June 1, 2023

How to Navigate and Manage the Amazon Message Center

The Amazon Message Center can be a complex system to navigate, but it doesn't have to be with this guide. Learn how to manage your messages in under ten minutes!
How to Navigate and Manage the Amazon Message Center
How to Navigate and Manage the Amazon Message Center

How to Navigate and Manage the Amazon Message Center

Amazon is a customer-centric platform that continues to invest in tools and features that make it easy to connect with customers. 

Communicating with your customers is an essential part of selling on Amazon. 

The Amazon Message Center is a tool that allows sellers to connect with customers and build lasting relationships. 

As an Amazon seller, you can use the Amazon Message Center to communicate with your customer, answer questions related to the product, and increase company sales.

In this article, we will look at what the Amazon Message Center is and how you can use it to improve customer relationships, increase sales and grow revenue with Amazon. 

What is Amazon Message Center?

Buyer-Seller Messaging
Buyer-Seller Messaging is a messaging service

Amazon Message Center or Buyer-Seller Messaging is a messaging service or feature that allows sellers to communicate with their customers on the Amazon platform. 

With the Amazon Message Center, customers can make inquiries, track orders, and also get updates on products purchased.

This feature provides a great opportunity to strengthen customer relationships, increase customer satisfaction and increase company sales. All sellers with an Amazon Seller Account can access the Amazon Message Center. 

How does the Amazon Message Center work?

With Amazon Message Center, your customers can ask questions related to your Amazon products, track their orders, and report any issues. Using this feature, you can respond to these customer inquiries and resolve any issues that may arise. 

To ensure privacy, customers are assigned an anonymous email address through which sellers can use to communicate with them. Also, no order or personal information is shared between the buyer and seller. 

Both buyers and sellers will receive message notifications when messages are sent or received. However, note that buyers can choose to opt out of receiving Amazon messages from the seller. In this case, messages sent to the buyer will not be delivered. 

How do you navigate the Amazon Message Center

To use the Amazon Message Center feature, you will need to enable it through your settings. If you don't enable it, customers will not be able to send you messages. Here's how to enable the Amazon Message Center service: 

  • Go to your Amazon Seller account settings and select “Notification Preferences” 
  • In the messaging section, click on “Edit
  • Click on the “Buyer Messages” check box, enter the email address your customers can reach you on, and click on “Save”. 

How do you access the Amazon Message Center?

Access the Amazon message center in the following steps: 

  • Go to the “Your Account” tab to access a list of options which includes “Gift Cards” and “Your Orders”. 
  • Next, to see your messages, select  “Your messages” 
  • To view messages you've sent, click “Sent messages” on the left side of the page. To filter automated messages, click on the “Buyer-Seller Messages” button. 

To send messages on Amazon Message Center:

  • Go to your Amazon Seller Central account dashboard 
  • Next, go to the Orders button and select “Manage Orders”. 
  • You will find a list of your most recent orders. Click on an order to send a message to the buyer. 
  • Once you click on the order, go to the “Contact Buyer” section and click on the buyer's name. 
  • You can send a message to the buyer via your Amazon Seller Central account or through a third-party email provider. Note that if the buyer opts out of the Amazon Message Center, you won't be able to send messages to them. You will get a notification indicating that your message was not delivered. 

Guidelines for buyer-seller messaging

Guidelines for buyer-seller messaging
Guidelines for buyer-seller messaging

Just like most things on Amazon, there are certain guidelines for sending messages through the Amazon Message Center. These guidelines address sending two types of Amazon messages: necessary permitted messages and proactive permitted messages.

Messages for processing order completion or attending to customer complaints are necessary and permitted. For example, you can send messages to customers who have placed an order for products that are not available.

 

On the other hand, proactive and permitted messages are messages you can send within 30 days after an order has been placed.

