Reviews play an essential role in determining your store’s success, especially if you are selling online on a highly competitive marketplace platform like Amazon. Whether you are trying to launch a new product, push down a negative review, increase sales or gain popularity – An Amazon review not showing up can make a huge difference to each of these goals.
In this guide, we will take you through why this happens and what you can do to fix it.
Amazon review not showing up: Why this matters
More than 70% of consumers in the US are influenced to purchase products that have the best ratings and reviews on Amazon. Amazon reviews can benefit both, sellers and customers. With millions of products available across Amazon’s worldwide network, you need to do everything you can to stand out. Reviews play a huge role in making sure you do.
Ways that reviews and seller feedback can be important to an Amazon seller include:
Social proof
Reviews can have a huge impact on a potential customer’s decision-making process and shape the reputation and perception of the seller’s brand as well. Product reviews and seller reviews show other online users that you have a legitimate presence online.
Product ranking
The more positive reviews your product has, the more likely it will appear on top of the search results listing page for the user. It is also likely that many customers will filter by the highest rating or the most number of reviews. You need to aim to get at least five reviews for each product for it to catch a potential customer’s eye. Users can also vote to choose which reviews have been helpful to them, boosting your score.
Customer conversion
There is nothing more annoying than an on-the-fence customer who can’t make up their mind. Positive feedback can make or break their relationship with you. Online customers can’t physically touch or see the product you are selling them, so they will rely heavily on product reviews to convert them from passive observers to buyers.
Market insight
High-quality product reviews and seller feedback can help you understand your customer better. Generally, buyers who choose to leave reviews for your product have something noteworthy and valuable to share. Even negative feedback can be useful for you to figure out what you can do better. Use Amazon reviews to get into your customer’s heads, understand their grievances and listen to their opinions.
Free marketing
One of the best things about encouraging customers to leave a review? You get free marketing out of it. As an Amazon business, you will always look for ways to spread good messages about your online store. This goes beyond controlling your own traffic using social media, email marketing, and telecommunication. Verified purchase reviews, especially positive reviews, do the selling, showcasing, and marketing for you. At the same time, an honest and positive review will leave a good impression online for years to come.
Ways that product reviews and seller feedback can be important to Amazon buyers:
Help make a decision
With so many choices in price, quality, Amazon sellers, and listings out there on the internet, it can be overwhelming for buyers to make the right choice. Verified purchase reviews help them compare right from wrong for free, without having to consult family and friends each time.
Customers will look for feedback regarding shipping times, product quality, and even packaging. More than 60% of Amazon shoppers trust the reviews they see on the marketplace.
Form an opinion about the brand
As mentioned above, your product review is also free marketing for your Amazon business and your brand. If a user comes across a large number of negative reviews or many unverified reviews, they may be led to fashion a disadvantageous opinion about you as a seller. If multiple comments raise the same issue repeatedly, it also shows that you have not done anything to rectify the issue that buyers have pointed out.
Amazon review not showing up: Why this could happen
So we’ve talked about why Amazon reviews are important. Now let’s find out why they are not showing up for you. Because if there is one thing to take away from this guide it is this: Amazon reviews need to be seen. By everyone. So if you can’t see them, where did they go? Here are 4 questions to ask if your Amazon review is not showing up:
1. How long does it take for an Amazon review to show up?
Amazon reviews do not appear on the platform right away. Most reviews take about 72 hours to appear and sometimes it can even take up to two weeks to be shown on product listings. Each review is checked to make sure that it adheres to Amazon’s guidelines. The algorithm checks if the review has been posted by verified accounts and unverified reviews will be flagged till the account gets verified.
The reviewer will be asked to verify their account before Amazon allows posting of reviews and ratings in some cases. If a reviewer tries to cheat the system by posting comments from an unverified purchase account, they may not be able to leave a review that other buyers can see. Wait a few days to see if reviews appear before flagging it to Amazon.
