Amazon Ends Buyer Comments: Seller Strategies for the Change

On September 30, the "Buyer Comments" feature, which has accompanied Amazon sellers for over five years, will be officially discontinued, with all backend access completely removed. This is not merely a functional adjustment but a profound reshaping of the platform's operational logic for sellers.

For a long time, "Buyer Comments" have been regarded as a "lifeline" for sellers to address negative feedback. When a negative review appeared, sellers could proactively contact customers within 48 hours via internal messages, seeking resolution through apologies, explanations, refunds, or other means to earn understanding and even recover ratings. This direct communication channel has helped numerous sellers mitigate the risk of listing ranking drops and stabilize traffic. However, after October, this channel will be permanently closed. Sellers will no longer be able to respond to individual negative reviews in real time, as all feedback will be aggregated into the "Customer Voices" tool system.

So, can "Customer Voices" effectively replace this function? "Customer Voices" focuses on data aggregation, using labels such as "Excellent/Good/Fair/Poor/Very Poor" to indicate product performance, while providing ASIN dissatisfaction rates and complaint trends. However, its biggest drawback is the lack of detail. You may know that the order dissatisfaction rate is rising, but you cannot pinpoint the exact cause—is it a packaging issue, size discrepancy, or unmet functional expectations? It's akin to shifting from a scenario where a "doctor diagnoses and precisely treats the problem" to one where you "only see a medical report, knowing there’s an issue but not the root cause."

In the face of this irreversible change, sellers urgently need to take three actions:

First, immediately back up historical review data, especially negative feedback. Export this data to a CRM or local storage, as these genuine voices are crucial for product iteration and customer service optimization.

Second, reestablish user connection channels. Utilize order comments, after-sales cards, customer service emails, and other methods to front-load the feedback mechanism, creating a standardized customer care process to resolve issues before they escalate into negative reviews.

Third, deeply leverage "Customer Voices." Conduct cross-analysis with return data, Q&A sections, customer emails, and other content to identify the real triggers behind negative reviews from trends, thereby driving improvements in products and services.

Fundamentally, this adjustment sends a clear signal: Amazon is further shifting toward a "systematic operation" logic. The reactive approach of addressing negative reviews after the fact is gradually becoming obsolete, replaced by end-to-end management of product quality, supply chain stability, and user experience.

With the major promotional season approaching, instead of worrying over the disappearance of this feature, it is better to make the most of the remaining time to complete data backups and feedback mechanism setup. What truly mitigates risks is never a single function but a solid, systematic, and detail-oriented operational framework.