Spring will soon be over and sellers are raring to get started on their summer sales. But 2023 comes with a whole new set of challenges. People everywhere face higher interest rates, soaring living costs, more climate hazards, political turbulence, and job uncertainty due to AI uptake.
Amazon itself just fired over 18,000 tech employees, aside from its regular agency worker layoffs and delivery hub shutdowns. So, it’s more important than ever to make sure that we’re clear on the facts about Amazon Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More eligibility and ownership for sellers who want to succeed in 2023.
Table of Contents
What Is the Amazon Buy Box?
“Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More” is what sellers call the “Featured Offer”. That’s a widget that shows Amazon’s preferred offer for a specific item, based on a secret algorithm. It’s the default option for buyers who click on the “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now” button.
Why Does Winning the Buy Box Matter?
Buyers trust Amazon’s pick. Also, they don’t want to compare offers. So, about 90% of all orders go through the Amazon Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More. If you don’t own it, you’re missing out on a lot of sales, your Sponsored Product ads won’t run, and your Sponsored Brands Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ad platform f… More ads will just send buyers to the competition, on your dime!
Does Every Item on Amazon Have a Buy Box?
Some items, such as BMVD, Renewed, and Warehouse Deals, come with 2 Buy Boxes (one for ‘New’ and one for ‘Used’ items). All other listings should feature a single offer. But if the Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More is suppressed for price gouging or other violations, there’s no featured offer at all. Instead, there’s a “See All Buying Options” button, as shown in the image above.
Can You Own the Buy Box Indefinitely?
Nobody gets to keep the Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More forever, even if they’re the only active offer, they’re eligible, and they never change their listing. As seen below, there’s no guarantee of 100% Buy Box ownership. This is due to Amazon Buy Box rotation. Amazon will swap the Buy Box between offers, so that all sellers get an equal share, all things constant.
How Fast is Buy Box Rotation?
Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More rotation is pretty fast. Amazon can even swap the Buy Box while an item is in the cart, unbeknown to the buyer. Depending on the item, demand, and how big the pool of competing offers is, it can happen every few minutes.
Can You Trigger a Buy Box Rotation?
The Amazon Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More is often biased toward specific sellers and price points. So, a reshuffle can be triggered by stock outs or listing deactivation. But it can also be prompted by a simple price change. Also, when prices drop too low or shoot up, they can slip off the candidate pool.
Can You Skew Buy Box Rotation in Your Favor?
The real candidate pool for the Featured Offer can be a lot smaller than the pool of eligible offers. That’s because not all those who are eligible for the Amazon Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More have competitive offers. Sometimes, there’s even a clear favorite.
So, triggering a Buy Box rotation may or may not work in your favor. For instance, if you choose a new price that is out of bounds (e.g., too low), it can tilt the odds against you. So, if you think there’s a better candidate for the Buy Box, focus on their offers only.
Amazon’s Buy Box Eligibility Algorithm
For your offer to be eligible for the Amazon Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More and ultimately a candidate for the rotation candidate pool, it must fulfill certain criteria:
- Availability. You must have at least 1 unit in stock at all times.
- Fulfillment. There should be at least one active ‘New’ that is Shipped by Amazon or FBA. If not, then an SFP or MFN offer will do, but the dispatch speed and shipping options must be comparable to Amazon’s.
- Price. You must price your item in line with Amazon Fair Price Policy, Price Validation rules, and Seller Code. So, not higher than 6 times its recent price, not misleading (e.g., multi-pack unit price higher than single unit price), and with no ‘fixing’ (scheming with other sellers to keep it high). There’s also a daily cap on price updates.
But you, as a seller, must also meet certain conditions to qualify for the Buy Box. Their exact weight in Amazon’s eligibility algorithm is unknown for the sake of the buyer. Here are 3 conditions that you will determine if you are eligible for or you forfeit the Buy Box:
- Sales volume: there is an order threshold that varies based on the type of item you sell.
Product quality: product ratings matter, as do metrics like the SCCR on some venues.
Seller metrics: 4 metrics are key to selling on Amazon, and you must maximize 3 of these (ODR, CR, and LSR) to boost eligibility.
