Advanced Amazon Messaging Systems

When you have to deal with high-volume Amazon support, Buyer-Seller Messages just don’t cut it anymore. You don’t have time to manually customize every message, manage Amazon messages separately from other support channels, or dig through old messages to evaluate agent performance. You need a more powerful Amazon messaging system.

So, what options do you have?

Last updated 1/1/2021.

Upgrading to a Helpdesk

Above: Messages from Amazon and other marketplaces in Zendesk.

Professional helpdesks provide impressive suites of customer service tools. Several have integrated with Amazon, and if Amazon’s messaging system were a horse-drawn buggy, helpdesks would be helicopters. The upgrade is immense.

Here are a few examples of what most Amazon-compatible helpdesks can do:

• Create a library of canned replies with placeholders for customer and order details, similar to Amazon’s email templates
• Search and filter your messages just like on Amazon, but with the freedom to create any filter you can dream up
• Assign tickets to agents manually or automatically
• Track agent performance and generate reports
• Manage customer service from other channels on the same screen, including:
  • Email
  • eBay
  • Walmart
  • Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter
  • Numerous other third-party platforms
  • Your own websites, including those built with popular store builders like…
    • Shopify
    • WooCommerce
    • BigCommerce
    • 3dcart
  • Live chat
  • Telephony

These tools make a world of difference. Not only do they improve your customer service team’s performance, they also make it easier for you to track and manage their work.

So, which helpdesks can provide these capabilities for Amazon sellers?

1. Zendesk

Replying to an Amazon ticket in Zendesk using a macro (canned reply) with placeholders. The text in the reply, including the buyer's name, the item title, the amount paid, and the order status, was entered with two clicks.

One of the best helpdesks available, Zendesk can do everything we mentioned above. Plus, it's capable of working as an eBay, Walmart and Amazon autoresponder.

Amazon Compatibility

Zendesk integrates with Amazon via ChannelReply. Note that you must use Zendesk’s Team plan or better for the integration to work correctly.

Pricing

Zendesk Team costs $19 per agent per month when billed annually. Advanced plans range up to $199 per agent per month.

Free Trial

Zendesk offers a 30-day free trial.

2. Freshdesk

An Amazon ticket in the Freshdesk interface. The ChannelReply app is indicated on the right.

Freshdesk is an affordable alternative. It has most of the same capabilities as Zendesk, often provides awesome features at lower price points, and can also work as an Amazon, Walmart and eBay autoresponder.

Amazon Compatibility

Freshdesk integrates with Amazon via ChannelReply. You'll need the Blossom plan or better for the connection to work.

Pricing

Freshdesk’s Blossom plan is excellent for Amazon sellers and costs just $15 per user per month when billed annually. Although their basic Sprout plan is truly free service desk software, it just isn't built for Amazon support. Higher-level plans range up to $99 per month.

Free Trial

Freshdesk offers a 21-day free trial of their highest-level plans.

3. Help Scout

A zoomed-out view of threaded Amazon messages in Help Scout.

Help Scout is a beautifully clean and easy-to-use helpdesk. Their higher-level plans offer many of the same features of Zendesk's and Freshdesk's for a fraction of the price.

Help Scout is also known for being made of good people. Their customer service team is renowned for treating even small customers like royalty, and they offer discounts to startups and to organizations working for good.

Choose Help Scout if you want software that "just works" and don't want to spend a lot of time fiddling with detailed settings or dealing with clutter all over your screen. Just note that some advanced tools are unavailable for Amazon in Help Scout, such as using customer details in saved replies.

Amazon Compatibility

ChannelReply allows you to connect Amazon, eBay and Walmart with Help Scout. All ChannelReply features are available on Help Scout's Standard plan except Custom Fields (shown at the top of the screenshot above), which require Help Scout Plus or better.

Pricing

Help Scout Standard costs $20/user/month when billed annually, while their Plus plan costs $35/user/month. Getting the same features as Plus on another helpdesk would usually cost you around $100/user/month.

Free Trial

Help Scout offers a 15-day free trial.

4. Gorgias

Answering an Amazon ticket from the Gorgias iOS app.

Gorgias was built specifically for online stores. If you sell on your Shopify, Magento or BigCommerce website as much as or more than you sell on Amazon, it's probably the best choice you could make.

Gorgias pulls in every bit of data from your store into customer service, and functions as both CRM and helpdesk, storing all kinds of important info to help you land a sale. It can even let you strike up conversations with shoppers as they're browsing. This closes a huge part of the gap between ecommerce and the in-store experience.

Amazon Compatibility

ChannelReply provides Amazon, eBay and Walmart integrations for Gorgias, and all plans are compatible. The integration gives you the same kind of info about marketplace users as you would have about Shopify customers and lets you answer them directly from Gorgias. All ChannelReply data can be used in tools like variables with no extra setup.

Just take note: some hands-on support features like starting live chats won't work on Amazon. The big river isn't likely to approve that anytime soon!

Pricing

While most helpdesks bill by agent, Gorgias gives you unlimited agents and bills by ticket volume instead. Prices start at $50/month.

Free Trial

Gorgias's free trial lasts 7 days.

5. Re:amaze

Reviewing ChannelReply's Amazon data in the Re:amaze mobile app.

Re:amaze is versatile and competitive. While other helpdesks have clear strengths and weaknesses, Re:amaze wins the silver medal at almost everything, making it the most flexible choice available. It also has the best mobile app for ecommerce support.

Amazon Compatibility

Re:amaze can link with Amazon, eBay, Walmart and even Shopify using ChannelReply. The integration uses the exact same app as Zendesk and Freshdesk, and so has nearly identical features, down to working as an ecommerce autoresponder.

The most noteworthy difference is that Re:amaze's mobile app fully supports ChannelReply. It is the only mobile app that can do this. So, you can view Amazon order data, mark messages as "No response needed," and answer questions fast with response templates—all from your phone. It's the perfect solution for entrepreneurs and teams that run on smartphones.

Pricing

Re:amaze has a bit of a high starting cost, with its most affordable plan costing $29/user/month. However, you get a lot for your money, and Re:amaze does not nickle and dime its customers. 

Free Trial

Re:amaze provides a 14-day free trial.

Upgrade to a Better Amazon Messaging System

Don’t limit yourself to the handful of customer service tools on Amazon. Try Zendesk, Freshdesk, Help Scout, Gorgias or Re:amaze and integrate with Amazon using a free trial of ChannelReply. You’ll never want to go back!