The Amazon Buy Box
April 22, 2022
One of the terms often seen in Amazon reporting and metrics tables is the “Buy Box Percentage”, a metric that provides data on how often you are winning the sale for a particular product. The Buy Box is one of the most important aspects to capturing sales, and critically affects your chances of success on the platform. Understanding the affecting factors and variables is essential to informing a good selling strategy.
What Is the Amazon Buy Box?
The Amazon Buy Box is represented by the widget on the right side of a product listing. This widget, housed with a “box” allows customers to see a variety of details, such as price, delivery options and product quantity, and then allows them to “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now”.
How the Amazon Buy Box Works
Per Amazon’s selling policy, only one listing can be created per product identifier – in other words, you can’t create multiple listings for the exact same product. If you want to sell a black Apple iPhone 11, 64GB, for example, you’ll have to list on the existing listing for this product along with any other sellers who are offering this item for sale. It’s possible that there will be dozens of other sellers listed on that singular listing, all trying to sell the same black Apple iPhone 11, 64GB. When a customer visits the page, they probably won’t be sifting through the dozens of sellers – they’ll simply add the product to cart. The seller who “owns” the Buy Box is the seller whom Amazon chooses to receive the sale when a customer clicks the “Add to Cart” or “Buy it Now” button.
How to Win the Amazon Buy Box
Amazon doesn’t explicitly specify the factors that influence the algorithm’s selection when assigning the Buy Box to sellers. However, these are the top five factors that are suspected to significantly contribute.
- List as a Prime Seller
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) provides unpronounced confidence from Amazon in regard to seller shipping and delivery commitments. Although a non-Prime seller can still qualify to win the Buy Box, Amazon gives preference to its Prime sellers. - Price your products competitively
One of Amazon’s primary goals is to maintain competitive prices in the e-commerce space. As a result, when multiple sellers are listed on a single listing, the algorithm tends to favor the seller with the most competitive pricing. According to Amazon, by listing your product within 5% of the current Buy Box price, you increase your chances of winning the Buy Box. - Sell New Products
While it’s acceptable to sell used or refurbished products under the right specifications, only in rare conditions are these sellers the winning contributor. “New Condition” offers have a much higher chance of maintaining the Buy Box. - Keep Your Inventory in Check
When you begin to reach low inventory thresholds as an FBA seller, your product is likely on the shelf at fewer Amazon warehouses across the country. This can affect shipping speeds, potentially triggering the algorithm to give preference to another seller with product that’s available in a wider distribution network. - Maintain Positive Seller Feedback Ratings
Although the details of this specific factor are murky, it’s generally assumed that sellers with poor performance metrics are lower on the priority list when determining who will receive the sale. Logically, it’s thought that Amazon gives preference to sellers who have a history of positive customer feedback.
Another Important Feature to Note
More than the obvious advantage of winning the majority of sales, winning the Buy Box affects another critical component for success on Amazon: Advertising.
Sellers who do not own the Buy Box are not eligible to advertise the listing. Conversely, those who maintain ownership can create and control their campaigns to drive additional sales. Advertising is essential to a successful long-term strategy on the platform.
The ZQUARED Advantage
Owning the Buy Box requires top-to-bottom successful account management. With Amazon’s ambiguous terms and numerous variables affecting success, winning the Buy Box can be an overwhelming challenge. ZQUARED is positioned to help its Brand Partners achieve excellence in all-things Amazon, and has the expertise necessary to lead your brand to success.
We provide end-to-end solutions that focus on growing our clients’ businesses through advanced brand optimization and marketing, proprietary technology, forecasting tools, logistical support, product distribution, and more.
To learn how ZQUARED can help you stay ahead in the Amazon game, request a comprehensive assessment of your Amazon channel from our Amazon Investment Partnership Team. You will receive audit results focused on your listings, category, competitors, reseller landscape and more with an individually-tailored strategic plan designed to capitalize on opportunities.
About ZQUARED
ZQUARED invests in brands who sell on Amazon and are poised and ready for growth. Born from a service mindset, our passion is partnering with your team to help you navigate the online retail space in a way never imagined. With more than a decade of industry-leading experience selling on Amazon, we form relationships rooted in collaboration to maximize value and achieve results.
Our Amazon Investment Partnership Team will perform a comprehensive audit of your Amazon channel strengths and weaknesses. You will receive audit results focused on your listings, category, competitors, reseller landscape and more with an individually-tailored strategic plan designed to capitalize on opportunities.
For more information about how ZQUARED can enhance your Amazon selling capabilities, request an assessment of your Amazon channel, or send an email to partners@zquared.com.