Walmart recently told branded merchants who sell on its marketplace about a program that lets them pay for product reviews through Plum’s Field Agent program for $15 per review. In a recent post, Walmart explained:
“Field Agent can help you gain authentic reviews for your Marketplace products. Looking for a fast and affordable way to get authentic reviews on your products? We’ve got exciting news! You can now mobilize real shoppers to buy your products from Walmart stores or walmart.com, try them at home, and then leave honest ratings and reviews on your product pages via Field Agent on plumshop.com!”
Walmart pointed merchants to this page on Plumshop.com. It explains that, “After ordering Ratings & Reviews from Plum, a task is launched in the Field Agent app.” The Field Agent shopper accepts the job in the app, purchases the product, tries it, and then the shopper writes a review of the product.
In Walmart’s recent post, it offered merchants a code to get 25% off their first Field Agent order.
Amazon has its own in-house product-review offering called Vine and last month offered sellers a discounted rate of $100 per parent ASIN enrollment (usually $200). (Here’s the consumer-facing description of the program.)
Amazon said: “Whether you are a new brand owner or launching a new product, Amazon Vine can help you get your first product reviews from a community of unbiased and insightful reviewers. Reviews give customers insight into the quality and reliability of your products, and help them make an informed purchase decision.”
Walmart and Amazon both understand that product reviews are helpful in getting shoppers to make a purchase. Amazon said that participating in the Vine program could help boost sales up to 19% on new or slow-moving products.
When Amazon ended incentivized reviews in 2016, it kept its Vine program in place.
