Category: News

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News Updates

Staying Compliant with Buyer-Seller Messaging – Zonmaster Releases ‘Compliance Checker’ Tool!

On September 8, 2020, Amazon posted an announcement in Seller Central that they would be making changes to the Buyer-Seller Messaging Guidelines, effective November 3, 2020. Failure to become or remain compliant with these new guidelines could result in a 30-day or lifetime restriction of your ability to send Buyer-Seller Messages.

For more information on these changes, be sure to check out Amazon Communications Policy Updates.

What is Zonmaster doing?

Zonmaster has ALWAYS automatically included the Order ID in emails – so you don’t need to worry about that new requirement from Amazon.

Compliance Checker

We’ve just released our new tool that will AUTOMATICALLY check the compliance of your emails in several areas:

  • Product Images
  • Emojis
  • Non-secure URLs
  • Email addresses in the body
  • Images that are not secure
  • Use of the word “coupon” or “promotion”

This tool should be live NOW in your account on Zonmaster.

You will see notifications about potentially non-compliant email templates in a few places.

On Your Dashboard

If any emails are failing the compliance checker you’ll see something like this at the top of your dashboard

On The Email Template Listing Page

A small warning will show up underneath the trigger details

On The Email Template Details Page

A warning block will display near the top of the page, underneath the sending chart.

An Important Note

While we have taken measures to help you remain compliant in your Buyer-Seller Messages, there are certain things for which we cannot screen, such as:

  • Intent of a message
  • Grammar or spelling errors
  • Logos with URLs
  • Content and style of attachments

In a nutshell, while we will keep Zonmaster compliant and do our best to keep your messages compliant, you are still in control of and responsible for the content of your messages.

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News

Amazon Communication Policy Updates

A lot of you have been getting in touch with regards to Amazon’s changes in policy that they announced back in September and which come into effect November 6th (assuming the world hasn’t ended by then!)

With every rule change from Amazon, sellers struggle to understand and comply with the new information. What’s okay to do? What’s not okay? What could lead to suspension?

First things to know: the update clarifies two things:

  1. Amazon has made it clear that you can ask buyers for reviews. We’ve always understood this to be true, but the latest update explicitly says it. Once again: YES, YOU CAN ASK A BUYER FOR A REVIEW.
  2. Amazon has made it clear that you can use ZonMaster, to communicate with buyers. The new rules state that you can use an approved third-party application listed in the Marketplace Appstore. ZonMaster is absolutely approved (and listed in the Marketplace Appstore)
  3. You can continue to use ZonMaster’s UNIQUE Auto Review Request Tool to automatically use Amazon’s ‘Request a Review’ feature. This means you do NOT need to ask for a review in an email.

Other things to note (before we get into the specifics):

  • The Amazon customer communications policy, including Buyer-Seller Messaging, changed on September 8, 2020. Sellers have until November 6, 2020, to adopt the policy changes.
  • The changes primarily affect the language and formatting of customer communications.
  • The changes are fairly small and in keeping with both common sense and good customer service.
  • Yes, Amazon sellers can still ask for product reviews and seller feedback! But the new policy makes it clear that you may ask a buyer for a product review or seller feedback ONCE per purchase.
  • Yes, you can still use third-party software such as ZonMaster in order to help you best comply with the new guidelines while garnering more feedback and reviews and cultivating positive relationships with buyers.

What ZonMaster does for you, and what you need to check.

At ZonMaster we will cover all aspects of the new policies that we can. That means our emails automatically include the order number, do not have margins or multiple line breaks and images are properly sized.

But content within the email is your responsibility.

  • DO NOT use emojis or GIFs.
  • Do not use a crazy number of fonts and sizes.
  • Do not use language that could be interpreted as asking only for positive reviews (eg ‘If you’re happy, leave a review’)
  • Do not include an email address or phone number.

Compliance with the New Amazon Communications Policy

What will enforcement look like? According to the new policy, beginning on Friday, November 6, 2020, Amazon will begin applying temporary restrictions, followed by permanent restrictions from sending free-form proactive messages, to sellers in violation of the new communication policies.

Purpose of the Policy Updates

The introduced changes aim to: 

  1. Limit proactive messages to those concerning order completion.
  2. Improve both the quality and content of the proactive messages that sellers send to buyers.
  3. Protect buyers from fraud and abuse, and to protect sellers from unscrupulous actions from competitors. Raising the bar for all communications to buyers benefits all our selling partners, resulting in a stronger Marketplace.

