Win the Amazon Buy Box for yourself with these 8 tips
On Amazon, the sales box can be won or lost to other sellers. But how can you keep control of them
- Amazon Buy Box - what is it?
- Why is the Amazon Buy Box so important?
- What is required to get the Amazon Buy Box?
- How can I win the Amazon Buy Box even with high competition?
- 8 tips to help you get the Amazon Buy Box
- Why is the Amazon Buy Box lost / Why does Amazon change retailers?
- How do I sell on Amazon without a Buy Box?
- Which tools help me to win the Amazon Buy Box?
- Conclusion
The Amazon Buy Box (a.k.a. Sales Box) is the holy grail for sellers on the world's largest e-commerce sales platform. Those who have the Buy Box not only receive 80-90% of orders on a product page, but also fulfill the requirements to place Sponsored Products ads on Amazon.
We reveal the best tips to help you win the Buy Box as an Amazon Seller. With the right steps and an intelligent approach, you too can get into pole position and make the cash register ring on Amazon.
Learn how to be the only seller visible on the product page, adjust selling prices without manual effort, provide outstanding customer service, and much more - all to place your products in the coveted Buy Box and increase your sales. Let's get started!
Recommended Amazon PPC tools
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Amazon Buy Box - what is it?
The Amazon Buy Box is a clearly visible section on the right-hand side of an Amazon product page. Customers can add a product to their shopping cart here, or complete the purchase immediately by clicking on the "Buy now" button.
You have won the Buy Box if you are listed as a seller in the red marked area 1. You will then receive around 90% of the orders.
In this example, "esando" has won the Buy Box as it is listed by name as the seller. In this case, an order is sent to the Amazon Seller Central of "esando".
However, the Buy Box is lost by "esando" as soon as "sternapo", for example, is listed as the seller in the red marked area 1.
Note: The decision to award or lose the Buy Box is made by Amazon (algorithm) based on criteria, which I will discuss further below in the article.
Buy Box winner "esando" - view on the product page
1. The Buy Box is located in this marker and offers two buttons. The "Add to cart" and the "Buy now" button. If you go to your product page and you do not see the box (1), then you have lost the Buy Box. If your name is not listed under "Seller", then you also do not have the Buy Box.
2. If you have lost the "Buy Box", this does not mean that you can no longer receive orders. However, the Amazon customer must make more clicks and select another seller in image 2. Most customers are unaware of the option to order here, which is why "only" 10 - 20 % of orders go through this area.
3. There is an additional button "Is often bought together", which, however, leads to the purchase of several products and has nothing to do with the actual Amazon Buy Box.
The Amazon Buy Box (shopping cart field) is already displayed in the search results lists for products with a short customer journey (Fast Moving Consumer Goods, FMCG). (e.g. cat food, plasters, ointment, honey)
Buy Box display in the search results list
Why is the Amazon Buy Box so important?
Owning the Amazon Buy Box is crucial for the economic success of sellers on Amazon, as it is used to process the majority of sales on the platform. Losing the Buy Box can lead to a drastic drop in sales of around 80 to 90 percent. Only around 10 to 20 percent of customers choose to select an offer below the Buy Box via the "Other sellers on Amazon" option.
The Buy Box also has a significant impact on the success of your Amazon ad campaigns. Losing the Buy Box can have the following effects:
Sponsored Products and Display ads will be stopped, resulting in no sales and a deterioration of the ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sales).
Sponsored Brands ads remain active, but are shown to other resellers, which continues to generate costs.
Therefore, it is of utmost importance to win and retain the Buy Box to maximize sales and ensure the profitability of your advertising campaigns.
What is required to get the Amazon Buy Box?
1. Seller account for professionals
Only sellers who have purchased a professional seller account (subscription €39.99 per month) are eligible for the Amazon Buy Box.
2. Buy Box eligibility status
Make sure your products are Buy Box eligible.
How to view the status of your listings:
- Go to the "Inventory Management" section in your Amazon Seller Central account.
- Click on "Settings" in the top right corner and then click on "Buy Box eligible" in the drop-down menu.
