Do you ever wonder why Amazon buy box is a big deal for sellers and vendors today? For your information, 40% of online sales are because of the giant retailer’s platform. However, 85% of this 40% is because of the Amazon buy box. First, let me tell you about the types of sellers on Amazon. The first is Amazon itself, which sells a vast range of products. The other one is third-party retailers, who typically specialize in one or more categories. There is a term called reseller that you should know. There is no limit on how many sellers can use the Amazon platform. Thus, resellers are multiple merchants who sell the same item. When multiple Amazon resellers are selling at a similar time, competition occurs between sellers who will win the Buy Box.
What is Amazon Buy Box?
If you are a seller, you must know why Amazon buy box is a big deal. There is a saying that
whoever owns the Buy Box gets the sale. The Buy Box is the white box on the right side of the Amazon product detail page, where customers can add items to their cart. Not all sellers are qualified to win the Buy Box. A Buy Box on Amazon enables customers to make a quick purchase without considering from whom they are buying, i.e., Amazon or a third-party seller.
As per the reports, Amazon’s net revenue sales have increased steadily in the last ten years, reaching over $469 billion in 2021, with over $389 billion worth of sales coming through the Buy Box.
How To Calculate Your Buy Box Percentage?
If a shopper views a product 100 times and you are in the Buy Box for 65 of those, then your Buy Box Percentage is 65%. If there are five sellers of the same product and you all have similar pricing, performance metrics, and stock availability, then each seller should get a Buy Box percentage or share of 20%.
Why Winning A Buy Box Is Essential For Sellers?
With more mobile shoppers nowadays, owning the buy box boosts your odds of making a sale on Amazon. Almost all shoppers purchase a buy box as buyers first see this call-to-action. So if your product does not have a Buy Box, consult an Amazon Seller Consultant instantly.
Does Every Product Own A Buy Box?
If you are wondering whether all products have a buy box, the answer is NO. While most listings have a buy box, there are infrequent instances where the listing may not have it.
- If only one seller offers that product on Amazon and he doesn’t qualify for a buy box, then the buy box will not be present.
- The shoppers do not see the first CTA in a seller listing when the seller lists the product at a higher or lower price than the average sales price of the product.
What are Amazon Buy Box Requirements?
- Professional Seller Account: The seller with a professional Amazon seller account which costs $39.99 per month, is qualified to win the Buy Box. Individual or Basic Seller accounts are not qualified.
- Amazon Buy Box Eligibility: Sellers can be qualified to win the Buy Box for some products and not for other products. Sellers can fast-track their way to qualify for buy box by using Amazon FBA. To be Buy Box eligible, your Order Defect Rate, Cancellation Rate, and Late Shipment Rate metrics must be in sufficient standing. The Account health must remain in a good station, and the seller must have a history of successful sales on Amazon to be eligible for a buy box.
- Item Condition: Used items cannot win the position of buy box over new ones. There is now a Used Buy Box distinct from the main Buy Box.
- Stock Availability: If you don’t have the product in stock, you can’t win the buy box except for back-ordered items. You can check your buy box eligibility in Seller Central inventory reports. The “Buy Box Eligible” column is not available by default in seller central. You can start it by doing the following:
- Select “Manage Inventory”
- Select “Preferences”
- Select “Buy Box Eligible”
- Save changes
The other method to check if you are eligible for the buy box is –
- Go to Seller Central and log in to your account.
- Head to the Search bar at the top right of the page.
- Type Buy Box and search.
- The help window opens on the screen.
- A tool opens up on the right-hand side that lets you check any ASIN’s eligibility.
How to Win the Amazon Buy Box?
Fulfilling all the below factors and thus delivering an excellent customer experience is the finest way to win a Buy Box.
1. The Fulfillment Method
The most important element considered for an Amazon buy box is how the seller ships his product. Fulfillment can be done in 3 ways:
- FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon)
- FBM (Fulfilment by Merchant)
- Seller-Fulfilled Prime (SFP)
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3 Fulfillment Methods Available
While it is a paid service, FBA offers massive value for the Amazon Buy Box. It provides excellent performance metrics for shipping times as well as order fulfillment.
2. The Landed Price
There are two prices on Amazon, the price you list an item and the landed price that includes shipping and VAT (UK and EU only). It’s crucial to consider these things when pricing your products. Typical misconception sellers have- with the lowest price, they will win the Buy Box. The lower product price is not the only factor needed for a buy box. If your seller performance is higher than your competitor for a product, you may be able to increase your price and still get your share of the Buy Box.
3. Shipping Time
The time a seller takes to ship a product is known as the shipping time. The impact of shipping time on winning the Buy Box is high, particularly for products such as birthday cards and perishable items. The shipping time includes 0-2 days, 3-7 days, 8-13 days, and 14 or more days in working days. The shipping time is visible on the product detail page, where the date the item will arrive is visible.
4. Stock Availability
If you don’t have the item in stock, you can’t win the Buy Box, and it will turn to another seller. That is why sellers must keep good stock levels of their bestseller products. One oddity to the above rule is that a product can be listed as “back-ordered” alongside a note on the product page. With backorders, the customer orders the item with the understanding that it is not instantly available and will ship at a later date. You can feature back-ordered items in the Buy Box, but immediately available products are favored.
