Every Bit Helps: eCommerce Reputation Management

There are now over one thousand eCommerce marketplaces. While eBay and Amazon are still by far the largest, the likes of Etsy, AirBnB and Blablacar are growing fast in the crowded, peer-to-peer space. Global marketplaces are giving way to niche and local marketplaces where products are specific to interests and tastes, such as SidelineSwap, which sells sports gear and Trampolinn, which lets space in Paris. What this means is that users no longer just have to worry about their feedback in Amazon and eBay, but also in other marketplaces as well. It’s likely that everyone reading this article has more than one account going somewhere, which means you have more than one reputation.

It’s not easy managing online reputation. For example, you might have a Facebook, LinkedInn, Twitter, AirBnB, eBay, Amazon, SidelineSwap and supermarket accounts. As an online seller, you have to be conscious of the feedback and reputation you’ve built up in all platforms - because they can affect your sales.

Your reputation is like the outside of a car. If it looks good people will want to drive it, no matter what’s under the hood. What you look like online matters to your bottom line. If an enhanced reputation means higher sales, how do you manage it?

There’s lots happening in all of these marketplaces, but let’s start with your reputation in Amazon. Here are five things you should know to make sure your Amazon profile is performing well:

Spell Out What You Sell: Make sure you use relevant, clear and precise product titles. Many people find products through a search in the search bar, if you’re not spelling out what your selling, no one will find it.

Stay on Top: Amazon uses price, availability and sales history to advance listings. This is one of the reasons reputation is so important. The better your reputation, the more advanced your listing will be. Products online are like products in real life, people are going to scope out the first few and decide amongst those. They’ll only scroll down if they don’t see what they want.

Get Active: Many sellers mistakenly assume that they are always subject to Amazon’s algorithm for listings. No matter what you do you’ll have to live with where Amazon ranks your listing. That’s not entirely true. If you’ve got a better picture or better data you can actually contact seller support and they may decide you’ve got a better listing and advance you.

Picture your product: All products should be taken with a 1001×1001 resolution, set against a white background and take up about 80% of the photo. Crisp is key!

Be the Buyer: Stand back and canvass your items as a buyer. It’s only by standing in their shoes that can you understand what they’re keen for and what will make them buy. If you don’t like the look of your storefront, odds are, neither will they. Better yet, ask a friend who’s not afraid to tell the truth.

Of course, get on board with eRated and start selling in other marketplaces. Why only have one storefront when you can open a second in another town for free?