UPDATE: The new policy update we discuss in this article is based on an announcement from FeedbackFive. We reached out to our own Amazon reps on Friday morning who said: “I can’t confirm anything other than this is not in place right now.” We will continue to update this post as more information becomes available.
Is Amazon Updating Their Feedback Email Policy?
In an effort to “avoid customer email fatigue”, Amazon is rumored to roll out a new feedback solicitation policy that will significantly limit the email interaction between Amazon Sellers and their customers.
Although we cannot conform if or when the new policy will roll out, email fatigue is an increasing concern for Amazon customers.
“Email fatigue is very real for Amazon shoppers, with more and more Sellers adopting feedback email platforms and pinging buyer inboxes on top of the 2 to 3 emails Amazon already sends,” Joe Selzer, Lead Marketplace Channel Analyst at CPC Strategy said.
“We’ve been advising clients for a while now to stick to 1-2 well-crafted messages in their email cadence to avoid annoying their customers and possibly soliciting negative feedback as a result.”
Here’s what we know so far:
Q. What is the new “rumored” Amazon feedback email policy?
According to reports, Amazon’s new policy will only allow merchants to send one unsolicited feedback message per order.
As of now, Amazon merchants are not allowed to send more messages than 5 times their average daily order volume, plus an additional 600 messages.
According to Selzer, one strategy that will be much harder to execute if the new policy is put in place is cross-selling.
“Some Sellers send an email after their review solicitation email to make customers aware of other products they might be interested in (on Amazon) and keep them engaged.”
“Now those Sellers will have to pick between soliciting reviews or attempting to cross-sell.”
Our Experts Chime in:
“If this policy is put in place – this change falls in line with Amazon’s efforts in recent years to protect the customer experience & preserve consumer trust at all costs,” Jeff Coleman, VP, Marketplace Channels at CPC Strategy said.
“It will also further separate brands who are able to build an engaged community around them from those who are not, as brands who are able to leverage a loyal following of happy customers to buy & review their products on Amazon will be largely unaffected by this change.”
“Brands who are creating products that truly add value to consumers & who are engaging with their customers in a meaningful way on & off Amazon will continue to thrive; brands who are not will continue to find Amazon an increasingly hostile environment.”
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