How to Check Amazon Buy Box Eligibility
Amazon’s help page tells you how to check that a listing is eligible for the Buy Box. If you can’t see Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More columns in your inventory table, go to Seller CentralAmazon Seller Central is a portal or a h… More > Manage Inventory > Preferences > Buy Box Eligible > Save Changes.
What Is the Buy Box Win Percentage?
This is a seller metric that Amazon refers to as “Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More Wins”. But it has nothing to do with winning the Buy Box. It just tells you if you owned the Buy Box when buyers saw your offer, whether they bought it or not. So, you could think of it as Buy Box popularity or sales potential.
How Can the Buy Box Percentage Help?
To make the most of your Amazon Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More Percentage, simply monitor it. There’s a handy little report for that in Seller CentralAmazon Seller Central is a portal or a h… More called Featured Offer Overview. To reach it, find the Buy Box Wins metrics tab on the homepage and click ‘%’ in the table above.
10 Ways to Boost Your Chances of Winning the Buy Box
There’s a helpful list of Best Practices for Buy Box Eligibility. But being eligible doesn’t cut it. Winning the Amazon Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More takes a lot more work. Sellzone put together a handy little table of metrics and other factors, and you’ll find many others online.
make sure you tick off every one of the items on this list:
- Go Pro. Subscribe to a Professional selling plan, which costs $39.99/month.
- Build Volume. Your account must build up authority, category-specific sales volume, trading history, and metrics before Amazon can consider your FBM offers eligible.
- Switch Fulfillment. Bypass sales and performance requirements for ‘New’ FBA items.
- Opt for Prime. Try SFP to benefit from an influx of Prime member sales.
- Change Product ConditionProducts can only be listed on Amazon if… More. Source and sell ‘New’ items only, unless they are BMVD and you want to win the ‘Used’ Buy Box. Consider better storing, shrink-wrapping, handling, and shipping options.
- Streamline Inventory. Use a good inventory replenishment tool to avoid stockouts.
- Find FeedbackA performance rating on a scale of 1 to … More. Carry out feedback request campaigns based on the number of sales.
- Be Responsive. Aim for 90% of Buyer-Seller Messaging replies to be within 1 hour.
- Monitor Metrics. Keep an eye on customer experience metrics like ODR, CR, and LSR or outsource your Account Health monitoring to keep them low. ODR is especially important to FBM sellers, as shown in our post titled “Amazon Buy Box Secrets”.
- Optimize the Price. Automatic repricers can help push price changes to trigger Buy Box rotation. But bear in mind that some are slow, prone to price wars, and ignorant of daily caps, private labelThis is what you call products manufactu… More competitors, or different types of Buy Boxes.
How BuyBoxBuddy Can Help You With the Buy Box
BuyBoxBuddy is your versatile repricing sidekick who also knows a thing or two about inventory management and fulfillment. With this trusty companion, you can maximize Amazon Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More ownership by making full use of these features:
- Repricing strategies (like Floor Price comparisons above) to win the Buy BoxThis refers to the situation where a sel… More safely.
- Innate ability to maximize your price when you win the Buy Box, to boost profits.
- Near-instant price changes that guarantee the winning price + shipping combo.
- Manual floor price tweaks for boosting margins while maintaining sales levels.
- Smart Lists like the Amazon Buy Box Percentage filter.
- Insight into cases of Buy Box suppression and missed opportunities.
- Inventory alerts for quick decisions based on real-time Smart Lists sales data.
- Real-time Buy Box ownership rates for the entire inventory over the last 24 hours.
- Buy Box analytics that can point to competitors’ pricing patterns, the effect of price tweaks, and buyers’ shopping behavior.
The takeaway here is that there’s more to the Amazon Buy Box algorithm than meets the eye. You’ll find plenty of helpful instructions out there on how to win the Buy Box on Amazon, as well as a few handy tools, but you still need a good repricer like BuyBoxBuddy to pull it off.
With BuyBoxBuddy, you have everything you need in one user-friendly and versatile piece of software backed by 20+ years of experience in developing software for Amazon sellers. With a firm grasp on the Buy Box and an inherent commitment to seller success, BuyBoxBuddy is your go-to if you want to win the Amazon Buy Box in 2023.
Melanie takes an active interest in all things Amazon. She keeps an eye on the latest developments and keeps Amazon sellers up to speed.