The Updated Amazon Messaging Policy: What IS NOT Allowed

Non-Permitted Messages: Do not send the following messages as standalone messages or as included in other messages:

  • Order or shipping confirmations
  • Messages that say only “Thank you” or that you are here to help if buyers have any problems
  • Marketing or promotional messaging, including coupons
  • A repeat request (per order) for a product review or seller feedback
  • Any promotion for additional products or references to third-party products or promotions.

The Updated Amazon Messaging Policy: What IS Allowed

Permitted Messages

Amazon divides these into two types: Necessary Permitted Messages and Proactive Permitted Messages. Here’s what you need to know about both and where they overlap and differ.

Necessary Permitted Messages

Proactive Permitted Messages

What are Necessary Permitted Messages?

Amazon defines Permitted Messages as those communications necessary to complete an order or to respond to a customer service inquiry.

What are Proactive Permitted Messages?

Proactive Permitted Messages are messages you initiate that are not responses to a buyer’s question.

How are they sent?

Necessary Permitted Messages are order specific and thus can only be sent via your seller account in Amazon’s Seller Central.

How are they sent?

Proactive Permitted Messages can be sent using Amazon’s templates via the Contact Buyer or Request a Review page in Seller Central or by using third-party applications in the Applications Store or the API.

Messages deemed Necessary Permitted:

  • Problem with Order messages: Sellers must communicate with buyers if a product ordered is not available to be shipped. Sellers should adjust the full order amount using the Manage Orders feature in Seller Central followed using the “Problem with Order” option to communicate with the buyer about the inability to fulfil the order.
  • Return-related messages: Sellers must process refunds for the order amount (minus any charges) using the Manage Orders feature in Seller Central. Sellers may communicate with buyers about their returns only when sellers need additional information to complete the return or offer a partial refund.
Messages deemed Proactive Permitted:

  • Resolving an issue with order fulfilment
  • Requesting additional information required to complete the order
  • Asking a return-related question
  • Sending an invoice
  • Requesting product review and/or seller feedback
  • Scheduling delivery for a heavy or bulky item
  • Scheduling a Home Services appointment
  • Verifying a custom design
  • Any other reason where the contact is required for the buyer to receive the purchase.
To whom can a seller send Necessary Permitted Messages and Proactive Permitted Messages?

You may only send Necessary Permitted Messages and Proactive Permitted Messages to customers who have contacted you about purchasing a product or who have already purchased a product from you on the Amazon store.

Necessary Permitted Messages and Proactive Permitted Messages  Must: 

  • Be sent within 30 days of order
  • Include the 17-digit order ID and be in the buyer’s language of preference

Major Amazon Communications Policy Update: Amazon Has Now Explicitly Stated What Is Not Okay and What Violates Messaging Rules

Within All Permitted Messages, Necessary and Proactive, DO NOT Include the Following Content:

  • Language that either incentivizes or persuades the buyer to submit positive product reviews or seller feedback, including by offering compensation, money, gift cards, free or discounted products, refunds, rebates or reimbursements, or future benefits
  • Language that requests removal or an update of an existing product review
  • Language that requests a product review only if they have had a positive experience with the product
  • External links unless they are secure working links (https, not http) necessary for order completion or links to Amazon
  • Attachments except for product instructions, warranty information, or invoices
  • Logos, if they contain or display a link to your website
  • Link to opt-out of messaging
  • Sensitive content in images or text (e.g. bare skin, violence/gore, adult/offensive language)
  • Tracking pixels or images
  • Email addresses or telephone numbers
  • Images of purchased product(s) as Amazon includes those on your behalf
  • Images that do not relate to your brand or company
  • Spelling errors or grammar issues

Within All Permitted Messages DO NOT Include Any of These Styling Elements:

  • Known accessibility issues as specified in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines from the Web Accessibility Initiative
  • Emojis ?
  • GIFs
  • Message margins over 20% maximum width
  • Image or graphic sizes larger than 80% maximum width
  • Overrides of Amazon’s default line height, font family, or font color
  • Fonts in more than three sizes
  • Message bodies that are centered or otherwise override default text alignment settings
  • More than two line-breaks (spacing between paragraphs) in a row
  • Unsecure images (http instead of https)

What Happens If You Break the New Amazon Messaging Rules?

Failure to comply with these Communication Guidelines may result in Amazon limiting Permitted Messages to Amazon’s templates or a suspension of selling privileges in Amazon stores. Amazon has the authority to block any message at its discretion.

