Are you a seller on Amazon? If yes, want to increase sales? If yes, then the very first thing you may need is winning the Amazon Buy Box. And you can win the Buy-box with simple and effective methods. But before, I talk about the ways to win the Buy Box let’s first discuss what is Amazon Buy Box? What does it do? And why it is so important?
What is Amazon Buy Box?
Amazon Buy Box is a white box that contains “buy now” button and appears on the right side of the product detail page where a customer can add the product to their cart and make the purchase instantly. What happens is each product has a product detail page that includes the same product from different sellers. And getting visibility to Amazon’s product page is a challenging task for the sellers. So, we need to do everything that leads us to be the owner of the Amazon buy box for as long as possible. As today about 80% of Amazon‘s sales take place through the buy box.
What does it do?
Every listing has a buy box. But when multiple sellers are selling the same product, then Amazon directs the customer to the product’s main listing page. And only the sellers who meet the certain criteria own the Buy Box of the product. As buyers are looking for simplicity and speed so it becomes easier for them to shop by simply clicking on the Buy Now button.
Why Buy Box is so important?
Buy Box is a onetime deal i.e. when a customer clicks on the “Buy Now” button it means they are buying from the best seller i.e. the buy box winner. And such sellers are surely going to make more sales than any other sellers of the same product. And this is now extremely important because in addition to add to cart button, there is a “Buy now” button, which leads to purchase from the buy box owner. Also getting placement in the buy box means the customer will relate you with Amazon’s policies and believe that they can trust you to provide high-quality customer service and top-class products.
But one important point to note is that not every seller is buy box eligible.
Who is eligible to get Buy Box on Amazon?
To be eligible for display in the buy box, you must:
- Have an Amazon’s professional seller account.
- Must meet Amazon’s criterion which includes performance metrics, order defect rate, customer service quality, and length of time on Amazon.
- Have products that are buy box eligible.
- Keep your products stocked and available for the purchase.
- Be selling new items; used items are not eligible.
In general, Amazon defines the winner based on weighing price, seller rating, fulfillment and many more. However, the winner of the buy box may change from time to time because the criterion that proves buy box statuses are always in flux. But if a product loses the buy box, then all the sponsored ads will stop running. And in addition to this, if you have a Headline Search Ads (HSA) running then you risk paying for traffic to a page where another seller is going to get the sale.
A note on new seller central accounts using FBM
If a seller with a new Amazon seller central account does not ship with Amazon Fulfillment (FBA) then definitely he is going to notice the duration before their product hit the buy box. This is because Amazon doesn’t have proof that you have the products or ability to fulfill product orders once you are in a buy box. But by using FBA for shipment, you will be approved for the buy box much faster. But if a seller registers itself with Fulfillment By Merchant (FBM), then he is not eligible for buy box until they make sufficient sales volume, identified by Amazon, and differ by category
How to win the Buy box?
Factors that influence buy box eligibility:
Two factors that determine whether you are buy box eligible or not are: price and fulfillment. So, what all-important is that, you ship item correctly and on time, keep your inventory up to date and well-stocked, and other factors such as the product description that best describes your product, the product images, and respond to customer queries instantly.
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Be an FBA seller:
Amazon allows sellers either to use their own fulfillment or fulfillment by Amazon. When it comes to win the Buy Box, then being an FBA seller works greatly in your favor. As not only it will benefit you from FBA’s storage facilities and pick and pack services but also Amazon gives you a great advantage when it comes to struggling and winning the Buy Box. And also FBA sellers are automatically registered in prime; their customer gets the delivery the next day. Being an FBA means your customers are supported 24/7 and all these facilities are provided by Amazon. So, when Amazon is faced with choosing the winning seller then it would favor the FBA seller. To keep their customers happy, Amazon’s buy box always goes to the trustworthy seller, who ships quickly, and has a stable sales history.
