Why has Amazon banned 3,000 online stores supported by China?

Why has Amazon banned 3,000 online stores supported by China? (Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP)

• Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce company, had closed around 3,000 merchant accounts on its platform, supported by 600 Chinese brands.
• The sellers were caught offering rewards, including gift cards, to customers who leave reviews.

Amazon sold an estimated $ 295 billion worth of products from various brands worldwide in 2020, with many sellers trading successfully through high-volume online stores. The impressive sales are not without competition, however. In fact, the rivalry can be so fierce that some sellers have decided to play Amazon’s system.

Amazon, in his Raid against fake reviews Lately it has been discovered that there are numerous sellers out there who have tampered with reviews over the years. Basically, sellers taking advantage of the online shopping madness have gradually introduced new methods to improve product reviews. From a buyer’s point of view, this can lead to overall decreased confidence and frustration as they attempt to pick a winner from a crowded field of inferior, nameless “five star” items, mostly from China.

But from the perspective of the online retail giant, enough is enough. Amazon recently got rid of 600 Chinese brands on its platform. The world’s largest e-commerce company supposedly said that it had closed approximately 3,000 merchant accounts supported by these brands.

According to the report by South china morning postAmazon’s vice president of Asia Global Selling, Cindy Tai, told the state-run China Central Television that the company’s crackdown on these brands was not a means of targeting China or any other country. She also suggested that the campaign should not have a negative impact on the overall growth of Chinese retailers on the online shopping platform.

However, it is unclear how many non-Chinese brands faced bans, but the crackdown hit thousands of Chinese retailers, suggests a. before July report by the Shenzhen Cross-Border E-Commerce Association trading group. The report also highlighted that Amazon closed 340 of YKS’s online stores and frozen assets valued at over $ 20 million.

Fake reviews – an age-old problem for Amazon

Amazon reviews are a powerful tool as they help customers determine product quality and authenticity. For sellers, ratings are even more important. More feedback can mean a higher ranking in the user search. But not all sellers stick to the rules. Instead of earning great reviews with top-notch products, some have taken the route of review manipulation.

The crackdown started in earnest five months earlier, but received more attention when Amazon banned Aukey and Mpow – some of the most successful sellers on Amazon with products with tens of thousands of reviews. The seller will be suspended from the end of April this year.

The sellers were caught offering rewards, including gift cards, to customers who leave reviews. Amazon later launched RAVPower, Vava, and other relatively well-known brands because of similar behavior.

All brands violated Product evaluation guidelines from Amazon, which mandates that sellers can only request one review; You can’t ask for a high rating or incentivize feedback through discounts or refunds. Exposing them is perhaps the most notable and substantial enforcement of its rules by Amazon to date.

Amazon’s current raid is believed to be bigger than any of its previous campaigns. The retail giant also intends to further improve abuse detection and take enforcement action against malicious actors, including those who knowingly commit multiple and repeated policy violations, including review abuse. It’s safe to say that the broader anti-fraud strategy would ultimately transform Amazon’s marketplace significantly.