Less is more

In the quality over quantity debate, we prefer the former. However, Amazon often seems (publicly at least) to gravitate more to the latter. A great example of this is the latest update this month on Star-only ratings in the Seller reviews feedback area: confusing for some, important for most, and overlooked by many.

Receive more ratings faster. The theory is sound, as anything aiming to simplify would, on the face of it, appear welcome in an increasingly complex world.

However, for the average Amazon Seller, unless we are talking about sales volumes, then quality trumps quantity. For any Seller, a number of good Seller and product reviews – for the good products they are selling – are more important than a volume of less compelling customer reviews. A critical mass of positive reviews, therefore, doesn’t necessarily need to be in the hundreds or thousands, to provide social proof to influence online shoppers.

With consumers now being able to leave Seller review feedback with text-less star rating only, the feedback appeal feature for Sellers will disappear. That’s not particularly helpful. It is reminiscent of the Amazon front-end ability to appeal a negative product review, which was removed to the detriment of the Seller. However, within Seller Feedback Ratings, appealing non-FBA negative feedback was never a straightforward path, so removing that appeal feature may not carry too much impact.

Changes aside, it still remains unclear to what weight Amazon attributes the Seller review rating, within the overall Seller Central account health environment. This week sees the change being implemented within Amazon Seller Central, and monitoring the impact it may bring is advisable over coming weeks and months.

Image courtesy of Amazon EU Sarl