September 2020 Update to Amazon Messaging Policy: More Items of Interest

Communication Types

  • Direct Communication is defined as emails sent to buyers.
  • Indirect Communication is defined as order-related information to buyers through their “Your Account” updates.

Subject Lines

Amazon has the authority to modify message subject lines in order to protect the buyer experience.

Where Do Critical Messages Fall in the New Amazon Communications Policy?

The following messages are considered critical to complete a buyer’s order:

  • Product customization questions
  • Delivery scheduling
  • Issues with a shipping address

The following messages are not critical to complete an order:

  • Requests for seller feedback or buyer reviews
  • Order, shipment, delivery, or refund confirmations. Amazon already sends these emails
  • Proactive customer service, for example: product manuals, tips for using the product, answers to frequently asked questions, suggestions if something goes wrong
  • Out-of-stock or delay notifications, or offers of alternative products (please cancel the order instead).

Sending Critical Messages

  • If you send a critical message via Seller Central, you will not be able to edit the subject line of the emails sent from Seller Central. Amazon will deliver the messages related to completing an order.
  • If you send a critical message using your own email client, include the word [Important], with brackets as shown, anywhere in the subject line. The email will not be blocked and you won’t receive a bounceback message.

Compliance Reminder (Some Things Never Change)

In any communication you have with buyers (including shipping box inserts), you cannot ask them to leave a positive customer review for your product, or to leave a review only if they had a positive experience with your product. Similarly, you cannot ask only customers who had a positive experience with your product to leave a review. It is also prohibited to offer them any compensation for a review, including money or gift cards, free or discounted products, refunds or reimbursements, or any other future benefits.

How to Make Your Communications with Buyers Compliant and Effective

The best ways to ensure that you are reaching buyers in keeping with Amazon’s guidelines (and not risking messaging suspension or account suspension) are simple:

  1. Know the rules and stay up to date with policy changes. Buyer-Seller Messaging is not a set-it-and-forget-it process, you need to review your messages.
  2. Follow those rules whether you use Amazon’s Buyer-Seller Messaging service or third-party software. Amazon has made it clear that you, Amazon sellers, are responsible for your actions even when using third-party software.
  3. Work with a trusted third-party software provider who is constantly updating software and services to be in keeping with Amazon’s ever-changing rules and requirements.
  4. Remember that Amazon calls the shots and that if Amazon restricts your messaging capabilities for an infraction, you’re not likely to have that overturned. Don’t give Amazon any reason to restrict your messaging privileges.
  5. If you’re worried about Buyer-Seller Messaging compliance, find peace of mind by using ZonMaster’s Auto Review Request tool.

You should have all received an email from Amazon detailing this, but, just in case, here is a link to Amazon’s Official Document about the changes.

Categories
News

Latest From Amazon UK about VAT and Brexit

This just in from Amazon UK:

Starting January 1, 2021, as part of Brexit, a new set of VAT rules will apply in the UK.

If you are delivering goods to UK customers from outside of the UK:
– The current VAT exemption for sales of goods under £15 will be removed. All of your sales of goods will now be subject to VAT.
– If the shipment value of these goods does not exceed £135, Amazon will be required to collect and remit the applicable VAT.
– If the shipment value exceeds £135, you will still have to remit VAT and any import duties yourself, as you are currently doing.

If you are delivering goods to UK customers from inventory stored in the UK, and your place of establishment is outside of the UK, Amazon will be required to collect and remit the applicable VAT. This will affect both sellers who use FBA in the UK and those who use third-party fulfilment methods.

If you are delivering goods to UK customers from outside the UK, and the customer is VAT-registered in the UK (B2B customer), Amazon will not be required to collect and remit VAT.  The VAT-registered customer will self-report UK VAT through their VAT return.

In preparation for these changes, please ensure that your Seller Central account details are up-to-date and that you continue to provide list prices that are inclusive of VAT for the marketplaces you list on.

The UK government is expected to publish the finalized legislation for these changes during Q4 of 2020. We are here to help you prepare for these changes, and we’ll keep you updated on any changes to current expectations. Refer to our Help page for the latest information: https://sellercentral.amazon.ca/gp/help/external/GSF678GXLDTTTETZ.

Please also note that the above changes do not alter your VAT registration obligations. If you need help with VAT registration and filing in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, and the Czech Republic, visit VAT Services on Amazon to sign up: https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/vat-registration/v2/index.html/vat-services?ref=eu_DR_VISALP#/welcome.