5. Order Defect Rate
ODR comprises three metrics: Negative Feedback Rating, A-Z Guarantee Claim Rate, and Service Chargeback Rate. Amazon estimates these three metrics to calculate the number of defective orders. According to Amazon, the ODR should be below 1%, and any sellers above this will be penalized.
6. Valid Tracking Rate
It is a new performance metric from Amazon. It is the percentage of total package shipping with a valid tracking rate. Valid tracking rate is assessed based on the last seven and 30 days. For buy box eligibility, valid tracking numbers should be available for 95% of packages shipped. Anything less than this could impact their odds of winning the buy box and even selling in a specific category.
7. Late Shipment Rate
The late shipment rate is the number of orders shipping afterward than the anticipated ship date. You can set your handling time in Seller Central. If sellers do not enter any handling time, Amazon gives a default shipping time of 1-2 business days. A late shipment rate below 4% will aid your chances of winning a share of the Buy Box. You can view this metric in seller central for the last seven and 30 days.
8. Delivered on-Time Rate
This metric is the percentage of orders that buyers receive by the estimated delivery date. Sellers should aim for 97% or greater. You can view this metric in seller central for the last seven and 30 days.
9. Feedback Rating
It is the completion of all feedback scores the seller has received over the last 30 days, 90 days, and 365 days, with the most recent feedback having the most impact. Feedback ratings are in Seller Central.
10.Customer Response Time
Amazon checks responses for the last seven, 30, and 90 days and compares them for all competitor sellers. Replying to your customers within 12 hours increases the chances of winning the Buy Box. If more than 10% of messages get a reply after 24 hours or receive no reply, this harms the ratings. However, by marking it as no response needed, the seller can save themselves from getting negative points.
Amazon Buy Box Rotation
Depending on how competitive the market is for your product, you could see Amazon hand your buy box to multiple sellers in 24 hours. In short, it is more than winning your Buy Box — it is also about holding your Buy Box. About scenarios of Amazon Buy Box rotation, there are two:
1. Simple Buy Box Rotation
In this, Amazon’s Buy Box formula decides to share the Buy Box between two or more sellers. How often you win the Buy Box depends on you and your competitor’s performance.
2. Complex Buy Box Rotation
In this, the differentiating factor for Amazon’s Buy Box algorithm is your price point, which typically leads to a price war between sellers. Due to the complexities of Buy Box rotation, managing your products to win their respective Buy Boxes can become a 24/7 commitment. That’s why some businesses prefer to invest in Amazon services that optimize your items for winning the Buy Box.
What is a Suppressed Buy Box?
In a suppressed buy box, instead of seeing “Add to Cart” or “Add to Basket”, the shoppers will find “See All Buying Options”. If a buyer clicks on this button, it will direct them to another webpage that has the information of the seller selling that product with the prices.
Amazon Buy Box Myths
1. Amazon Always Owns the Buy Box
Indeed, Amazon usually has the buy box, and it is hard to beat Amazon. But if you have great metrics and offer low prices, you can possess the Amazon Buy Box.
2. The Seller Who Offers The Lowest Price Wins the Buy Box.
Although the price matters, still that’s not the only factor considered for evaluating who wins a buy box. The other crucial elements are, for example- fulfillment method, performance metrics, and more.
3. Sellers Can Turn On The Buy Box Eligibility
Sellers can not decide on their own. Only Amazon decides if you’re eligible for the buy box or not.
4. Other Merchants Cannot Prevail over the Buy Box.
One cannot have the buy box at all times. Other sellers can jump in anytime and win the buy box.
How Can You Track Your Amazon Buy Box?
Even if a seller got their product in the buy box, the bigger question is how to track or maintain the buy box. Other sellers can jump in anytime, and they may lose the buy box, so it is crucial to know how a seller can keep his buy box. Luckily, Amazon offers some methods to automate the process and ensure that your buy box does not slip off.
Common Reasons Sellers Lost Buy Box:
- You’re a new third-party seller and are not Prime Eligible.
- Your seller rating has fallen, or you have poor performance metrics.
- Sales volume is too low.
- Your product is slightly expensive on a third-party site.
- Your product’s Amazon price is greater than the MSRP.
- Other sellers have more inventory in stock.
- A tremendous price decrease triggers an automatic removal of the buy box (shows potential fraud or counterfeit products).
- A significant price increase can result in the buy box disappearing to prevent loyal shoppers from being ripped off.
- Increase in customer complaints.
- Amazon is reviewing your product’s authenticity.
Conclusion
There are several criteria that the Amazon Buy Box algorithm estimates to determine who wins the Amazon Buy Box. If you already fulfill the minimum conditions, the only thing left to do is to continue to enhance the customer experience and thereby raise your chances of winning the Buy Box. There are two ways a seller can improve the customer experience metric: by offering better shipping and delivery conditions — regarding shipping costs, delivery times, and flexibility — and by delivering quality customer support with proficient and fast incident resolution, consistent customer replies, and a transparent return policy.
All that mentioned above may seem difficult to you. Here at SIPRANSHECOMMGROWTH, we have a team of experts who fulfill all the above criteria and help you win the Amazon buy box.
