Everyone knows that building a strong presence on Amazon relies on many factors. One of them is customer reviews and star ratings, which directly influence product rankings, conversion rates, and customer trust. Navigating the review system for parent and child ASINs can be a little confusing. In this blog post, we'll break down how Amazon's review system works for parent and child ASINs, and how you can leverage reviews strategically for success.
Understanding Parent and Child ASINs
Before diving into reviews, let's briefly define parent and child ASINs.
- Parent ASIN: The parent ASIN is a product entity that groups together multiple related products (child ASINs) under one listing.
- Child ASIN: These are the actual products within a parent listing that differ based on variations like color, size, style, or other attributes. Each child ASIN is a distinct product with its own buyable option, inventory, and potentially unique reviews.
For example, if you're selling a T-shirt that comes in three different sizes and three different colors, each size/color combination would be a child ASIN, all linked under a single parent ASIN.
How Reviews Work for Parent and Child ASINs
Amazon groups reviews for child ASINs under the parent ASIN listing. This means that when a customer views a product page, they will see an aggregate of reviews for all child ASINs associated with that parent. However, there are some degrees to how reviews are displayed and calculated.
- Shared Reviews: Reviews for individual child ASINs contribute to the overall review count and star rating displayed under the parent ASIN. This is helpful because positive reviews from one child product can boost the visibility and perceived quality of the entire group of child ASINs.
- Review Relevance: Amazon tries to highlight reviews that are most relevant to the specific child ASIN the customer is reviewing. For instance, if you are looking at a "black medium size" t-shirt, reviews that mention that particular color and size are more likely to appear higher in the list.
Getting Reviews for Parent and Child ASINs: Best Practices
To optimize reviews for both parent and child ASINs, sellers need to be strategic in encouraging reviews across all variations. Here's how you can do it:
- Encourage reviews for each child ASIN: while reviews are aggregated at the parent level, it's critical to generate reviews for all child ASINs, especially for new or less popular variations. If one color or size of a product dominates the reviews, customers may overlook other child ASIN, thinking they are less popular or reliable.
- GetReviews.ai: Use GetReviews.ai which provides the customer flow technology where you can request customer reviews through the use of package inserts. To learn more, schedule a demo with our team here.
- "Request a Review" button: Within Seller Central, you can use the "Request a Review" feature, which sends an automated review request to customers who recently purchased your products.
- Product Inserts: Including product inserts inside the packaging is another effective way to encourage customers to leave reviews. Be sure to comply with Amazon's TOS. GetReviews may be the solution for you and to learn more, schedule a demo with our team here.
- It's all in the visuals: Visual reviews such as pictures or videos hold significant weight for potential customers. Encourage buyers to upload photos and this helps other customers see how specific child ASINs looks in real life.
- Use Amazon Vine: Consider using Amazon's Vine Program for newly launched products or child ASINs that don't have many reviews.
Importance of Reviews on Conversion Rates
When was the last time you purchased a product online and DIDN'T read the reviews? Probably... never... Products with a number of quality reviews tend to convert better.
- Increased trust: Even if some child ASINs have no reviews, having strong reviews on other variations boosts overall trust. When customers can see a parent ASIN with a large number of positive reviews, they're more likely to purchase child variations that may not have as many reviews.
- Boost listing optimization: Amazon's algorithm factors in review count and ratings when determining search rankings. Products with a higher number of reviews for both parent and child ASINs will rank higher, improving visibility and ultimately driving more sales.
- More informed purchases: With more reviews, you set expectations on what your products are. This reduces the likelihood of returns and dissatisfied customers, as buyers can make informed decisions based on others' real experiences.
