Dear All,
There is an interesting but seller penalizing policy Amazon has introduced quitely.
Nowadays, for most of the products, buyers do not get the option to return without giving a reason, and Amazon has removed the reasons like 1) Changed their mind, 2) Better price available, etc.
All the reasons are related to product problems.
If the Buyer wants to return, He/She is forced to choose a reason that affects the seller's performance matrix.
Amazon algorithms are also working poorly, closing listings for 7 days even if there's only one return in the last 30 days.
Seller Support says they do not have access to this, and listings are being closed from behind by the system.
Now another Side Effect of the Above Policy:
Over 20% of listings are closed abruptly. My team spends a full day fighting with seller support, showing them proof. They agree but can't help.
When a listing is closed for 7 days or X number of days in a month, how do we determine the exact demand for the product? When we receive the product and the listing is active, it often sells out sooner than expected. So Sellers get out of stock.
Again, the Seller gets penalized for out-of-stock listings.
Due to inaccurate inventory requirement calculations, we cannot send the product to all fulfillment centers multiple times.
Then again Seller gets penalized for not having regional stock.
All the problems occurred due to one simple change (which looks like a child's thought): Amazon has made a move to curb returns. However, it is causing numerous problems and ultimately resulting in more losses to Amazon and its sellers.
Looks like Amazon is inspired and adopting the ease of doing business policy of India :)