Amazon’s Early Reviewer Program is Amazon’s internal launcher that encourages users who have already purchased the product to leave a review.

This program benefits both the reviewer, who receives something in return for his honest review and the seller, who receives early reviews for their product.

The Amazon Early Review program encouraged buyers who purchased a product on Amazon to share their experiences with others through reviews. Well, here’s our amazon PPC guide to the  Early Reviewer Program of Amazon.

Why the Amazon Early Reviewer Program is Shutting Down in April 2021?

To clarify the reasons for shutting down the Early Reviewer Program, Amazon noted that one-tap reviews and global review sharing have been far more effective than the program in producing authoritative reviews.

Another possible reason for the Amazon plug-in is that the pricing policy (60$ per ASIN) was not financially justified. It took a long time to develop customer reviews for new sellers. Amazon has also been criticized for distorting ratings by offering small loans to consumers.

Surprisingly, Amazon has not yet announced a replacement. However, you can still use the “Request Review” button and ask customers to submit product reviews via buyer-seller messaging.

Fee Refund and Further Review Charges?

If you are an active participant of the Amazon Reviewer program and If you have received less than five reviews before the program shuts down, Amazon will definitely return your fee within three months. Furthermore, you will not be charged for any more reviews after the discontinuation of the Amazon Early Reviewer Program.

A Quick Look at the History of Incentivized Reviews of Amazon

Less than five years ago, getting reviews was as easy as posting to a Facebook review group or using a review service where buyers are willing to purchase your product at 50-90% off in exchange for “honest” reviews of the concerned product.

But after the statistics showed that sellers are trading discounts for reviews, Amazon received some backlash from its audience and made bad publicity for itself.

With incentivized reviews out of the picture, private label sellers were challenged on how to get reviews, especially when launching a new product.

Amazon, too, realized that getting preliminary reviews was a big challenge for Amazon sellers. The retailer wanted to find a pleasant medium that would simultaneously help the seller (and himself) maintain the integrity of the reviews. That’s why the Amazon Early Reviewer Program was created.

Recently, however, Amazon Selling Partner Support announced its plans to discontinue the Early Review program. From March 10, 2021, and onwards, new applicants will no longer be accepted. The service will be completely shut down on April 25, 2021.

Initial Functioning of Amazon Early Reviewer Program

Brand owners can offer any Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) with less than five ratings. In order to sign up for the program, you must not have taken any abusive or dishonest reviews in the past and you must meet all of Amazon’s eligibility criteria.

Amazon then emailed buyers who purchased your product (as well as potential buyers immediately after their purchase) asking you to review their product.

Amazon offered these customers a small reward (usually an Amazon.com gift card priced at 3 offered). As a seller, it cost you 60$ to register an SKU, plus a tax. However, they were not compensated until Amazon received at least one rating for this SKU.

Amazon kept emailing users for a year or so until you received five reviews about the program.

By the end of April 2021, this review program will no longer be an option for both the new coming Amazon sellers and those who are already present for some time.

Difference Between Amazon Early Reviewer Program and Incentivized Reviews:

The difference is that with the Early Reviewer Program everything happens after your purchase. When customers purchase your product, they do not receive a discount on this price and are unaware that they may be offered a review after the purchase.

In addition, they are offered a very small fee to write a review, which ranges from 1$ to 3$ in Amazon Credit. This does not correspond to the 90% discount offer customers received for incentive reviews prior to October 2016 customers  $1-3 (Credit for re-spending on Amazon). Consequently, no customer is likely to see a flashy review for a horrible product all of a sudden.

How to get Reviews After Amazon Early Reviewer Program Shuts Down:

We added 12 new products to the program in 2017 and got my first 5-star rating from the program in a single day. So, in our initial experience, it worked. Now that this program is no longer available, it’s time to get creative and find new ways to get reviews on Amazon.

As mentioned above, you can ask your customers to leave reviews and share their experiences with your product.

Of course, you need an additional product and email follow-up system to get the best chance of getting these additional reviews.

Your first few reviews (assuming they are 4 or 5 stars) on Amazon-sponsored products (opens in new tabs) and ads on electricity deals can improve your conversion rate, so you can boost sales. And generate even more reviews which lead to higher sales and higher rankings and better organic rankings.

As for the launch strategy, we recommend selling as many units as possible as soon as possible and getting a lot of positive reviews.

To us, this means starting at a lower retail price, making electricity deals, being very aggressive in advertising spending on sponsored products, and providing excellent customer service. If you have a product that you really believe in, spend a little money now to make a lot of money in the future. First, accept a high ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sale) as part of your launching strategy and continue with the intention of not only recovering quickly but also taking advantage of the halo effect.

Final Thoughts:

Reviews are the beginning of your journey towards building a successful business on Amazon. Either through a preliminary review program, a one-tap review system, or some other incentive initiative, you are committed to success. End of story.

However, to survive and thrive in this rapidly changing world, your business needs to change its Amazon marketing strategy and maintain it. You should be ready for everything. If you want more details for your business growth and marketing strategies, visit our website: olifantdigital.com. Hope this article solved your queries and gave you some insight into Amazon Early Reviewer Program and was helpful 😊