If you want to make or break your sales as an Amazon seller, the Buy Box can do wonders. You will find Amazon’s Buy Box on the right side of a product’s detail page. In the section, customers can add an item to their cart with a prominently visible box that says, “Buy Now.” It enables Amazon shoppers to purchase items from the product detail page instantly.
All products on Amazon have product detail pages that include the same items from different sellers. Hence, gaining visibility on the platform’s product pages is challenging in contrast to gaining visibility on sales channels. Amazon’s Buy Box formula decides whose products will appear in Buy Box rotations.
Buy Box is significant for Amazon sellers since when a potential buyer clicks the “Add to Cart” button, they only buy from one merchant: the Buy Box winner. Therefore, winning the Buy Box is your chance to maximize your revenue since 90% of purchases on Amazon occur from Buy Box. A “Buy Now” button with an add to cart button results in a purchase.
However, the Buy Box alone won’t determine your profitability on Amazon because only one seller gets it at a time.
In this write-up, we have included the factors beyond the buy box so you can discover the elusive path to profitability on Amazon.
How Are Other Factors Important Apart from Buy Box to Earn Profitability on Amazon?
Buy Box enables Amazon sellers to maximize their sales, but several other factors play a significant role in helping you earn profitability on Amazon. These factors are as follows:
- Pricing
While winning the Buy Box allows you to gain visibility, pricing is also essential to earn profitability on Amazon. Your product’s price will attract your customers but must cover your overhead costs, shipping, and fees. Check your competitors’ rates or use a pricing tool to decide the price of your product.
Moreover, understanding customers’ behavior, seasonal trends, and demand fluctuations to optimize your price for maximum profit is significant.
2. Product Quality
The quality of your product is the key to earning a profit on the most prominent e-commerce platform. Therefore, high-quality products lead to positive reviews from happy and loyal customers. Satisfied customers will recommend your products and enhance your brand’s credibility and visibility.
It will impact your seller ratings and make you eligible for the Buy Box.
3. Customer Service
Customer service helps to build trust and gain loyal customers and positive reviews. Good customer service includes responding timely to inquiries, addressing concerns, and resolving issues quickly. Thus, you can improve your seller ratings and reduce negative feedback, and return rates.
Amazon values sellers with a good service track record, which helps sellers secure a better rank in search results and earn profit.
4. Marketing
Amazon sellers can use effective marketing strategies such as Enhanced Brand Content, Sponsored Products, and Amazon PPC campaigns to increase product visibility and attract potential customers. You can also build a strong brand presence and utilize email marketing to drive traffic to your Amazon listings.
Boost your sales with a proper marketing strategy and earn profitability on Amazon.
5. Listing Optimization
For Listing optimization, sellers can add relevant keywords and high-quality images, write compelling product descriptions, and set competitive prices. The result will be higher click-through and lower bounce rates, and the platform considers it to rank products.
Optimized listings help you build a strong brand presence, attract customers, and drive sales to maximize your profit on Amazon.
Which strategies can help Sellers win Buy Box and Gain Profitability on Amazon?
The Amazon Buy Box algorithm ranks the merchants considering various metrics from seller history. Amazon copywriting services, After becoming eligible, you can improve your rank with the Amazon Buy Box algorithm. Start applying these strategies to increase your chances of winning the Buy Box.
- Prefer Using FBA
Amazon has two kinds of merchants- FBA and FBM. FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) means when a seller picks, packs, and ships their products. FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) is when the platform handles everything.
Amazon prefers FBA sellers because they know their orders will be completed on time. They also qualify for Prime shipping. FBM sellers can compete with FBA sellers, but FBA sellers have chances to land the Buy Box earlier.
2. Offer Competitive Rates
Selling your product at a lower price won’t help you win the Amazon Buy Box. However, keeping it in line with your competitors will improve your chances.
Check your other performance metrics; if they are low, reduce prices and compete for the Buy Box. But if your metrics are outstanding, you can appear in the Buy Box with high prices. While you price your products, keep your base costs in mind.
3. Ship Products Quickly
Merchants who complete their orders themselves, can’t afford any mistakes because they’ll lose the Buy Box. They need to ship orders quickly for timely delivery. Amazon requires its sellers to ship 96% of orders on time.
You can adjust your handling time in your Seller Central Account or automatically set it to 1-2 days. Amazon requires its sellers to deliver 97% of orders on time.
4. Provide Tracking Information
Provide Tracking information to your buyers so they can track their orders. The platform recently introduced this metric for its merchants. The tracking updates improve delivery performance, increasing customer satisfaction and building trust.
Your chances to win Buy Box and earn profitability on Amazon will increase because the platform selects the sellers with excellent metrics.
5. Never Go Out of Stock
Amazon Buy Box’s algorithm favors sellers with products regularly and currently in stock. Back-ordered items have also started to feature in the Amazon Buy Box.
