Amazon Seller Insights

Amazon.com is the largest e-commerce platform and provides a marketplace where buyers meet third-party sellers, and a transaction takes place. According to Statistics, the online marketplace generates 2.3 billion views per month.Amazon’s dedication towards customer obsession means that the electronic marketplace stresses on customer satisfaction. It also expects the highest customer-centricity standards from the 2.5 million third-party sellers who use the platform.

Top Amazon Community Rules to Follow

To strive for customer satisfaction, Amazon provides third-party sellers with five community rules; violation (s) could result in the seller’s account’s immediate suspension. The five community rules that Amazon expects the sellers on its platform to abide by are as follows:

• Uphold the commitment of transaction with a buyer
• Update current account information
• Avoid creating a new seller account upon suspension of an existing account
• Provide constructive feedback about transaction partners
• Avoid misrepresentation or miss-selling

Apart from the community guidelines, Amazon also provides certain operational guidelines and recommendations to avoid seller accounts suspension.

• Order Defect Rate – defined as the proportion of orders that have received less than two-star ratings, an A to Z Guarantee claim, and/or a service chargeback – to be maintained below 1%
• Pre-fulfillment Cancellation Rate – defined as the proportion of orders canceled by the seller before confirmation of shipment – to be maintained below 2.5%
• Late Shipment Rate – defined as the proportion of orders confirmed for shipment after the ship date – to be maintained below 4%

Despite the broad nature of the guidelines provided, third-party sellers, including the quarter of a million sellers with over $100,000 in sales, fail to plan and get suspended.

Things to Do If You’re Account If Suspended by Amazon

Suspension of a seller account is the least of the three measures that Amazon Seller Central can slap against a seller.

A suspended account is an account made inoperative by the ecommerce giant. There is a chance for the seller to reclaim the account by making corrective changes to seller behavior. Hence, a suspended seller account is not the end of the world for the concerned seller. The respective account holder can submit a POA (or Plan of Action) to reinstate the suspended account.

Amazon, in its suspension notice email, provides for the alleged conduct that resulted in a suspension along with a link for submission of an appeal for restoration. Amazon allows the seller 17 days to submit an appeal.

An appeal, however, does not guarantee the restoration of seller privileges. Though some sellers have reportedly been given a second chance to review the submitted POA, a second chance is not a standard. And many sellers have been left with accounts permanently banned.

Since the POA can decide the seller account’s fate, a seller is expected to invest time and effort in preparing the POA. The seller should follow the below guidelines before preparing the POA. Therefore, there are certain things to try out if you get your seller account deactivated by Amazon:

• Review the suspension email to identify the exact reasons for suspension – be its performance issues, violation of community guidelines, or restricted product rules
• Check Account Health Dashboard under the “Performance” tab to ascertain performance metrics that violate Amazon standards discussed above
• Review individual selling practices vis-à-vis established community guidelines
• Review inventory and procurement processes to determine product rule violations

Once the seller has ascertained the reasons for the violation, it is time to draft the POA. Amazon continues to implement software solutions to automate the interaction with sellers. Hence, the POA should be clear, concise, and free from ambiguous references. The most important components that a POA should contain are as follows:

• An apology acknowledging the privilege of being a seller on Amazon and owning full responsibility for the issue in question
• An explanation for the initial occurrence of negative incidence
• Acknowledge the harm done to the customer and the exact steps taken to resolve the same
• Elaborate steps are taken to minimize or eliminate any such future incidents

Conclusion

It is also advisable that the seller avoid mentioning that the suspension has been unfair and that the issue isn’t a fault on their part. By serving a notice of suspension, Amazon has already determined that the seller is at fault and defensive about one’s response. It jeopardizes the chances of reinstatement of the suspended account.