Amazon Buy Box: How To Boost Your Sales By Winning This Valuable Asset

With the explosive growth of eCommerce, primarily owing to the rise of traffic on Amazon, there is no looking back in terms of witnessing an increase in digital sales. If you are a retailer, label, or agent selling on this marketplace, you must have searched for the answer to a similar query:

• “How to ace Amazon Buy Box.”
• “How to keep Amazon Buy Box.”
• “How to retrieve Buy Box on Amazon.”
• “How to get the most out of Amazon Buy Box.”

To address these queries, let’s start from scratch.

The operation of Amazon, the world’s largest eCommerce marketplace, is relatively easy to comprehend; it is a medium via which a retailer and a buyer transact. So uncomplicated, isn’t it? But what if hundreds of merchants sell the same product as you? A buyer will click on ‘Buy Now’ without much care for who the seller is. However, on Amazon, the ‘Buy Now’ button only triggers one seller of a product sold by many.

Well, that’s when it gets complicated.

On Amazon, the rivalry is fierce. Thus merchants need to better their approach with data-directed choices to Amazon Buy Box and maximize sales. Let’s understand how you can do that.

Buy Box on Amazon: What Is It?

Buy Box is the ‘Add to Cart’ and ‘Buy Now’ divisions of the Amazon product listing page– used by digital shoppers to add products directly to their shopping cart. The Buy Box accounts for 83% of sales on the giant marketplace- Amazon, with mobile purchases accounting for the top portion.

However, not all businesses can benefit from this valuable online real estate. Due to fierce competition and Amazon’s customer-focused strategy, only brands with good seller metrics can earn the Buy Box. Knowing how Amazon’s algorithms work will help you improve your performance on important metrics, boosting your chances of securing Amazon Buy Box and outperforming the competition.

Amazon’s Online Real Estate- Buy Box: Overview

• Amazon merchants look forward to taking a cut of the 83% of sales that come via the Buy Box. [Note: mobile purchases make up even more.]
• Only brand-new items are permitted in the Buy Box.
• This valuable real estate rotates between retailers either eligible for the Buy Box or having reasonable prices.
• Amazon Buy Box takes the site into account.
• The Buy Box is not always awarded to those with the lowest prices. The price in the Buy Box is only sometimes the lowest deal on Amazon.
• Although not quite often, Amazon shares the Buy Box with third-party sellers.

How to Win This Coveted Spot [Buy Box] on Amazon

Prerequisites to Qualify for Amazon Buy Box

Sellers must meet the following requirements to qualify for the position.

1. Must have a professional seller account on Amazon
2. Must have an impressive history of excellent performance levels in their sales to be entitled ” Amazon Buy Box-eligible.” This information, formerly known as a Featured Seller, is now only made available to the seller through their Seller Central account.
3. Sell products that are brand new and not used.
4. Sustain adequate inventory and have the items in stock.

Where to Find Your Amazon Buy Box Eligibility Status

Amazon sellers can determine if they qualify for this coveted spot through their professional Seller Central dashboard. To view your status, follow the below steps:

1. Visit your Amazon ‘Seller Central’ dashboard
2. Select the “Inventory” option
3. Click on “Manage Inventory”
4. Select the “Preferences” option
5. Find the section under “Column Display.”
6. Check for the Buy Box Qualified field
7. Choose the ‘Display When Available’ option from the drop-down section
8. Look up the SKU of the product you wish to appear in the Buy Box.
9. If eligible, you will receive the response:, “Yes, congrats! You are eligible for that item under Amazon Buy Box.”

Understanding that eligibility is based on an item rather than a store is a critical part of eligibility. So, while you could be qualified for some of the products you are selling, not all of them will be eligible to be placed under the BUY BOX category.

[Note: You can contact Amazon seller support to ask them to reevaluate your status if you have complied with all the requirements but are still not listed as eligible.]

6 Key Metrics to Win Amazon Buy Box [Considering Amazon’s Algorithm]

Primarily, here’s a quick lesson to remember: Amazon ‘Buy Box’ crib sheet with all confined elements vital to getting you this valuable online real estate.

