Amazon Now Lets Sellers Get Vine Reviews Before Launch
Reviews are one of the most important performance drivers on Amazon, influencing everything from conversion rate to organic ranking. Vine has long been one of the few compliant ways to generate early reviews. Until recently, brands had to launch first and wait weeks for reviews to accumulate, often facing sluggish early sales, high ad costs, and limited social proof. That gap is now closed for sellers.
Amazon has introduced a new capability that can redefine what a successful product launch looks like. Eligible FBA sellers can now enroll products in Vine before the item is even available for sale. This means brands can launch on Day 1 with up to 30 authentic customer reviews already live on the detail page, giving new products immediate credibility.
What This Means for Sellers
This update lets sellers bypass the most inefficient part of a launch: the empty product page with zero reviews and a low conversion rate. With reviews secured before launch, brands can enter the market with a full listing and social proof in place. That sets the stage for stronger ad performance and faster organic rank.
To illustrate the impact, consider a typical early-stage launch curve:
- Conversion rate sat at 3.8% with zero reviews
- It reached 11.5% once 20 reviews were live
- By 30 reviews, it stabilized at 13.7%
While these figures are directional, they reflect the kind of lift we've consistently seen across categories. These gains often take months to build organically. Now, sellers can unlock them from day one.
If your brand has a Seller Central account and is eligible for FBA, you can begin using this immediately. If not, we can support enrollment through Front Row's managed Vine service or help configure your seller setup to take advantage of this shift.
What This Means for Vendors
Amazon has not extended this pre-launch review capability to vendors yet. Vine remains available in Vendor Central, but only after products are live and selling.
This limitation reinforces a broader trend. More of Amazon’s most valuable tools are being built for sellers first. That makes hybrid setups not just operationally useful, but strategically necessary. Even if you do not transact through Seller Central, having a brand-registered seller presence can unlock programs like this one that are seller-exclusive.
At Front Row, we help brands build hybrid structures that maintain a centralized strategy across both models. For vendors who want access to pre-launch reviews but do not have the seller infrastructure to support it, we can bridge that gap. Whether it means setting up your own seller flow or leveraging ours, the goal is the same: launch with momentum.
If your next product is still set to go live with zero reviews, let's fix that before it does.