Categories
News

Amazon FBA Free Shipping to Germany, Poland, and Czech Republic

With Amazon’s planned closure of the EFN and the pan-European UK-EU FBA from January 1, 2021, it is clear that they want merchants to get into the habit of shipping their stocks directly to their European FBA warehouse. For starters, there is an Amazon FBA Free Shipping promotion for sending goods from the UK to FBA warehouses in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Free shipping means that you send the goods and Amazon takes care of the bill, although there are some restrictions – you must use the Amazon Partnered Carrier (PCP) program and it only covers small packages, with Amazon specifically excluding pallets from the promotion.

Naturally, you will need to be aware of certain issues, such as whether you are required to pay VAT in the countries where your goods are sold and stored. Please be aware that VAT obligations may change from 1 January 2021.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Amazon FBA Free Shipping promotion details

The criteria to qualify for Amazon FBA promotion for free shipping are:

  • Shipment is sent from an address in the UK.
  • Shipment is sent to an Amazon warehouse in Germany (DE), Poland (PL), or Czech Republic (CZ) for FBA.
  • Shipment is created in Seller Central after 11 August 2020 and before 4 September 2020.
  • Shipment is received at an Amazon warehouse in DE, PL, or CZ after 11 August 2020 and before 18 September 2020.
  • Small-parcel shipments only (pallets not eligible).
  • Shipment is sent with the UPS Partnered Carrier Programme (PCP).

Key Amazon Partnered Carrier Programme features

The Amazon Partnered Carrier Programme (PCP)is designed to enable you to ship small parcels to Amazon fulfilment centres across Europe at deeply discounted rates. You can get an estimate of shipping charges, make payments, and track PCP shipments directly from within Seller Central.

  • Faster processing

With an Amazon-experienced carrier, your orders are processed faster at our fulfilment centres, making your inventory available to customers sooner

  • Save on shipping costs

Lower your shipping costs with discounted shipping from the UK to any fulfilment centre in Europe

  • £2,000 per unit coverage

With a PCP carrier, Amazon assumes responsibility for lost or damaged inventory up to £2,000 per unit, according to FBA policy

  • Easier payment and better visibility

Estimate rates, make payments and track your shipment from Seller Central

  • No sign-up or minimum commitment

No sign-up required. Use PCP on a per-shipment basis with no minimum commitment

Categories
News

[Amazon] Amazon FBA Europe – Coronavirus-related changes for Winter

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon has had to make rapid adjustments, initially including the interruption of incoming FBA deliveries, the extension of delivery dates for inventories already in the FBA and the interruption of relocation orders. Things are returning to normal, but the first coronavirus winter is just around the corner and Amazon is only too aware of the impact of the restrictions on your business. All the smart money is, unfortunately, betting that the virus will spread again at a second peak, so a coronavirus winter is a very likely scenario – although the government is against a second national lockdown, local lockdowns will become the norm.

Amazon has already hired more employees and invested billions of dollars in COVID-related initiatives to meet increased customer demand and to protect the health and well-being of employees when selecting, packaging and shipping your products to customers.

Although it’s July, Amazon is preparing early for the holiday season to meet the continued growth in demand across Europe. They say they have already reduced their own orders of retail products to accommodate more of your products and help you continue to grow sales.

To ensure that Amazon is prepared for a coronavirus winter, the following changes will affect your business:

Amazon Coronavirus Winter Preparations

  • Change in the threshold values of the Inventory Performance Index (IPI)

    To ensure that all products have space during peak periods, Amazon is changing the minimum IPI requirement to 500, with the limits applicable from September 1, 2020 until the end of the year for providers under 500.

    It was only in May that Amazon raised the minimum requirement for the IPI threshold to 400 (previously 350), so you should be aware of this change.

    Amazon says that most providers will not be affected by this change. They add that most providers with IPI values below 500 will have more storage than they used last year.

    You can improve your IPI by following the instructions displayed on the Inventory Performance Board to improve sales by or reducing your excess and stranded inventory.

  • Quantity limits

    To maximize customer choice during peak periods, Amazon is introducing ASIN-level quantity limits on products at the FBA. For most products, there will be enough space available for more than three months of sales.

    This is an issue for many retailers because it means you have to check line by line how much stock you can send to Amazon. The days are over when you received a shipment from your manufacturer and handed the entire lot over to FBA. This restriction will be even more critical for overseas sellers or those who routinely ship directly from the manufacturer to Amazon stores.

    You can view your product quantity limits on the Replenishment Stock page and on the Replenishment Report. We will continually review this and, if possible, make adjustments to allow for more of your products.