It tells about a seller’s ability to handle an influx of sales that will happen once you win the Buy Box.
6. Request Customers for Reviews
The number of reviews matters for the Amazon Buy Box Algorithm apart from the positive and negative reviews. Use a feedback tool to automatically ask your customers for reviews because your account’s visibility depends on it.
The algorithm notices feedback from the previous 30, 90, and 365 days, but your recent feedback is more important. Amazon sellers can view these stats in their Seller Account.
7. Regularly Check Your Account Metrics
Amazon Seller Central provides its sellers with knowledge regarding their performance across all areas. Regularly check your metrics to identify, address, and resolve all the issues.
You can protect your reputation, invest resources where required, and compete for Buy Box.
8. Keep an Eye on New Metrics
Amazon introduced new metrics such as Customer Service Dissatisfaction Rate and Return Dissatisfaction Rate. They don’t affect the Amazon Buy Box algorithm but keep an eye on them as they may influence your rankings in the future.
How does Amazon’s algorithm determine the Buy Box winner?
Amazon has a specific algorithm for the Buy Box, and it includes several factors to determine the best product for its customers. Amazon product listing image design. However, the algorithm shifts according to the product and category, and various sellers win it for different categories and products.
If you have near-perfect performance metrics for the following factors, you can price your product higher while maintaining your spot.
That is why it is essential to focus on all the following factors when improving your possibility of winning the coveted spot.
- Fulfillment Method: Sellers who select SFP (Seller-Fulfilled Prime) or FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) have a benefit over the sellers who choose (Fulfillment by Merchant) since the platform handles their orders themselves.
- Landed Price: Landed price is the total amount a product is sold for on the platform. If a seller’s performance metrics are low in contrast to the other sellers, the less they need to lower their price to qualify for winning the spot. Nevertheless, if a seller’s metrics are high, they can raise their price and still be eligible for winning.
- Shipping time: The sellers who ship quicker are Amazon’s algorithms favorite.
- Availability: Backordered items can feature in the Buy Box, but Amazon’s algorithm favors immediately fulfillable products. Hence, avoiding backorders must be the priority of all sellers.
- Order Defect Rate: It is when the Negative Feedback Rate, the Service Chargeback Rate, and the A-to-Z Guarantee Claim Rate combine.
- A Valid Tracking Rate: The percentage of deliveries a seller sends with complete tracking information.
- Late Shipment Rate: The percentage of orders shipped after the expected shipping date.
- On-Time Delivery: The percentage of orders that a seller delivers on time.
- Feedback Score and Count: How many people have rated you and how well recently is essential.
- Customer Response Time: How long do you take to respond to your customers? The more time you take to respond to your customers, the more negatively it will affect your chances of winning.
- Inventory Depth and Sales Volume: A seller with enough inventory consistently will be in a better position than a seller with fluctuations in inventory.
- Cancellation and Refund Rate: If you cancel the order of a customer who orders often, it will negatively impact your seller’s performance.
Which requirements Amazon Merchants must fulfill to Qualify for Buy Box?
The merchants must meet the following requirements to qualify for Buy Box.
- A Professional Amazon Seller Account: It will cost you $39.99 per month since the basic plan doesn’t provide Buy Box access.
- New Stock: Products must always be available and unused.
- Optimal Performance Metrics: A seller has an order defect rate below 1%, a late shipping rate below 4%, and a cancellation rate below 2.5%.
- 2-6 months experience: Having a trading history is significant.
How do you check your Eligibility for a Buy Box?
If you have been working as a seller on Amazon for some months and want to check if your listings are eligible for Buy Box, you can do it by following the instructions below.
- Log in to your Amazon Seller Central account.
- Look for the “Inventory” tab and choose “Manage inventory”.
- Now choose the “Preferences” tab.
- Choose the “Buy Box eligible” tab in the column display list section.
- Then, you must click on “Show when available” from the drop-down menu.
When looking at the Buy Box eligible column, a “yes” will appear beside the currently qualifying products. Only some of your products will be Buy Box eligible and if that’s the case, it’s a win. This information is private, and only sellers themselves can view it.
Getting Buy Box eligibility is only beginning. Apart from this basic criterion, the Amazon Buy Box algorithm determines who will feature at the top of each product page after viewing their performance.
Conclusion
Buy Box can help you earn profitability on Amazon, but several other factors are also significant in maximizing an Amazon seller’s revenue. We suggest sellers consider those factors and work on those areas, apart from applying strategies to win the Buy Box.
Ecommphics offers account management to sellers who are confused or lack time. While we apply all the strategies, we also check the latest updates regarding Amazon’s specific algorithm for selecting a Buy Box winner.
In the past, we have managed accounts of several Amazon sellers, and they have gotten remarkable results from our consulting services.
So, stop waiting and take charge of your Buy Box now!