- This step will add an additional column that simply marks the Buy Box eligibility of your products as "yes" or "no".
If you would like to have an overview of your products and their current Buy Box percentages, you can view this in the reporting area of Seller Central under "Reports > By ASIN > Detail page sales and traffic by child element".
3. New items
Your item must be new. Used items are not eligible for the regular Buy Box, although they can be sold in a separate "Buy Used" box.
4. Product availability - no product means immediate Buy Box loss
Logical because the customer cannot receive their order. It also leads to your Sponsored Products ads being stopped. This in turn has a negative impact on the advertising costs of your campaigns. Low stock levels can also be viewed negatively by Amazon and lead to a loss of the Buy Box.
How can I win the Amazon Buy Box even with high competition?
The battle for the Buy Box on Amazon can vary greatly depending on the level of competition in your product segment.
It's important to note that the strategies and tactics you should use in both scenarios may be different. In competitive markets, the focus is often on your price competitiveness and quick adaptation, while in less competitive markets, the focus may be on stronger branding and better customer retention. Regardless of the level of competition, continually monitoring and adjusting your selling strategy is critical to succeeding on Amazon.
Recommended steps:
- Quick price adjustment: A large number of listings also means a large number of merchants on a product page, which can lead to frequent price changes. It is therefore essential to continuously monitor your pricing strategy and make quick adjustments when necessary to keep up with competitors' prices.
- Cost calculation and lower margins: Due to price pressure and intense competition, margins are usually lower in competitive categories. Therefore, carefully calculating your costs for highly competitive products is crucial to offering an attractive price and winning the Buy Box.
8 tips to help you get the Amazon Buy Box
- Get the best price: Price adjustments with a repricer tool. The software helps with price reductions, but also to adjust your profit through automatic price increases. You must initially enter your price range.
- Fastest delivery time: "Shipping by Amazon" is the best quality option for delivering parcels to end customers. If you use FBA and are in the Prime program, you have an advantage to get the Buy Box.
- Top customer service & account health: Answer customer inquiries quickly, strive for good seller ratings, low return rate, cancellation rate, etc.
- Collect product reviews: Z. E.g. through product inserts, Vine program or click on request review in the order.
- Valid tracking rate: This is a metric that represents the percentage of total packages shipped with valid tracking. The valid tracking rate is considered based on the last seven and 30 days. To protect your eligibility for the Buy Box, valid tracking numbers should be provided for 95% of packages shipped. Anything less than that could negatively impact your chances of winning the Buy Box and even hurt sales in a particular category.
- Amazon Transparency Program to remove unauthorized merchants. However, it is time-consuming because each product must be provided with a unique label. (Tip for brand owners only)
- Optimize price for Prime customers: If Amazon sellers without Prime offer cheaper deals than you can, then focus on Prime customers or Prime prices as an alternative. Here is sometimes a possibility to get the Buy Box for Prime customers by a new sales calculation.
Special tip:
Exclusive Amazon products (tip for brand owners only): A tip with increased effort, but the advantages are also numerous. Basically, you are the only seller on the product page if the product is sold exclusively on Amazon. So if you meet the minimum requirements for the Buy Box, you will have it.
With Amazon exclusive products, you have no competitors and are the only Amazon seller visible.
Why is the Amazon Buy Box lost / Why does Amazon change retailers?
Pricing is the most common reason why Amazon removes the Buy Box from a product detail page, but it's not the only one. A system error by Amazon, the authenticity of a product or sales performance, for example, can also lead to a missing Buy Box.
Let's take a look at the various reasons for the absence of the Buy Box in an Amazon offer:
1. Violation of Amazon's pricing policies:
If your product is cheaper on major online marketplaces, Amazon will remove the Buy Box until the price on Amazon is adjusted to be the lowest on the web.
2. Low sales velocity:
There may also be situations where the Buy Box is removed from a product listing with low sales velocity.
3. New sellers and/or those who are not Prime-eligible:
In the first 30 days after you become an Amazon seller, most people experience the absence of the Buy Box for the first time.
