The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has made its way into search engines, tools, and other online applications. Amazon, with millions of sellers and hundreds of millions of customers worldwide, is no exception, as they’ve implemented AI technology in various methods.
For entrepreneurs selling on Amazon, though, how Amazon uses AI for product reviews could affect your sales and reputation. Although Amazon’s AI-generated review highlights are still in its early phase and only available on some product pages by U.S. customers, it could eventually streamline how users browse reviews and change how they see your products and overall brand.
In this article, we’ll delve into:
• AI Review Highlights: Amazon’s AI-Summarized Reviews
• The Amazon Review Highlights Feature: How It Works
• How the Highlights Reviews Affect Your Amazon Store
• How To Generate Amazon Business Reviews and Why You Need More
• What To Do About Negative Amazon Product Reviews
AI Review Highlights: How Amazon Uses AI to Summarize Reviews
Since August 2023, Amazon has been using AI to help users get a consensus of existing product reviews on a particular product page. Rather than reading each review individually, users are given a brief one-paragraph summary highlighting what most people like or dislike about the product.
“I think it’s positive because customers will get a good summary without having to read or scroll as much as now,” said Tim Clarke, Thrive Local’s Senior Reputation Manager.
The feature of how Amazon uses AI to generate summaries was initially available to select Amazon users in the U.S. shopping through the app. It’s part of Amazon’s efforts to improve customer experience as it streamlines the process of browsing product reviews. Since then, Amazon has expanded the AI-generated content features to other product categories. They also planned on making the feature available to other customers within the months after its first release.
How Does the Amazon Review Highlights Feature Work?
While users can still browse individual reviews, the new feature appears at the top of the “Customer Reviews” section on every product page. The paragraph will discuss the product features and customer sentiments frequently appearing on Amazon product reviews. Customers can generate new AI text based on the attributes provided. What’s more, they can simply tap on attributes to filter relevant reviews.
According to Amazon, their AI highlights review only processes Amazon review data from verified purchases into account. This is to prevent fake reviews from affecting the overall message that the AI generates. Additionally, users can look at the reviews highlighted by the AI to determine whether the review is valid.
How Will This Affect Your Amazon Store?
Amazon product reviews play a huge role in eCommerce, especially on Amazon. Amazon gets millions of reviews from their customers, which can significantly impact swaying customers from whether or not they purchase a product from one seller or another – including yours.
Clarke believes that this AI feature could help some sellers. However, sellers with few or mostly bad reviews “may be hurt a little bit” by the effects of this new feature.
Many studies and surveys have shown that more customers care about reviews and consider that when making a purchase. A 2021 report found that almost all customers read reviews when shopping online, and 96% pay more attention to negative reviews.
So, what does this new AI highlights review mean for your business? We can narrow it down to three key points.
1. Customers May Spend Less Time Deciding on Your Product.
With the AI-generated summary highlights review, more users may rely on the feature to know what others say about your product rather than manually reading reviews themselves. While it benefits them by saving time, it could present a challenge to your business.
If most Amazon product reviews are positive, users will likely receive a positive summary of your product. On the other hand, plenty of mixed and negative reviews can paint a different picture of your product – one that isn’t necessarily true.
Regardless, customers may rely on the feature to provide a consensus and base their purchasing decision on that summary alone. While Amazon is taking steps to prevent fake Amazon review data from affecting the AI-generated summary, AI is still far from perfect.
2. You Might Need More Reviews To Attract More Customers
Aside from having too many negative reviews, two other scenarios can scare away potential customers: having too few reviews and exclusively perfect reviews.
One study found that a product with five reviews was 270% more likely to sell than a product with no reviews. Considering how much users value product reviews, this new AI feature may be another reason sellers will be motivated to generate more product reviews. Since only verified purchase reviews are considered, sellers will want to reach out to their existing customers to leave a review.
On the other hand, consistently perfect five-star reviews could scare potential customers. It might seem the opposite, but this is because users feel that a perfect score from all reviews may seem fake. More users are looking for the product’s flaws, so a product with a perfect rating can feel like it’s too good to be true. In fact, a study suggests that products with an average rating of 4.2 to 4.5 tend to perform better than products with a perfect rating. This means that if the AI feature only has five-star summaries to base its content generation, it could be a red flag to users.
3. Your Reviews Can Affect Your Product, Brand and Reputation
Product reviews are just one part of your eCommerce efforts. Ultimately, these product reviews and other reviews about your business on other platforms such as Google, Yelp, and Facebook can build a reputation that may or may not be favorable to your business.
These days, more people trust the reviews of other users compared to the actual ads. Any brand can say that they have the industry’s best products, but reviews that say the opposite can majorly affect how people see a brand.
Dominantly positive reviews tell users that your product meets your expectations. On top of this boosting your sales, good reviews enhance your credibility and claims about what your product can do. On the other hand, unsatisfied customers can deter others from purchasing, as customers will want to avoid having a similar experience. Thus, keeping a close eye on your brand reviews on top of product reviews can help you determine how potential customers can see your brand.
Generating More Reviews: Why You Need More Reviews on Amazon
With the Amazon reviews analysis AI and how it generates content based on verified purchases, getting customer reviews has become more important than ever. Additionally, review generation provides the following benefits:
• Better Product Rankings: More positive reviews can affect where Amazon’s algorithm puts your products in relevant searches. This can put you at the top of searches to make your product more visible to potential customers.
• Improved Trust and Credible Ratings: Customers are less likely to trust a product with a high rating but only a handful of reviews. Having at least five reviews can help your product perform better than similar products with few to no reviews.
• Increased Conversion Rates: Positive reviews can result in higher conversion rates, as they provide social proof that the product works as advertised and meets customer expectations.
• Advertising Performance: Sponsored Product ads consider Amazon reviews analysis when determining ad placements. Products with a higher review rating may be rewarded with better ad placements, leading to increased visibility and sales.
What About the Negative Reviews on My Products?
When generating reviews, it’s important to remember that not all of them will paint a stellar picture of your product. Users are more likely to leave Amazon business reviews if they want to leave negative feedback. This might leave you asking, “How am I supposed to improve my Amazon review data if there’s a risk of getting a bad review?”
The short and simple answer is that bad reviews are always likely to pop up. What matters is how you address them.
When you respond to Amazon business reviews correctly, it reflects well on the product and brand. Instead of seeing a negative review about the product in a bad light, users can see the review and the seller’s efforts to take accountability and improve the customer’s experience. This tells users that your brand cares about your customer’s experience, so you could have improved your product by the time they purchase.
Improve Your Brand Reviews With Thrive Local’s Review Management Solutions
The Amazon reviews analysis AI could lead to both opportunities and challenges for Amazon store owners. However, this change highlights the importance of customer feedback and creating an online brand that customers can trust.
Thrive Local offers efficient reputation management software that offers flexible solutions to manage your brand reviews. Get in touch with us today to learn how we can help you manage your brand-related reviews to build trust and improve your eCommerce efforts.
