Whether you are a first-party (1P) seller or a third-party (3P) seller, winning the buy box gives you a massive edge. Winning the buy box increases your chances of making a sale and allows you to create PPC ads on Amazon for those products. Every seller wants their products to be the ones that gets selected when a consumer clicks on “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now”.
In this article, we will walk you through what is the Amazon Buy Box, why it matters to sellers, and the factors that help you win the Buy Box on Amazon.
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What is the Amazon Buy Box?
The Amazon ‘Buy Box’ is a highly valuable piece of real estate on the digital shelf for brands and retailers. It is the section on the right side of the product detail page where shoppers can click on the ‘Add to Cart’ or ‘Buy Now’ button.
Why does Buy Box matter to Amazon sellers?
Over 80% of Amazon website sales today go through the Buy Box, and this number increases with Amazon mobile sales. In mobile, the Buy Box takes on heightened importance. That’s because, unlike on a desktop or laptop, the mobile site features it directly under the product image. Customers click “Buy now” to place their order, without the Offer Listing page being in their line of sight. Therefore, competitive sellers must understand how Amazon determines who acquires this coveted spot, as it directly impacts impressions, clicks, and sales.
The goal of the Amazon Buy Box is to provide the best shopping experience for the customers. So, it is typically won by the seller that has the best performance metrics (customer reviews, shipping, order defect rate (ODR), product quality, etc.) and provides the best value (low price).
How to become eligible for the Buy Box?
Not all sellers are eligible to win the ‘Buy Box’ on Amazon. To even be eligible for it, sellers must have
- A professional Amazon Seller Account
- Must be selling brand new products
- Must have a selling history
As per Amazon’s customer-obsessed approach, only businesses with excellent seller metrics stand a chance to win a share of this valuable real estate. If multiple sellers with excellent metrics are eligible, they will share the time as the Buy Box winner. For instance, if there are three sellers eligible for a particular product, then the one with the highest rank and best metrics will get the majority share of the buy box (50%), the seller with the next highest metrics will get 30% of the share and the 3rd seller will get 20% of the share.
How to Win Buy Box on Amazon?
In the world of Amazon, landing the coveted “Buy Box” position signifies that Amazon’s algorithm deems your product reliable, top-notch, and offering the best bang for the buck. While the exact formula remains a well-kept secret, we can unravel the key factors that increase your odds of claiming victory.
1. Competitive Pricing
Price matters on Amazon and the change of Buy Box going to the most competitive offer is very high. While Amazon doesn’t reveal the exact formula, aiming to stay within 5% of the current Buy Box price significantly improves your chances of winning it. Remember, a competitive price combined with a strong seller reputation makes you a top pick for the Buy Box.
Price Intelligence tools can help you win the buy box by making sure your prices are optimized and are dynamically competitive against your competitors without compromising your base cost.
2. Customer Reviews, Ratings, & Feedback
Having positive customer reviews plays a crucial role in securing the Buy Box, and the more recent the review, the stronger its impact. Amazon aims to offer value to customers, and only reliable merchants with a consistent track record of positive customer experiences get a piece of the Buy Box action. Amazon evaluates the number of reviews you receive to your selling history. Maintaining a review score above 90 percent is crucial for winning the Buy Box.
Another significant factor influencing your chances of winning the Buy Box is the Amazon Order Defect Rate (ODR). The ODR considers negative feedback rating, A-Z guarantee claim rate, and service chargeback rate. According to Amazon guidelines, the ODR should stay below 1%. A consistently high ODR could lead to the removal of selling privileges. Sellers with a substantial inventory, consistent sales, up-to-date inventory, and a positive stock history may be granted a larger share of the Buy Box.
Our data analysis showed that almost 80% of the buy box winners had over 100 reviews and over 90% of them had a rating higher than 3 as shown on the graph below.
3. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) vs Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM)
Fulfillment is one of the biggest factors considered by Amazon. Amazon’s FBA is an extremely efficient and cost-effective shipping system that gives sellers a leg up against those that use FBM. FBA gives sellers a 30-50% increase in sales.
A big reason for this is that most people don’t like to pay for shipping and since prime members get free shipping with FBA, they will often pick those products. Another reason is that people are more likely to trust Amazon’s shipping vs others.
4. Shipping time and cost
Shipping time has a high impact on winning the Buy Box as well. The faster you ship and deliver orders, the higher your chances are of winning the Amazon Buy Box. Amazon requires at least 96% of orders to ship on time. In Seller Central Account, you can adjust your handling time to suit you. If you don’t, it defaults to 1-2 days. The shipping time stating the approximate date the item should arrive can be shown on the product detail page. A late shipment rate below 4% will aid your chances of winning the Buy Box.
Shipping cost also influences the overall price of the product. The Buy Box considers the price of the product plus shipping costs. For instance, if your product price is $10 with an additional $6 shipping cost, you will lose out to competitors offering products for $15 with free shipping. Therefore, it is crucial to take this into account when pricing your product on Amazon.
Our data showed (graph below) that 90% of the buy box winners were offering ‘Free Shipping’ and only 10% weren’t. This means that a seller on Amazon seriously hurts their chances of winning the buy box if they do not offer free shipping.
5. Content quality
Always make sure your product content is optimized. You should provide the best quality content to the customers to separate yourself from the competition and to increase your chance of winning the buy box. Product Intelligence tool gives you detailed scores on various aspects of your product’s content as well as your competitors’ product content like title, image, price, promotion, ratings, etc. The image below shows the product detail page scores of Wranglers on their jeans products.
Detailed insight into each part of the product content allows you to see what you need to improve on, where your competitors are stronger, and increase the score of each part of the content. This way you maximize your optimization efforts without wondering what to improve.
6. Inventory Availability
This is self-explanatory: for your listing to be eligible for the buy box, you need to always remain in stock. If your product is out of stock then you are unable to ship right away then, you will lose out to another seller that can fulfill it right away. It is very important to manage your inventory flow like a well-oiled machine. Running out of stock multiple times can hurt your credibility which will affect your chances of competing for the buy box in the future.
An exception to this rule is when a product is listed as ‘back ordered’ on the product detail page. Products with this label are eligible to win shares of the Buy Box but if a competitor has that product available, they will be chosen as the Buy Box winner.
Also, learn more about Amazon Sponsored Display Ads.
In Summary
There is no magic bullet for winning shares of the Amazon Buy Box. Amazon wants sellers to sell good stuff at good prices to get the Buy Box. Sellers need to keep an eye on things to win it. Sellers must keep an eye on quality, performance, and prices. This increases their chances of winning the Buy Box.
As a brand or retailer, observing, tracking, and optimizing all these factors may seem like a daunting feat. But there are tools and software that can help you win the Amazon Buy Box. GrowByData’s Marketing Intelligence gives sellers on Amazon the ability to
- Dynamically reprice the products per the market demands.
- Get comprehensive insights and reports on your product performance as well as your competitors’.
- Deep dive into each component of the product detail page and optimize it.
