If you're a seller on Amazon, you might know all about the somewhat frustrating process of obtaining desirable product reviews.
While there are plenty of shady third-party companies out there willing to promise five-star results for a price (and vice versa for negative reviews), it can be hard to gauge whether they're worth your time and money.
Enter the Vine Program, an offering from Amazon that gives sellers access to Vine Voices or high-quality reviewers with established followings of their own. Participating in the program provides additional benefits such as placement of products on the first page of Amazon search results during launch and pre-orders, early access to new inventory, and promotional ads in seller central.
Who is the Vine Program suitable for? What are its benefits? In this article, I’ll explore these questions and much more.
What Is The Amazon Vine Program?
Amazon Vine is a product review program that aims to provide genuine and unbiased evaluations to customers. In exchange for a review, Amazon Vine gives its top tier reviewers the opportunity to test out a product free of charge. Both the seller and the reviewer benefit from this incentive program.
The Amazon Vine program now has its own set of rules, and it's only open to the company's most trustworthy reviewers.
How Does The Amazon Vine Program Work?
One Vine Voice may request to have your product reviewed, once you're part of the program. In return for the vine reviews, you'll give up the goods for free.
You may use the Advertise tab in Seller Central to promote your product on Vine with eligible selling partners. They will be able to enroll and begin making their acceptable offers available right away.
Amazon determines which items to offer to which reviewer based on their previous reviews or history of purchases. Amazon is more inclined to supply consumers with goods in that product category.
The majority of Vine reviews are comprehensive, and of course, this does not ensure that you'll only receive positive comments. Vine Voices won't hesitate to express their honest and unbiased opinions if they notice a flaw in your product.Benefits Of Amazon Vine Program As A Seller
This program may benefit sellers with new brands and a small number of ratings, that have a registered trademark with Amazon, and are seeking to improve their items' visibility.
The benefits of Amazon Vine’s program include:
Pros And Cons Of Amazon Vine
Unlike the conventional review system of Amazon, when you are in the Vine program, there are some positivities. However, Amazon Vines have some cons too.
Pros Of Amazon Vine Program
Cons Of Amazon Vine Program
Requirements For Vine Program Enrollment
To use Vine as a seller, you must have an Amazon Brand Registry selling partner (professional) account. Unfortunately, Amazon does not allow FBA onsite participants to join Vine.
There are also the following requirements to consider.
Brand Registry
Users of Amazon Vines must be members of Brand Registry with access to enhanced brand features.
Onsite FBA Sellers
Amazon Vines are not permitted to take part in or have taken part in FBA Onsite previously. However, Amazon has a plan of enabling FBA Onsite merchants to join Vine soon.
Permissions Management
For those that do not have administrative rights, they might not be able to access Vine. For this sort of case, they’d need to talk to their seller central account administrator and request them to grant them the necessary Vine permissions.
Product Eligibility Criteria For Participation In Vine
Products must be FBA offers with available inventory or non-adult goods with less than 30 reviews on the product detail page. To be eligible for Vine, the enrolled items must have a photo, a title, a description and be categorized as a browse node.
Browse node IDs are defined as numeric codes that identify inside Amazon a given product category.
Who Are Amazon Vine Voices? How Are They Selected?
The objective of Amazon's Voice program is to showcase the finest elements of the growing body of amazon customer reviews. As a consequence, they entice consumers to join the Vine program, Amazon based on their prior experiences.
The rank of a reviewer is determined by how helpful all of their reviews are taken together, concerning the number of reviews they have previously written. Newer reviews receive more emphasis.
The value and trust other Amazon customers put in the Voices' capacity to offer constructive and perceptive feedback determine whether they become eligible for becoming an Amazon Vine Voice.
Customers' demonstrated interest in products similar to those enrolled in the Vine program is also considered during the Amazon Vine's evaluation. This makes it easier for people knowledgeable in a particular field to offer their thoughts. For example, if a vine voice primarily purchases and reviews health and fitness goods, they are more likely to be offered similar products.
Amazon Vine Program FAQs
No. Amazon Vine Voices are entitled to give their honest and unbiased feedback on products, which is the bedrock of its program. As a result, there is no guarantee that you will receive positive reviews only.
Contact between selling partners and vine voices other than for routine consumer support is strictly prohibited by Amazon. As a seller, your best course of action is to address the problem identified by the Vine reviewer and hope that a future review will express different sentiments.
Amazon will not remove any vine review unless it violates Amazon Community Guidelines.
Product enrollment was free until October 12, 2021. Now, a $200 enrollment fee per Parent ASIN is required. After the first Vine review is published, the fees will be charged.
You may cancel before a Voice claims your item and stop the enrollment before the first Voice has claimed one of your items. Staying off Vine Voices will guarantee that no more units are claimed, but it does not ensure that product reviews will not be published.
However, you may only enroll a single Amazon ASIN in Vine once during the lifetime of that Amazon ASIN, so you can not re-enroll it after canceling its enrollment.
Final Words
The Amazon Vine Program is an excellent way for sellers to market their products. As long as you pick the right product and fulfill your end of the bargain, you are likely to get some high-quality amazon vine reviews.