As you all know, Amazon changed its TOS on Oct. 3. And as happens whenever things change with Amazon, some people flipped out.
We’re here to cut through the nonsense and noise with some reassurance:
You can continue selling like you were before and keep boosting your business knowing you are in full compliance with Amazon and AMZ Tracker, and on top of that you’ll get a leg up on your competitors who aren’t taking action or running promotions after the changes.
We can assure you that we’re 100% compliant with Amazon’s Terms of Service.
We’ve been working with a top level Amazon Management Team, and we made changes to our Promotions (formerly Review Club) tool under their guidance.
Sending out vouchers for your products on AMZ Tracker is totally safe — and, yes, will still boost your business, skyrocket your sales velocity and improve your rankings.
Here’s What We’ve Changed With Guidance From Amazon
Amazon recently sent a form email to sellers explicitly saying what is no longer allowed from Review Clubs.
We will address each point they’ve made, to show you exactly what we’ve done.
Amazon no longer allows:
- Incentivized reviews: We no longer ask shoppers for reviews. We tell shoppers: “You are not required to leave a review for any product you get from our service. But if you choose to review, a disclosure is not needed.”
- Influence over reviews: We do not monitor whether our shoppers write reviews. We do not ask for their Amazon profile. We do not provide them any incentive for reviewing. We don’t track whether they write reviews.
- Future benefit from writing a review: Again, our shoppers aren’t required to write reviews, and it won’t affect their standing with us. We do not track, confirm, or give them credit for Amazon reviews. We’re currently working on a way to create more detailed profiles, not based on their Amazon shopper profile, for you, our sellers.
Is Using AMZ Tracker Within Amazon’s TOS?
Below are direct quotes from our collaboration with the Amazon management team.
“Reviews of products purchased with discounts that are generally available to all Amazon customers, such as Lightning Deals.”
“The new policy was intended to ensure the integrity of Amazon customer reviews.”
So what does that mean for AMZtracker?
Amazon’s Management Team has told us that our Promotions Tool is compliant with their terms of service. In fact, these changes were based on their guidance.
With our change in policies, removing access to the shopper’s Amazon public profile, and no longer requiring the profile, the Deals Community is now available to all customers and achieved their intention as well as remain entirely compliant with their terms of service.
What isn’t allowed?
Private facebook groups and other clubs are not permitted as these groups are not available to all Amazon customers. Use of these types of groups put your business at risk.
We’ve always been fully compliant with Amazon’s TOS, and will continue to be. The success and safety of you, our loyal sellers, has always been our No. 1 priority.
And with the recent changes we made, we maintained that priority by providing you continued access to our +200,000 shoppers. Shoppers that ready and waiting to buy your product and support your business’s success.
So be confident that using AMZTracker ensures you are playing by Amazon’s rules.
What Are the Benefits of Running a Promotion Now?
With our previous tool, gaining reviews on new products made a big difference to their rankings — they needed reviews to rank higher.
But sellers with established products were also using the tool to boost their rankings, even with hundreds of reviews already.
Why? Because they knew that there’s another, less obvious benefit to the Promotions Tool: sales.
Sales volume matters to your rankings. Consistent sales over a period of time shows Amazon’s A9 algorithm your product is in demand, which increases your Best Seller Ranking.
The overall goal for expert sellers is simple: Consistent sales.
Sending a blast of vouchers to our ART Deals Community shoppers several times a week means you keep getting those consistent sales. Amazon still allows giving away promotional products; you just can’t expect anything from the shoppers in return. But you still get those purchases.
And although shoppers are not required to leave a review for your product, they are still allowed to if they wish. Many of them enjoy reviewing products. So you may still see an added bonus of reviews occasionally from the Deals Community.
And while a lot of misinformed sellers have been too scared by the TOS changes to give big discounts or run promotions at all, their sales velocity will likely be down.
Now is your chance to get that leg up or increase that lead.
And for those of you that stopped, it’s time to get back on it.
Dive into our in-depth guide on the best strategy to get improve your sales velocity using the Promotions Tool here.
What New Tools Can I Look Forward to as an AMZ Tracker User?
We have 3 awesome products coming down the pipeline for our sellers:
We just launched the profit dashboard Merchant Metrics into beta stage for our early adopters.
Now, you’ll be able to clearly see those consistent sales from the Promotions Tool and what they mean to your bottom line. While in AMZ Tracker, you’ll see how those sales impact your keyword rankings.
Watch as they work off of each other, and identify exactly how promotions improve your bottom line along with the BSR/keyword-ranking cycle.
Want early access? Get it here: Merchant Metrics Early Access
There’s also the autoresponder feedback tool Rocket Reply also being tested by early adopters.
This tool will allow you to connect directly to shoppers who want your product, and get their insights and feedback.
Combined with the Promotions Tool, this will be an integral part of growing your business, niching down, building brand loyalty and directly communication with those who know your product best: your customers.
Sign up to be in the next round of early testers here: Rocket Reply Early Access
This third one wasn’t announced during the last blog post, but thanks to those long hours we put in, we’re proud to announce it’s ready ahead of schedule. Your new go-to Amazon Keyword Research tool, Deep Words, is ready to start taking on users. You can now have access to the over 17 million Amazon searches tracked in the Deep Words database. With that information:
- Help validate product research with constantly updated Amazon search volumes for all Amazon Marketplaces.
- Optimize your PPC campaigns through effective keyword research and lower your advertising costs.
- Uncover hidden keywords that you should be using to optimize your product listings page.
Get access to DeepWords here: DeepWords Early Access
The Wrap Up
We understand the past few weeks have been a bit confusing and it can be easy to lose focus.
So we wanted to take a moment to help clear things up, set the facts straight, and reassure you of what our #1 priority here at AMZTracker is and has always been, which is…
Doing anything and everything we can to help you succeed selling on Amazon.
So keep at it. We’re here for you.
