“Why Are Sales Down?” The Inventory-and-Reviews Diagnosis Checklist

Your “Sales Are Down” Diagnosis Checklist (Before You Blame Ads)

Sales dip. Panic rises. And somehow your first instinct is to throw more money at ads like it’s a campfire that needs “just one more log.”

Before you light another dollar on fire, run this quick diagnosis checklist to find the real culprits: availability (inventory), credibility (reviews), and conversion friction (listing + offer issues).

Because if shoppers can’t buy (stockouts), don’t trust (weak reviews), or can’t decide (friction), ads just send more people to… bounce. Politely.

The core idea: Fix the leaks before you add more traffic

Think of your sales system like a bucket:

• Inventory = is the bucket even there?
• Reviews = do people trust the bucket won’t explode?
• Conversion friction = is there a giant hole labeled “confusing listing”?

And here’s why credibility matters so much: PowerReviews research consistently shows shoppers heavily rely on reviews in purchase decisions (e.g., 98% say reviews are an essential resource).

And availability is not a “small ops problem”. IHL Group’s research on inventory distortion (out-of-stocks + overstocks) ties the issue to massive revenue losses at a global scale.

Step 1: Inventory Reality Check (Availability)

A) Did you stock out, or are you about to?

Symptoms

• Sales fell suddenly (cliff-drop), especially on one or two SKUs
• Your ads still spend, but orders don’t follow
• Best-sellers “randomly” slowed after being stable\

Checklist

• ☐ Any SKU hit 0 available (FBA or FBM) in the last 30 days?
• ☐ Any SKU went suppressed or stranded?
• ☐ Any SKU’s lead time increased (supplier, freight, prep, inbound, AWD → FBA)?
• ☐ Any SKU’s inbound shipments delayed or checked-in slowly?
• ☐ Are you unknowingly “in stock” but not buyable (e.g., no Prime offer, no Buy Box, listing issue)?

Quick test (10 minutes)

• Look at last 30–60 days and mark:
  • “Days in stock”
  • “Days low stock”
  • “Days out of stock”
• If a SKU was out even briefly, estimate your lost momentum: ranking + conversion rate often take time to recover.

B) Are you seeing false demand signals?

Stockouts and inventory constraints can disguise demand. So can promos.

Common false signals

• Promo spikes that convince you demand “permanently” jumped
• Ad bursts that inflate short-term sales (then vanish)
• Price changes that shift conversion rate (up or down)
• Competitor hiccups (they stock out, you surge… then normalize)

Checklist

• ☐ Any major coupon, deal, or price drop in the last 60 days?
• ☐ Did you increase ad spend right before the dip (masking the real trend)?
• ☐ Did you bundle/change variations, affecting historical comparability?
• ☐ Did returns rise (sales looked fine, profit didn’t)?

Step 2: Reviews Reality Check (Credibility)

Shoppers use reviews as a trust shortcut, especially when they don’t know you, don’t know the product, and don’t want regret delivered in two days. PowerReviews reports extremely high reliance on reviews (e.g., 99%+ read reviews at least sometimes; 98% call them essential).

A) Did your review momentum stall?

Symptoms

• Sessions steady, conversion down
• CTR stable, CVR down
• You’re getting traffic but not closing

Checklist

• ☐ Did your review count growth slow vs. last quarter?
• ☐ Did you lose recent reviews (deleted/removed) or stop getting new ones?
• ☐ Are competitors gaining reviews faster on the same keywords?
• ☐ Do you have long gaps between reviews (looks “inactive”)?

Quick test

• Compare the last 30 days vs. prior 30 days:
  • New review count
  • Average star rating trend
  • Review recency (“last reviewed” freshness)

B) Did a small number of negatives create a big conversion problem?

Not all 4.2-star products are equal. A few new 1-star reviews with the same complaint can punch above their weight.

Checklist

• ☐ Any new reviews mention a repeated “dealbreaker” (broken, leaks, sizing, misleading images)?
• ☐ Any shift in star rating in the last 30–60 days?
• ☐ Are your top critical reviews “recent” and highly visible?
• ☐ Are you missing a clear expectation-setting line in images/A+ copy?

Fix-first actions

• Update images to clarify sizing/fit/use-case
• Add an FAQ section addressing the #1 complaint
• Improve packaging/instructions if issues are “avoidable confusion”

Step 3: Conversion Friction Check (Listing + Offer)

A) Is the offer still competitive?

Sometimes sales drop because your offer became the “meh” option.

Checklist

• ☐ Did your price drift up relative to top competitors?
• ☐ Shipping time worsen (FBM slower, FBA split, etc.)?
• ☐ Buy Box percentage drop?
• ☐ Variation selection confusing (wrong default child shown)?

Quick test

• Open your listing in an incognito window:
  • Is the default variant the best seller?
  • Is pricing/quantity clear immediately?
  • Any weirdness in images, title truncation, mobile view?

B) Did Amazon friction sneak in (suppression, compliance, fees)

Even small backend changes can hurt conversion or margin.

Checklist

• ☐ Listing suppressed, hazmat flagged, restricted keyword issue?
• ☐ FBA fees increased enough to force a price change?
• ☐ Returns increased due to listing mismatch?
• ☐ Category changes or attribute edits impacting relevance?

If your margin got squeezed and you raised the price, that can look like “sales are down” when it’s really “conversion is down because your offer changed.”

Step 4: Ads Check (Only after steps 1–3)

Yes… ads matter. But ads amplify whatever reality is already true.

A) Diagnose ads after inventory + reviews + conversion

Checklist

• ☐ Were you advertising SKUs that were low/out of stock?
• ☐ Did CVR drop before ACOS rose (a sign of trust/friction issues)?
• ☐ Are you sending traffic to listings with weak review recency or unclear images?
• ☐ Did you lose ranking because stockouts broke momentum?

Rule of thumb

• If your listing has friction, ads become a very expensive way to learn you have friction.

The “What Should I Do Next?” Decision Map

If inventory is the issue…

• Fix forecasting and reorder timing
• Reduce stockout risk with a repeatable monthly routine
  → Trial RestockPro

If reviews are the issue…

• Restore consistent, compliant review requests
• Improve listing clarity to prevent negative surprises
  → Trial FeedbackFive

If conversion friction is the issue…

• Refresh images, tighten positioning, clarify expectations
• Re-check offer competitiveness and variation structure
  → Then scale ads again

Run the checklist, then pick your tool

Don’t guess. Don’t panic. Don’t “just bump the budget.”

Run the checklist above. Identify your #1 bottleneck. Then:

• Trial RestockPro if availability/forecasting is the culprit
• Trial FeedbackFive if review velocity/credibility is the culprit

Either way, you’ll stop treating symptoms and start fixing the actual problem.

Because the goal isn’t “spend more.”

It’s sell more… profitably… without the chaos.

FAQ: Amazon Inventory and Reviews Questions Sellers Ask (a Lot)