You can send a proactive message to: 

  • Confirm the specifications of a custom order
  • Send your customer an invoice
  • Settle problems that arise during the order process
  • Request any additional information that you need to complete an order
  • Ask questions about product returns
  • Request honest reviews from customers
  • Plan order deliveries in bulk

When sending permitted messages, do not include the following: 

  • External links that are not secure or necessary for order completion
  • Website links or logos leading to your website 
  • Attachments not related to the order
  • Phone numbers and email addresses
  • Images not related to the customer’s order
  • Private information (whether text or images)

In addition,

  • Avoid sending messages that request positive reviews
  • Avoid asking buyers to take down any negative reviews
  • Do not send promotional emails containing discount codes or coupons 
  • Do not send messages for shipping confirmations

It is important to take note of these guidelines to avoid any penalties. Not following these guidelines could lead to losing your access to the Buyer-Seller Messaging feature or even account suspension. 

Will Amazon read buyer-seller messages? 

The Amazon Message Center feature allows communication between buyers and sellers. However, these messages must meet certain Amazon guidelines. 

To ensure that messages sent between buyers and sellers meet their guidelines, Amazon monitors messages sent on Amazon Message Center to help address any issues that may arise.

4 tips for effective customer service using Amazon Message Center 

The Amazon Message Center isn't just a platform for sending regular messages. Properly utilizing this feature can increase customer retention and help you build solid relationships with your customers. Here are some tips for effective customer service using the Amazon Message Center: 

Prioritize messages using message filters 

You may get an influx of messages including important and not-so-important ones. To prioritize the right messages and respond to them promptly, use the message filters. Doing this will help you take care of the most important messages first. 

Send proactive messages

You can use the Buyer-Seller Messaging service to build solid customer relationships. One way to do this is to send proactive messages. Proactive messages give your customers the impression that you are committed to offering quality Amazon customer services. An example of a practice message could be requesting an honest review of your product.  

Respond to messages promptly 

Keeping buyers waiting longer than expected can lead to frustration. For example, if a customer receives a damaged product, they may send a complaint waiting for an immediate response. To avoid further complications, it is important to check your messages at intervals and respond as quickly as possible. 

Analyze customer feedback 

To sell on Amazon successfully, it is important to take note of customer feedback. Monitoring feedback on Amazon Message Center can help you understand the needs of your customers and find out areas for improvement. With feedback from your customer, you can identify certain areas of improvement like order fulfillment, tracking, and customer satisfaction. 

How to respond to negative buyer-seller messages 

Negative messages
Negative messages

Sometimes you may receive a negative message from a customer or customers. Handling negative messages tactfully can be an opportunity to strengthen customer relationships. 

Here are tips to help you handle negative messages tactfully: 

  • Acknowledge and listen to your customer's issue attentively: When a customer drops a complaint, it may be out of frustration. Avoid taking it out on the customer. First, listen attentively to their concern and acknowledge their feelings. Apologize for any inconvenience the situation may have caused and show empathy. 
  • Find out the cause of the problem: After listening and acknowledging their feelings, proceed to identify what the problem is and attend to it. You may need to investigate thoroughly and gather all the necessary information you need to resolve the problem. 
  • Communicate the solution to your customer clearly: After identifying the problem and outlining the solutions, the next step is to communicate this to your customer clearly. Highlight a step-by-step guide to help your customer solve the problem. You may need to provide updates on the status of the problem and highlight the next steps that the customer needs to take. 
  • Follow up to ensure customer satisfaction: Lastly, after solving the problem, follow up with your customers to ensure they are satisfied with the solution provided. You may want to ask them for feedback on the process to ensure they were happy with the results. 

Final thoughts 

With the Amazon Message Center feature, your customers can reach out to you concerning issues related to their orders or ask questions. On the other hand, you can respond to their inquiries and solve any issue that may occur. 

To access this feature, simply go to your Amazon Seller Central account using the Amazon website or mobile app.

Keep in mind the guidelines for communication using the Amazon Message Center to build a solid relationship with your customers and avoid any penalties from Amazon. 

You can through our tips above to help you get the most out of the Amazon Message Center. 

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