Amazon offers many ingenious methods and incentives to bring your best as an ecommerce seller.
Whether you’re trying to qualify for Fulfillment By Amazon or win the coveted Amazon's Choice label, there’s no shortage of opportunities for you to shine as a seller and build yourself a cut above the rest.
The Amazon Buy Box is another one of these methods. It gives a seller a lot of visibility on Amazon when it comes to specific products.
What Exactly Is the Amazon Buy Box?
Third-party merchants make up the second most of Amazon’s income. With all the competition going on between these merchants to gain priority for their products, the Buy Box serves as a great opportunity to outshine the competition and gain some major recognition and sales.
When you click on a product on Amazon, it will prominently only feature one seller for the product (the very best seller for that product). Off to the right in the little box with the “Add To Cart” button is where you’ll find the name of that seller, along with a link to a page showing other merchants who also sell this item.
Seeing as how most buyers don’t dig that deep, the prominently displayed first seller typically gets the win.
This is why winning the Amazon Buy Box is a big deal if you want exposure and high sales.
How To Win The Buy Box
Amazon has criteria it looks for when it decides who wins the Buy Box spot.
- Firstly, you need to have plenty of inventory available for your item, otherwise the box will go to someone else.
- Your item condition matters. New items will be given priority over Used or Like New.
- Professional Merchant Accounts qualify for the Buy Box. An Individual Merchant account won’t be eligible.
- When determining your seller ranking, Amazon also looks at your Fulfillment Service. Amazon will trust its own over anything else.
- Your Shipping Time and Landed Price are two more important stats Amazon looks at. Fast, free shipping are the keys here.
You can always check your status on the Seller Central Amazon page, but having these criteria met doesn’t necessarily guarantee you a spot on the Buy Box.
The good news, however, is that the Buy Box is never set in stone: the spot is always shifting. From day to day, or even hourly, the seller in the Buy Box constantly fluctuates based on the above qualifications. This creates healthy competition between sellers and keeps businesses on Amazon in top shape for customers.
Maintain the areas touched on above, and a spot in the Amazon Buy Box could yet be yours!