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Have a competitive landing price:
Landing price doesn’t just take into account the price of the product but also considers the entire shipping and the handling price. So, ensure that your product’s price is lower than your competitors. It’s good to keep an eye on your competitor’s price to make sure that you remain competitive. And you need to note that Amazon also contains products with the lowest prices that are shipped and sold by Amazon itself. If you are not sure of how to price your item, then you may use the tool profit peak by Splitly. This tool will perfect your product listing by finding the product’s best price for maximum profit.
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Make sure that your account’s health is top class:
If you are an FBA seller then you need not take care of your account’s health. But yes, if you are FBM or a wholesale seller, then you need to stay on the top of your accounts figure. This means:
- Minimum return on faulty products.
- Have a wonderful response rate of the customer queries.
- Fast shipping: shipping in a day or two to match prime.
Amazon calculates your seller fulfilled rating based on the few key metrics:
a.) Order Defect Rate (target less than 1 %): The order defect rate is based on the customer feedback and according to Amazon the ODR should be less than 1% and any seller above this will be fined. Amazon calculates below three metrics to find out the defective orders.
- Filed A to Z Claim Rate
- Negative Feedback Rate
- Service Chargeback Rate
- Delivery time and experience on Amazon.
b.) Return Dissatisfaction Rate (Target<=10%): it measures how customer’s returns are processed. The rating is based on percentage of valid return requests that were not fulfilled within 48 hours, received negative customer feedback, or were incorrectly rejected. Amazon created this to prevent claims and negative remarks, as well as help sellers in understanding where they can improve the returns experience for their customers. This rate consists of 3 components:
- Negative Return Feedback Rate: It is the percentage of valid return requests that received a negative response from the customer.
- Late Response Rate: The return request should be responded by the sellers within 12 hrs. Amazon checks responses for the last 7, 30, or 90 days and compares them with all the competing sellers. And it is considered that responding to customers within 12 hrs increases the chances of winning the buy box.
- Invalid Rejection Rate: It is the percentage of within policy return requests that were falsely rejected.
c.) Valid tracking rate: it represents the percentage of total shipment over a 30 day period. This metric reflects customer expectation of where their order is and when they will receive their order. This rate includes:
- Delivery on time: According to Amazon, sellers should maintain the VTR greater than 95%.
- By category (target >=90%): The VTR rate below 90% in the category may result in restrictions on your ability to sell non-FBA items within that category.
d.) Recent customer metrics data: Amazon’s customer metrics show how well a seller is performing. It contributes to your overall seller rating. So, if you want to increase the chances of winning the buy box then you must have a good seller rating i.e. above 90 out of 100. A seller can see his rating on the homepage of the seller central. These metrics include 4 components:
- Pre–Fulfillment Cancel Rate: It is the percentage of orders that were canceled before shipment by the seller. And the most common reason behind this is the bad stock management. So, the cancellation rate should be less than 2.5% to meet Amazon’s PFCR target.
- Late Shipment Rate: it is the percentage of orders that have been dispatched late. The late order is one whose shipment confirmation is delayed by 3 or more days. It is good to ship the order as soon as it is placed and remember to notify Amazon whenever you ship an order. The LDR should be less than 4% to meet Amazon’s target.
- Refund Rate: it is the number of orders that were refunded after being shipped. The refund rate greater than 2.5% could affect the chances of winning the Buy Box.
e.) Be a great seller: Give your customers an excellent shopping experience. Remember that you are doing business with human beings, so make your strategy such that it encourages them to purchase while at the same time ensuring them that you will be there for them at every step of the way. Also, make the customer feels that the experience of purchasing from you should be the happy one. The way you display the products, the images you choose to display defines whether it will hurt or help your sales. It is good to provide an after-sales experience along with the great buying experience. Also, it is worth doing small things like sending a “Thank you” email as it can make a difference from someone buying from you to someone becoming a lifelong, loyal customer. This will also help you in increasing your chances of winning the Buy Box.
Conclusion: winning the buy box is not impossible, you can easily achieve it once you know that you are eligible, know what to do to increase your chances of winning, and look after your customers. But note that winning the buy box doesn’t mean that you will own it forever.
