The Buy Box on Amazon, that space in the upper right corner on a listing page where you find the “Add to Cart” button, is where every seller wants to be. That’s because up to 90% of sales on Amazon are made from the Buy Box.
If you want to win the Buy Box more often on Amazon, you’re in luck - there’s a blueprint for winning the Buy Box that you can follow to increase your chances of landing in the most coveted space for sellers on the world’s largest online marketplace.
In this article, we will outline some strategies that can help you increase your chances of winning the Amazon Buy Box. From prioritizing fast shipping to offering competitive prices, we’ll cover everything you need to know to improve your chances of winning the Buy Box.
When it comes to winning the Buy Box, one of the most important factors is your fulfillment method. Amazon’s algorithm gives preference to sellers who use their Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) system, where sellers ship their products to Amazon fulfillment centers and then Amazon employees handle the picking, packing, and shipping of goods directly to consumers.
FBA sellers are granted the privilege of offering free Prime 2-Day Shipping to Amazon customers, which makes their listings much more attractive than those of sellers whose shipping times and handling days exceed this short two-day window.
Amazon gets a hefty cut from sellers who utilize its FBA service because the company believes that its employees are best in class when it comes to order fulfillment, which explains why FBA sellers win the Buy Box more often than sellers who fulfill their own orders as part of the Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN).
While FBA sellers are generally prioritized to win the Buy Box, some Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN) sellers can still win the Buy Box frequently. Certain MFN sellers have been invited (or have applied) to Amazon’s Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) program. This program allows sellers to offer Prime 2-Day Shipping while fulfilling orders from their own warehouses. However, it takes exceptional seller metrics to gain entry into this program.
Apart from fulfillment method, price is another critical factor in winning the Buy Box. Amazon requires Buy Box winners to charge the most “competitive” price at any given time. Therefore, you need to understand your competition on a given listing to know how difficult it will be to gain Buy Box share.
Sellers with higher ratings, faster shipping times, shorter handling periods, superior cancellation rates, feedback scores, order defect rates, and other seller performance metrics will be able to charge higher prices and still win the Buy Box.
If your seller ratings have room for improvement, you may need to offer lower prices to remain competitive on Amazon’s marketplace and have a shot at winning the Buy Box. Once you get your seller metrics improved, then you can start increasing your prices.
If you don’t want to have to worry about managing your prices manually, you can let an automated repricing software handle your pricing for you. Some automated repricers, like Informed Repricer, even offer specific pricing strategies aimed at winning the Buy Box.
It’s important to evaluate your competition and consider whether it makes sense to fight for the Buy Box on certain listings by evaluating your margins, Amazon fees, shipping costs, and other factors that affect your overall profit per sale.
For example:
If you have a 95% seller rating, your shipping time is 5–7 days, and you’re charging $5.00 for an item, you’ll have an easier time winning the Buy Box at that price if your competition has longer shipping times and lower seller ratings than you. But, if you’re up against a seller with a 99% seller rating who’s also offering free Prime 2-Day Shipping, you’ll be fighting an uphill battle trying to steal Buy Box share, even if that seller is charging $5.50.
Even if you lower your price, it won’t be guaranteed that you’ll win the Buy Box from a competitor with superior metrics, so you may want to reevaluate selling certain products where you’re facing competition with better metrics than yours.
Amazon’s bread and butter is creating a pleasant and seamless shopping experience for consumers, so it’s no surprise that they take your seller rating and feedback score seriously. Amazon wants to ensure that every third-party seller is high quality and is providing excellent customer service.
Since Amazon takes customer service so seriously, they have made your seller rating and feedback score key factors in being able to win the Buy Box.
If you want to win the Buy Box more often, be sure to prioritize the following:
Focusing on these things will keep your seller rating and feedback score high, thus allowing you to win more Buy Boxes.
Winning the Amazon Buy Box is a crucial aspect of success for any Amazon seller. By understanding the criteria for winning the Buy Box, you can get ahead of your competition by having the best chance of owning the Buy Box.
Be sure to focus on fulfilling orders, offering competitive prices, strategically choosing who to compete against, and prioritizing your seller rating and feedback score to have the best chances of winning the Buy Box so you can increase your sales and scale your business.
Informed Repricer is a competitive repricing platform that helps online businesses drive profits using smart algorithms and actionable insights.
