make or break a sale and can either draw customers towards your profile or push them away or towards a competitor.

Here’s how to improve your rating.

Strategies for improving your rating

1. Follow Amazon’s seller guidelines

Amazon is recognised for providing an efficient service with customers able to access free delivery via a Prime membership, as well as information regarding both the seller and the individual products.

Meeting the various guidelines laid out by Amazon, and meeting the efficient delivery and fulfilment standards will elevate your seller presence and rating.

In addition, following Amazon’s advice on creating the listing copy, with bullet points to highlight a product’s key features alongside the use of keywords and search terms will help to ensure that Amazon rates your products and your seller page highly.

2. Ask for feedback

Perhaps one of the best ways to improve your Amazon seller rating is to ask for direct ratings from your customers, in the form of feedback after purchase. If a customer has purchased from you, use the information you collect during purchase to reach out and ask them for a review or feedback on the service and experience they had.

One thing that we urge all our clients to remember here is that negative feedback need not leave a black mark on your Amazon seller profile. Rather, the way you handle bad feedback and negative reviews can actually help your seller profile and rating by showing a desire to help customers facing issues and rectify mistakes. See negative reviews as a constructive opportunity to improve the buyer experience, and you will find it much easier to increase your rating.

3. Deliver great customer service

Many sellers and buyers alike make the mistake of overlooking customer service on Amazon, not least because the process is usually so quick and automated that there isn’t much time for customer-business interaction.

However, when issues arise or customers have questions about your products, it’s important to be transparent and as authentic as possible with your responses. The Q&A under each product listing is a good opportunity to answer the questions that customers directly present, demonstrating a desire to help where required - and elevating your products above those offered by a competitor.

4. Engage the support of an Amazon seller team

Here at Social Loop, we pride ourselves on knowing all about Amazon. Working with clients on everything from listing copy to inventory management and customer service, we help sellers across all markets and industries to refine their Amazon process and ensure that the journey from search page to purchase and delivery is seamless for the customer - resulting in excellent feedback on both individual products and on the seller profile as a whole.

Find out more about how we can help by asking us about our Amazon account management service.