  • Free removals promotion

    To help you avoid the cost of storing unsold products and make room for more productive inventory, Amazon offers a free disposal cost promotion for a limited time. Amazon waives its fee for all disposal orders submitted to the FBA for inventory. This promotion is not live, although they have not specified an end date.

    To create a disposal order, visit the inventory age page and select “Create Removal Order” from the menu next to each FBA item in your inventory. For more information, see the frequently asked questions on this help page.

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News

In Case You Missed It – ZM ShopMaster – Zonmaster For Shopify Stores

ZM Shopmaster is now live on the Shopify App Store. You can find it here.

ZMShopmaster gives you similar features to Zonmaster (some of the triggers are different and we are growing the feature set out to match Zonmaster) but for your Shopify store.

We hope you give it a try and if you have any advice on making it better, let us know!

ZM Shopmaster

See our promo video below

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News

[URGENT] Check Your Permissions (especially for Auto Review Request)

Amazon has changed its permissions structure again. This means that for us to be able to successfully send out automated Review Requests you will need to update the permissions you have given the Zonmaster secondary user on your account.

Please check the SCI Seller Central Integration page (https://www.zonmaster.com/orders/prep-seller-central) on Zonmaster for full detailed instructions on what permissions we need. Until that is done by you in your Amazon Seller Central mostly likely Auto Review Requests will not be sent!

Thanks for your cooperation!

EDIT: Looks like we were wrong about one setting, so please double check!

Categories
News

Zonmaster for Shopify is coming!

We’ve been busy over here at Zonmaster Central working on our new product –  Zonmaster for Shopify!

We’re looking for a couple of Shopify sellers who might want to help us out with a little testing.

If you are interested and have an active shop of Shopify please SEND US AN EMAIL to contact+shopify@zonmaster.com.

DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS POST – it’s not monitored.

We’ll send you an invite to install the beta of our app.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

Categories
News

New Marketplaces Added (or made visible)

We’ve gone through the list of available Amazon marketplaces and exposed a couple of more inside the Zonmaster UI.

New marketplaces that you can target and see stats for include:

  • Netherlands
  • Singapore 
  • United Arab Emirates (UAE) 
  • Brazil

 

As usual, all these marketplaces are available to all Zonmaster customers, regardless of plan!

Categories
Instruction News

Using Amazon’s ‘Request a Review’ Automatically with ZonMaster

Amazon’s Big Change

Not so long ago Amazon began rolling out a new feature in Seller Central – a button that let’s you ‘Request a Review’ for an order.

The button appears on your orders page inside Seller Central.

When you click this button and the button on the following page, Amazon will send an email to the buyer asking them to review their purchase.

That’s nice. Because finally, we have an accepted, Amazon-provided, way to ask buyers for a review.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that it is 3 clicks PER ORDER (1 to select the order, 1 to click ‘Request a Review’ and 1 to click the ‘Are you sure?’ button). If you sell a lot, which is everyone’s goal, then that is a lot of clicking and time wasted.

That is why ZonMaster is happy to announce a fully automated way of requesting these reviews, and it couldn’t be simpler.

How to Configure Automatic Review Requests

1) Log in to Zonmaster

2) Go to your Store Settings page (under the settings menu)

3) Enable the ‘Request Reviews’ switch

That’s it. Zonmaster will then automatically request reviews for you using Amazon’s new feature.

You might see this:

That means you haven’t given us the necessary permissions to access your Seller Central. Click the button and follow the instructions.

What You Need to Know

1) You have NO CONTROL over the content of the email Amazon sends. The good news is that it means they will send it in the right language for your order.

2) Reviews can only be requested from orders DELIVERED between 4 and 30 days ago (this is also an Amazon restriction)

At the moment ZonMaster offers no further filtering or configuring of who these requests go to, but that will change in the coming weeks. We wanted to get this feature out to you as soon as possible.

3) Review Requests count as emails. If your ZonMaster plan lets you send 500 emails that means 500 emails OR Review Requests. You will see them displayed on your dashboard in a different colour on your Monthly Send progress bar.

4) Stop sending Review Request emails of your own. Amazon rolled this feature out so they would have some control over the requesting process. This means you should stop sending any emails to buyers whose primary purpose was to request a review. Emails should only go out if they contain additional relevant information about the products the buyer bought. This has not changed. Amazon has been saying this for years, but now they are enforcing it by suspending email priveledges from sellers they think are simply asking for reviews.

5) Review Requests will not go to Refunded or Returned orders.

We hope you’re as excited about this new feature as we are. It will save you TONS of time and get you a lot more reviews, all while staying in Amazon’s good books. It’s a win win!