If you are an Amazon FBA seller, many aspects of the trading process are entrusted to Amazon. However, communication with customers and responding to buyer messages remain your responsibility, albeit strictly monitored by Amazon. Therefore, it is crucial to know the fundamental communication rules, what is allowed and prohibited, and apply them responsibly in practice. It’s no secret that selling on Amazon is based on customer satisfaction, ensuring lower return rates, and reducing the likelihood of negative reviews and feedback.
The main rule – 24/7/365
Amazon loudly declares that their support team responds to messages within 24 hours, regardless of the day of the week. Therefore, Amazon sellers are expected to do the same. Whether it’s a weekday, weekend, or holiday, you should respond to a buyer’s inquiry within a day. This can be a bit challenging for businesses accustomed to a typical 9 to 5 schedule, but Amazon operates on a different timetable, and sellers need to adapt.
In the Amazon Seller account, sellers have access to statistics:
- Late Response Rate indicates the percentage of messages to which you did not respond within 24 hours.
- Contact Response Time shows the average time it takes for you to respond to messages.
Buyers do not see this statistics; it is intended for sellers’ self-assessment. It’s important to note that responses beyond the 24-hour period do not have a direct negative impact. However, they can indirectly affect customer dissatisfaction, resulting in negative feedback from customers who did not receive a response, an increase in returns, etc.
More: https://www.zenstores.com/tutorials/customer-service-tips-amazon-retailers/.
Types of messages to buyers on Amazon
Amazon distinguishes two types of messages through which you can contact buyers:
- Necessary Permitted Messages: This type includes all messages necessary to fulfill an order or respond to a customer inquiry. Only buyers can initiate necessary messages, and sellers can only respond to received inquiries.
- Proactive Permitted Messages: Sellers can initiate this type of messages. These are communications that are not responses to customer inquiries. Often, it involves sending invoices to buyers or requesting reviews with the “Request a Review” option.
More on Request a Review: https://digitalfrks.com/the-importance-of-reviews-and-how-to-get-your-first-amazon-reviews/.
What to write to buyers to avoid upsetting Amazon?
The selling on Amazon is strictly controlled, including communication with customers. Here is a list of things that sellers cannot write to customers:
- It is not allowed to send order or shipment confirmations, as Amazon automatically sends confirmation to the customer.
- It is not allowed to send only order thank-yous and reminders that the customer can contact if assistance is needed.
- Marketing messages, information about promotions, various discount coupons, etc., cannot be sent.
- Requesting to remove or change a review or feedback is not allowed. You can send a request to leave feedback, but without explicitly expecting only positive feedback.
- You can send an invoice, product usage instructions, warranty information, but sending any other attachments (catalogs, etc.) is prohibited.
- Only links directly related to a specific order necessary for its successful completion can be sent. Sending any other links, redirects to your website, etc., is not allowed.
- Sending mailing addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, etc., is not allowed.
- Requesting the buyer to move communication to another platform, continue communication via email, etc., is not allowed.
- Using images unrelated to the order, GIFs, emojis is not allowed.
- Using logos with redirects to external links, as well as logos and other images unrelated to your business or brand, is not allowed.
More: https://www.sellerapp.com/blog/amazon-buyer-seller-messages/.
When considering how to sell on Amazon, it’s crucial to carefully consider every aspect, including communication with customers. Since customers come in various types, learning the essential rules is important to ensure that communication doesn’t become a headache. If you ever need advice or assistance from professionals, we, DIGITAL FREAKS, are ready to help you.