As of December 16th, 2020, Amazon has announced the discontinuation of its commenting feature from product reviews across all its marketplaces. This means that sellers, brands, and marketing agencies – managing product reviews on behalf of their customers – will no longer be able to respond to their product reviews on Amazon.
According to Amazon, “the comments feature on customer reviews was rarely used”. However, direct sellers and brands whose products are sold on Amazon have used the commenting feature as a way to be present “in-store”, on their product page, for customers and potential shoppers, mainly to offer support and necessary clarifications in response to (sometimes vague) reviews, be they positive and negative.
There are often cases when reviewers have purchased products without having informed themselves on all available product variants of a brand and leave a review on a product they should have not bought in the first place, thus inducing new shoppers on a wrong path and also making a disservice to the brand and the product itself.
With no possibility of commenting on reviews anymore, the sellers and brands can continue to stay informed on how customers review their products and:
- identify the most and less reviewed product features,
- how new features have been received and experienced by customers comparing to other own or competitor products,
- and use the findings to add to their customer insights, in their marketing and communication messages, product development, and manufacturing.
Product Reviews are also a great source to update Product Descriptions based on how reviews highlight various aspects of the products and bring in front what customers are really looking for.
While Amazon has removed its comment feature from all its marketplaces, eCommerce product reviews are here to stay and talk to brands and sellers about their customers’ experiences and help them continue to remain actual for past and new customers, differentiate and grow.