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Trigger Email: Asking for Customer Reviews & Video Reviews

A while back I blogged about a Webinar I attended presented by Lauren Freedman of The Etailing Group and Power Reviews in which Power Reviews’ Jay Schaffer provided some tips and examples from retailers on how to ask for customer reviews post-purchase.

I was recently forwarded this email from Amazon calling for customer reviews - not just textual, but customer photo and video reviews.

Dear {customer},
Thank you for your recent purchase from Amazon.com.

We invite you to submit a review for the product you purchased or share an image that would benefit other customers. Your input will help customers choose the best products on Amazon.com.

It’s easy to submit a review–just click the Review this product button next to the product.

Flip Video Ultra Series Camcorder, 60-Minutes (Black) (Purchased on 06/03/2008)
by Pure Digital

…or share an image.

New on Amazon! Grab your video camera or webcam and add video to your customer review. Click on ‘Review this product’ above to upload a video or find a different product to review.

Need help?

If clicking the button above doesn’t work, you can review your product by following these simple steps:

Go to Amazon.com and navigate to the product.
In the “Customer Reviews” section, click the “Create your own review” button.

We hope you found this message to be useful. However, if you’d rather not receive future e-mails of this sort from Amazon.com, please opt-out here.

Please note that product prices and availability are limited time offers and are subject to change. Prices and availability were accurate at the time this newsletter was sent; however, they may differ from those you see when you visit Amazon.com.

(c) 2008 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Amazon, Amazon.com and the Amazon.com logo and 1-Click are registered trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Amazon.com, 1200 12th Ave. S., Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98144-2734.

Reference 9702130

Please note that this message was sent to the following e-mail address: emailaddress@emailservice.com

Here’s what Amazon does right:

  • Thank customer for the purchase.

  • Mention submitting a review benefits fellow customers.
  • Give clear directions how to participate.
  • Give options - text, images or video.
  • Show an image of the product to jog the memory.
  • Offer a plan B if the link malfunctions for whatever reason.
  • Offer an opt-out of future review requests.
  • Remind customers that prices are subject to change, so they don’t feel jilted when the item is $5 cheaper than when they bought it.

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Comments

  1. August 13th, 2008

    The problem is that, not only does Amazon get it right, they want to be the only ones who get it. A competitor of ours sells an add-on product to send emails out X days after the sale. Amazon came after him, claiming they have a patent on the process of sending an email to request a customer review.

    Yes, their email definitely gets it right - but they can be so darn annoying with their “patents”.

  2. August 13th, 2008

    @ Miva,

    Verrrry interesting…

    I also saw another BIG name brand using a “Sign up for 1-Click” on their product pages - and I thought, does Amazon know about this? As far as I know this retailer/brand is not partnered with Amazon.

    I’m very surprised that a patent would be granted for that. That’s like saying I’m going to patent free overnight shipping during the holidays. If anyone has a link to this patent I’d be very interested in seeing it :)

  3. August 14th, 2008

    I’m very surprised a patent is issued for lots of things. I’m sorry I don’t have a reference for you. I’d be interested in reading it.

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Sites linking to this article

  1. 10 Lesetipps der Woche für Shopbetreiber » Tipps, Muster, Checklisten, News, Urteile für Online-Händler » shopbetreiber-blog.de on August 14, 2008
  2. Online Marketing Blog » Blog Archive » The new email marketing: embracing Web 2.0 on August 28, 2008
  3. Optimizing Product Reviews for Different Buyer Personalities | Get Elastic on September 15, 2008