2. Have the comments been blocked, deleted, or removed because of policy violations?
Amazon has been known to have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to fraudulent review requests, unusual reviewing behavior, inappropriate comments, and fake reviews. Unusual reviewing behavior includes:
Suspicious wording, foul language, threats, and abuse
Amazon will most often remove or hide reviews that are not appropriate for users of all ages, especially those referencing violence and profanity.
A rapid and abrupt increase in review velocity
A significant increase in reviews and sudden high review count, especially from unverified accounts looks very suspicious when not in a peak selling period.
Review requests sent to family and friends
Amazon sees reviews like these as misleading as the reviewer could have a personal interest in the seller.
Irrelevant or off-topic comments
Sometimes Amazon might remove reviews related to shipping, packaging, and sales because it views these as seller feedback and not direct product reviews.
Incentivized reviews
Offering a monetary reward or incentives to customers to leave you positive reviews goes against Amazon’s strict seller rules. Black hat tactics, for example, paying for product reviews or seller account feedback does not sit well with Amazon guidelines and will be seen as an attempt to cheat the system.
3. Have wiped buyer accounts affected my review section?
If you are one of those sellers who keeps track of every single comment, review, and rating coming in on your product listing, then you might notice the ones that go missing after some time as well. A common explanation for disappearing reviews is wiped accounts. This can happen when a user who has left you a review deletes their Amazon account at a later stage.
Sellers and their product listings will also be affected when Amazon has banned or removed certain users for not following the platform’s rules, has engaged in illegal or crime-related activities, or has left a large review count comprising of suspicious wording. Review blocks and account deletion are huge problems for sellers and can affect their sales. It’s not common for blocked accounts to be allowed back on the platform.
4. Can too many Amazon reviews be a bad thing?
Yes, as mentioned above, a sharp increase in review velocity is not a good sign. Amazon likes reviews that are organic, natural, and abide by all their rules and those set by other sellers too. Many times Amazon sets a limit to how many reviews you can receive per day and per week. Sellers need to keep an eye on every single listing to avoid getting blocked.
Buyers should be wary of leaving too many product reviews and too many positive comments too. Amazon offers small incentives to those users who leave a review for new products almost immediately. This is usually through their Early Reviewer Program, and you need to have a registered and verified account to take part.
It is easy enough to spot fake reviews nowadays. But if you are struggling, you may want to invest in a review checker or ask a professional for help.
Focus on verified purchase reviews and a positive review
Many potential buyers will look for the ‘Verified Purchase’ tag on reviews when sifting through them. This applies to both negative and positive comments and makes a huge difference to whether a user goes through with their transaction or not.
What about negative reviews?
Positive feedback is great, especially when they follow all of Amazon’s set rules and guidelines. Stay clean by not paying for reviews. If you want to ask loyal patrons to leave you a rating, ask them politely and without any bias. You can offer them a free gift for sharing their honest opinion about your product, service, and store.
If you do get negative comments, make the best use of them! Negative feedback can be a seller’s best friend if you take it with a pinch of salt. Respond professionally to each comment offering a solution and apologizing for any discomfort the buyer has faced. You want them to feel important and come back to you for a second chance. Follow up again at a later stage to see how their next experience with your Amazon store was. Never ask a buyer to take down their negative review.
How to fix the problem of Amazon review not showing up: Next steps
Sellers need to protect their online store, ask buyers to review their products appropriately and keep an eye on each listing at all times. It can seem like a daunting and time-consuming task. Set aside an hour each week to go through your reviews and to clean up each listing as you go along.
Playing by Amazon’s rules can be lucrative for your business in the long term. Stay up-to-date with Amazon’s latest announcements and changes so nothing takes you by surprise. The marketplace is ever-evolving, and it is your job to stay ahead of your competitors by staying vigilant, smart, ethical, and digitally savvy.
Learn more about how you can get reviews on Amazon by reading our in-depth guide.