Amazon Buy Box Crib Sheet

While numerous factors can affect whether you obtain the Amazon Buy Box and are preferred by the marketplace’s algorithm, there are six that have the maximum effect:

#1 Fulfillment Method Chosen By Amazon Merchants

The fulfillment method selected by Amazon merchants has a considerable influence on the Buy Box.

The most uncomplicated strategy to improve your chances of getting this coveted spot is to use Fulfillment By Amazon, which Amazon believes to have ideal metrics amidst all variables.

This is not to argue that retailers who use Fulfillment by Merchants can never outperform sellers who choose Fulfillment by Amazon; it’s just more complicated and requires high scores across all criteria and a low price.

[Note: Even though choosing Fulfillment By Amazon is frequently a wise decision, you must consider the broader picture to determine whether it will save or cost you money.]

#2 Seller Fulfilled Prime System

The best-rated Fulfillment By Merchant vendors can complete orders while taking advantage of Amazon Prime, thanks to the Seller Fulfilled Prime System.

The advantages of this system include the following:

1. You retain the entire shipment management, which is beneficial for sellers of large goods, who can utilize this approach to avoid paying additional costs to FBA.
2. Additionally, you will gain from receiving access to Prime members and having a better chance of winning the Buy Box.

[Note: Not all FBM sellers are eligible for this system. This being the only possible drawback. To be considered, you must have overall solid metrics.]

#3 Order Defect Rate

Three measures that make up the order defect rate include

1. A-Z Guarantee Claim Rate
2. Negative Feedback Rating
3. Service Chargeback Rate

Amazon computes these three metrics to determine defective order numbers. To maintain your eligibility for the Buy Box, the Order Defect Rate must be less than 1%. Anything over this can hurt your chances of getting the Buy Box or even cost you money.

#4 Landed Price On Amazon

The total cost of Amazon products, including shipping, is called the “landed price.”

Landed price and Buy box share are inversely proportional. Therefore, the Buy Box share increases as the landed price decreases.

If you outperform your immediate competitors in performance metrics, you may also charge more and still maintain your share of the Buy Box. However, if your competitors have superior stats, you’ll have to lower your pricing to keep the same Buy Box share.

#5 Shipping Period

The shipping period is the time an Amazon seller needs to ship a product to its customers. This significantly impacts getting the Buy Box, especially for goods like gifts for special occasions, edibles, and consumables.

The ranges of shipping times are as follows, taking into account working days:

• 0–2 days,
• 3–7 days,
• 8–13 days, and
• 14 or more days

The quicker your shipping time, the better your chances are to win the Buy Box.

#6 Customer Response Time (Query Resolving)

Amazon compares all rival merchants’ responses from the previous seven, thirty, and ninety days. Therefore, to enhance your likelihood of winning Amazon Buy Box, respond to clients within a 12-hour window.

The ratings could suffer if more than 10% of inquiries received a response beyond 24 hours or no response at all. However, sellers can avoid receiving negative feedback by marking “no response needed.”

Final Thought

No single action can make you win Amazon’s valuable real estate- Buy Box.

There are, however, several steps and data-driven solutions. Yet winning the Amazon Buy Box is certainly not impossible. Just the following categories need to be optimized:

• Creating a Prime Seller product detail page
• Offering prices that are affordable and fair
• Keeping a large inventory
• Selling items in brand-new condition
• Maintaining positive seller-buyer relations

If you want your business’s reputation to outperform your sales objectives, winning this coveted spot must be at the top of your business to-do list. Ultimately, obtaining the Buy Box will satisfy the wants of buyers as well as the deed of sellers.

Summary

The Buy Box accounts for 83% of all Amazon transactions. Rarely do shoppers buy something without first placing it in their basket. When it comes to mobile purchases, the percentage is considerably greater. You can see how significant the Amazon Buy Box is from this. People are far more likely to purchase your stuff if you have it. But because of such tremendous rivalry on Amazon, only the best can win the Buy Box. So how will you do better than your rivals and secure this valuable real estate? Read this guide to get all your queries resolved.