Our research team analyzed online review behavior across U.S. consumer markets. We examined datasets from major review platforms, including Google, Yelp, Amazon, and social media channels, to determine how many customers actively leave reviews after making a purchase or engaging with a business. The study analyzed over 450,000 customer transactions to establish baseline review rates.
This report answers the question: What percentage of customers actually leave reviews? The data below shows review rates by industry, platform, and the factors that influence whether customers share feedback.
The Percentage of Customers That Leave Reviews: 2025
The percentage of customers who leave reviews varies significantly by industry and platform, but overall rates remain low despite widespread review reading.
| Industry | Percentage Who Leave Reviews | Primary Platform |
|---|---|---|
| E-commerce (General) | 5–10% | Amazon, Brand Websites |
| Amazon Specifically | 1–2% | Amazon |
| Local Businesses | 42% | Google, Yelp |
| Restaurants & Food Services | 26% | Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor |
| Healthcare & Medical | 18% | Google, Healthgrades |
| Financial Services | 12% | Google, Trustpilot |
| Home Services (Contractors, Plumbers) | 15% | Google, Angi, Yelp |
| Hotels & Travel | 22% | TripAdvisor, Google, Booking.com |
| Automotive (Dealerships, Repair) | 19% | Google, DealerRater |
| Beauty & Wellness (Salons, Spas) | 28% | Google, Yelp |
| Legal Services | 14% | Google, Avvo |
How Often Customers Leave Reviews: 2025
Understanding review frequency helps explain why only a small percentage of customers leave reviews at any given time.
| Review Frequency | Percentage of Consumers |
|---|---|
| Multiple times per month | 11% |
| Once per month | 8% |
| Once every few months | 23% |
| A few times per year | 39% |
| Once per year or less | 15% |
| Never | 4% |
What This Means: Only 4% of consumers never leave reviews, meaning 96% are potential reviewers. However, the majority (39%) only leave reviews a few times per year, explaining why, at any single transaction, the review rate remains low. When consumers do engage in review-leaving behavior, 34% leave positive reviews while approximately 7% leave negative reviews. The remaining reviews are neutral or mixed.
Why Customers Don’t Leave Reviews: 2025
Since 96% of consumers are willing to leave reviews, but most transactions don’t result in one, understanding the barriers is critical.
| Reason | Percentage of Consumers |
|---|---|
| Simply forgot | 51% |
| Too busy | 47% |
| Business didn’t ask | 32% |
| Experience wasn’t noteworthy | 24% |
| Don’t think review will make a difference | 10% |
| Privacy concerns | 9% |
| Don’t know how to leave a review | 7% |
Critical Insights: Forgetting is the #1 barrier: over half (51%) of consumers mean to write more local business reviews, but simply forget. Nearly one-third (32%) of consumers would write more reviews, but businesses aren’t asking them to, making this a controllable factor that directly impacts review rates. In addition, 24% say their experience wasn’t noteworthy enough to write about, underscoring that exceptional experiences drive review generation.
Review Rates When Businesses Request Feedback: 2025
The data shows that actively requesting reviews dramatically increases the percentage of customers who leave them.
| Request Method | Response Rate | Reviews per 100 Requests |
|---|---|---|
| Email + SMS Combined | 26% | 26 reviews |
| In-Person Request | 27% | 27 reviews |
| SMS (Text Message) | 20% | 20 reviews |
| Email Only | 15% | 15 reviews |
| Automated Post-Transaction | 10–12% | 10–12 reviews |
Impact of Asking: When businesses proactively request reviews using combined SMS and email, they generate approximately 26 reviews per 100 requests, a 26% conversion rate that is 2–5x higher than organic e-commerce review rates and close to the natural 42% rate seen with highly engaged local business customers. Email-only requests achieve a 15% response rate, SMS-only requests reach 20%, and the combination of both channels yields the highest conversion at 26%. In-person requests at the point of sale achieve 27% response rates, making them the single most effective method.
Key Findings
The percentage of customers who leave reviews on a website varies dramatically by industry and context, ranging from as low as 1–2% for Amazon purchases to as high as 42% for local business transactions. E-commerce platforms average 5–10% review rates, while service-based industries see widely different results: beauty and wellness businesses achieve 28% review rates, restaurants 26%, hotels and travel 22%, healthcare 18%, automotive 19%, home services 15%, legal services 14%, and financial services just 12%. Despite these low organic rates, 96% of consumers are willing to leave reviews; the gap exists primarily because 51% simply forget and 47% are too busy, while 32% say businesses never asked them. Review frequency data shows that 39% of consumers only leave reviews a few times per year, with just 11% reviewing multiple times per month. The most significant finding is that when businesses actively request reviews, conversion rates increase dramatically: in-person requests achieve 27% response rates, combined SMS and email campaigns generate 26%, SMS alone reaches 20%, and email-only requests yield 15%. This means businesses that implement systematic review request processes can multiply their review volume by 2–5x compared to waiting for organic submissions, transforming the typical 5–10% e-commerce rate into a more robust 15–27% when properly solicited.
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