During this period, Amazon evaluates your ability to fulfill shipping requirements (cancellation rate, late deliveries, etc.). Amazon needs sufficient transaction data for this. Amazon also directs more visitors to Prime-eligible goods. If your item is not Prime-eligible, you may not receive enough traffic to your product page to generate enough order data. The performance requirements cannot be checked. As a result, you will not receive the Buy Box in your listing.
4. Poor 30-day seller rating:
Your 30-day seller rating has fallen below 90%. If this is the case, a seller with performance issues will lose eligibility for the Buy Box. The Buy Box will be withdrawn from all offers even if there is no competitor.
5. Investigations and problems with counterfeit products:
When investigating consumer concerns about the authenticity of products, such as fashion items with counterfeit labels, Amazon will occasionally remove the Buy Box instead of removing a product. Sales of the product may be slowed during this review period if there is a sudden influx of complaints, as Amazon wants to ensure that there is no problem with the inventory of all sellers.
6. Amazon errors or mistakes on newly listed products
Even if listings are supposed to be qualified for a Buy Box, newly listed products are occasionally not activated with a Buy Box due to errors in Amazon's system.
Tip: In this case, contact Amazon Seller Support and ask them to check the Buy Box authorization. This is the only and quickest way to solve this problem.
How do I sell on Amazon without a Buy Box?
It is advisable to have at least one Buy Box strategy.
The majority of sales are generated by the seller who is in possession of the coveted Amazon sales box. However, if you don't win the Buy Box, all hope is not lost.
There are three other ways to generate sales:
1. The "Other Sellers on Amazon" list
If an Amazon seller does not win the Buy Box, there is still a chance of appearing on the product detail page. Other sellers can be listed in the "Other sellers on Amazon" section (marked red in the image). (See image above). Tip: Amazon customers tend to look for alternative offers, especially for high-priced products.
How are you listed there?
To appear in the "Other sellers on Amazon" box, all four qualification criteria described in this article must be met. Up to three listings will be selected to appear in this box.
2. Direct customers to your own brand store
This is possible, for example, through Sponsored Brands campaigns. By clicking on this type of Amazon advertisement, it is possible to direct potential buyers to your own brand store.
A cleverly implemented brand store can take advantage of this space to avoid having to compete with other competitors.
3. Button "New" - further offers
Clicking on this area opens a list of all offers for the product. Only here can an Amazon customer compare all offers in detail.
In this example, 18 further options are displayed. Options refers to the number of Amazon sellers.
Which tools help me to win the Amazon Buy Box?
There are numerous providers, and I could list many of them. However, in order to reduce the testing effort to a minimum, I will limit myself to one provider per tool.
The AMALYTIX tool specifically helps with monitoring the Buy Box.
The use of SellerLogic GmbH on the other hand, adjusts the sales prices downwards but also upwards. Both services are subject to a fee.
Of course, it is important to always consider your own requirements when selecting tools. For most Amazon sellers, however, the tools mentioned should be sufficient to effectively manage the Buy Box.
Suitable tools from OMR Reviews.
Conclusion
Securing the Amazon Buy Box is crucial to the success of sales on the platform. To achieve this goal, it is advisable to consider the eight tips presented here.
Every Amazon seller should integrate more than just a Buy Box strategy into their work processes. It is only advisable to do without supporting tools if the number of products in your range is low.
Nima Farhad Farzanegan, ist ein erfahrener Experte im E-Commerce und Online-Marketing mit über 14 Jahren Erfahrung. Derzeit ist er als Angestellter bei der "intomarkets GmbH" tätig, einer renommierten Amazon-Agentur, wo er daran arbeitet, Hersteller auf der Amazon-Plattform zum Erfolg zu verhelfen. Amazon-Sellern und Vendoren, können Nima für maßgeschneiderte Amazon-PPC-Kampagnen zu beauftragen. Mit seinem tiefen Verständnis für die digitale Handelsbranche konzentriert sich er sich darauf, Direct-to-Consumer (DTC)-Marken und FMCG-Konzerne bei ihrer Präsenz auf Amazon zu unterstützen. Nima entwickelt individuelle PPC-Strategien, um diesen Marken einen klaren Wettbewerbsvorteil zu verschaffen.
