Customer Craze: Amazon’s Review System
Revamping The Shopping Experience
As Amazon built out its review system, the landscape of shopping has changed drastically. Prior to Amazon, a majority of shoppers would purchase a product without knowing what its “rating” was, going off of a brand’s reputation and the look of the product. Now, the review system is a critical piece to most every retail business and has the greatest influence on a consumer’s decision to purchase an item. While the review system opens up opportunities for malicious actors who review farm, overall reviews have been an amazing addition to the retail ecosystem. Users are now able to make informed decisions about what product to purchase, forcing businesses to be more honest in how they advertise their products.
Interviewing Customers on Amazon Reviews
Mo Khatami – Duke Student
Q: How much do reviews influence the products you buy?
A: If it is 4.5 stars or over and over 50 reviews, I will definitely buy. 40% of the time I read through some of the reviews then order.
Q: If Amazon did not have a review system, would you still buy here?
A: Lack of reviews shows it is not trustworthy, but if everything else remained exactly the same I would still buy here. I would still trust third party sellers too as long as the return policy stands.
Q: How often do you leave reviews?
A: I never leave reviews, too lazy.
Q: Any other comments?
A: Amazon review system is amazing overall, it does its job well and presents info correctly.
Robert Chen – Former Amazon SWE
Q: How much do reviews influence the products you buy?
A: Reviews are the primary influence behind which product I buy. Most of the time, I opt for non-name-brand items, and reviews are imperative for gauging a product’s quality and durability or the company’s quality of customer service.
Q: If Amazon did not have a review system, would you still buy here?
A: If Amazon did not have a review system, I would be very wary of buying off-brand products and my experience would be negatively impacted. I would likely still buy from Amazon though.
Q: How often do you leave reviews?
A: I do not leave reviews because Amazon banned my account from leaving reviews.
Q: Any other comments?
A: Overall, I feel that Amazon’s review system isn’t anything special compared to other review systems. I don’t like that Amazon removed comments on reviews. With no other method to downvote inaccurate reviews, comments were the only way for customers to call out reviews for being plain wrong, or offer additional discourse. A one star review on a product that was the top review almost dissuaded me from buying an item, but after reading the comments I discovered it was blatant user error and that there were a lot of uninformed remarks in the review. This review is still the top review on the product, but now comments are gone, and all customers can see is the “576 people found this helpful”. Amazon needs a better system for rating reviews, and needs to crack down on fake reviews from bots that boost a product’s rating.
Matt Murr – Duke Student
Q: How much do reviews influence the products you buy?
A: They somewhat influence what I buy, the less reviews the more impactful each one is. I look at star value too, at least 4.
Q: If Amazon did not have a review system, would you still buy here?
A: No, because then it seems like a scam. I might buy from verified vendors though.
Q: How often do you leave reviews?
A: I never leave reviews, I only leave one if I’m mad.
Q: Any other comments?
A: Its a solid system with lots of interaction. Vendors are able to respond too to reviews.
Amjad Syed – Duke Student
Q: How much do reviews influence the products you buy?
A: Reviews influence the products a great deal, with the amount of 5 stars and 1 star reviews mattering a great deal and the relative amount between them.
Q: If Amazon did not have a review system, would you still buy here?
A: I would still buy there but not as often.
Q: How often do you leave reviews?
A: I have never left a review on Amazon.
Q:Any other comments?
A: The Amazon review system is great as it is and I would not change anything about it.
Third Party Seller Q&A
Though Amazon is mainly consumer-driven, there exists an entire side to the site dedicated to the seller experience and how they interact with their customers. Through an interview with an anonymous third party seller, we offer a look into the other side of Amazon and how small companies market their products on the site, emphasizing the importance of customer reviews and interactions.
Anonymous Amazon Vendor
Q: What do you sell?
A: Hand carts and dollies and household gadgets
Q: Where do you sell your products?
A: We sell on a variety of platforms and certain chain department stores. However, Amazon is one of our bigger spaces and we push a lot of inventory through the site. Many of our resources and labor go into the maintenance of Amazon sales and we put great pride in our customer interactions and satisfaction.
Q: How important are reviews for your products’ sales?
A: Extremely important, satisfied customers spread business, and keeping them happy is crucial. Interacting with them and maintaining product ratings above 4.5 stars has been our goal?
Q: Any reason for 4.5 stars and above?
A: Being close or at five is optimal but 4.5+ generally resonates well and is a quota that we’ve seen on our best-selling products.
Q: Do you have any problems with fake reviews?
A: No, but sometimes there are sprees of bad reviews that we do our best to remedy and satisfy. Most of our customers who leave reviews are older and are stubborn, but we have return policies or compensation to ease anger and discontent.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to say about Amazon or reviews?
A: Working on and with Amazon has been great. Though they do take a steep cut, our company has an Amazon liaison who helps us with strategy and navigating our sales on the platform. From reviews to items pages to promoting click-through rates, our Amazon liaison has been extremely helpful. We are looking to further expand on the platform and will continue putting our customers first to spread our brand’s reach. To reiterate regarding reviews, our customers are our priority and their satisfaction is paramount for the success of the company.
Amazon Reviews Timeline
Dark Side of Amazon Reviews
A shovel with a folding handle. A kitchen knife. A padlock. These things could represent purchases of simple tools needed for everyday life yet they coincide with a grim story from 2016 that revealed the atrocities committed by Todd Kohlhepp who purchased and reviewed these products on Amazon. The South Carolina resident was the perpetrator of 5 serial homicides using commonplace tools to commit his acts of horror until it was the very reviews he left for his murder weapons on Amazon.com that connected the dots to his arrest. Leaving 5-star reviews on all his murder tools, Kohlhepp left the following comments.
Folding Shovel Review: “keep in car for when you have to hide the bodies and you left the full size shovel at home.”
Knife Review: “havnet (sic) stabbed anyone yet…… yet…. but I am keeping the dream alive and when I do, it will be with a quality tool like this…”
Padlock Review: “solid locks.. have 5 on a shipping container.. wont stop them.. but sure will slow them down til they are too old to care.”
These horrifying words blur the line between funny comments and terrible crimes. If the manufacturers of these goods were able to pick up on these strange behaviors, Kohlhepp may not have been able to run free for nearly a decade while continuing his streak of killings.
