Chinese brands on Amazon were given a rude shock when Amazon took the call of removing them from its platform. According to a report by The Verge, after five months of a global crackdown, Amazon has banned 600 Chinese brands. Amazon says that these brands were violating Amazon’s policies — the ones around review abuse.
Gifts for reviews: What these brands did
A report by The Wall Street Journal had earlier stated how some Chinese brands offered gift cards to consumers in exchange for positive reviews. In a statement to The Verge, the company said, “Amazon works hard to build a great experience in our store so that customers can shop with confidence and sellers have the opportunity to grow their business amid healthy competition. Customers rely on the accuracy and authenticity of product reviews to make informed purchasing decisions and we have clear policies for both reviewers and selling partners that prohibit abuse of our community features. We suspend, ban, and take legal action against those who violate these policies, wherever they are in the world.”
Amazon has made it clear that this isn’t a campaign to ‘target’ China but is a global campaign. “We will continue to improve abuse detection and take enforcement action against bad actors, including those that knowingly engage in multiple and repeated policy violations, including review abuse. We are confident that the steps we take are in the best interests of our customers as well as the honest businesses that make up the vast majority of our global selling community,” the company said in a statement.
While the names of all brands aren’t known, some of them include really popular ones in China. Aukey Mpow, RavPower, Vava are some of the ‘big’ brands that have been permanently banned by Amazon.
A report by South Morning China Post suggests that Amazon’s decision to ban brands has led a lot of Chinese companies to invest in other e-commerce players like eBay and Ali Express.