Here are the key steps in making sure you are eligible
By: Adam Hoagland
The Amazon Buy Box is one of the most coveted digital treasures on the internet and there are real reasons why. As a seller on Amazon, the goal is getting your products to your customers as easily and quickly as possible and the Buy Box is key for this. Over 80% of Amazon sales are derived from Buy Box usage and even higher for mobile purchases. It takes good prices and solid metrics to win and maintain. And that is a gift that requires constant attention.
What is the buy box?
The Buy Box refers to the box on the right side of the Amazon product detail page, where buyers can add items with One Click or Add to Cart. This usually contains one of the best prices with great shipping and trustworthy sellers.
Not all sellers or specific inventory are eligible to win the Buy Box.
How do I win the buy box?
Now this is where it can get tricky. Amazon has kept the algorithm of the Buy Box so secret, only a very small handful of people inside Amazon know how it works. Most likely, Jeff doesn’t even know how it works!
But there are some key steps in making sure you are eligible for it:
- You must have a Professional Seller Account.
- You must be on the platform for some time. Best estimations show at least 3 months selling to build up metrics and propagate your information through the system.
- You must be selling the item in the ‘New’ condition. Used items are always found in the “See More Buying Options” page.
- Keep your price competitive. No one wants to buy an item with a huge mark-up.
- Keep your stock available. Sounds like a no brainer, but you can lose the Buy Box, albeit temporarily, if you available for purchase drops too low. You can lose it before hitting 0 quantity.
- Keep your Seller metrics as perfect as possible.
- Your Order Defect Rate and Shipping Metrics are some of the most influential to your account as a whole and to your eligibility.
- Feedback rating is also very important. No one wants to quickly purchase from a 3-star seller.
- Cancellation and Refund rate as well. Amazon needs to trust that you will treat the buyer as well as they do.
- Customer response time. You need to make sure buyer-seller messages are addressed quickly and professionally
- Sell FBA. Since Amazon can control the shipping timeline and have more quality control, the listing is considered more favorable.
- If not FBA, keep your pre-shipping handling times low and provide fast and inexpensive shipping. Seller Fulfilled Prime is very useful here.
- If a product or category is saturated, try to find products with less sellers, or, even better, list a new product! If you have your own private brand, Amazon’s Brand Registry program can provide more control and assistance with these items.
How to check buy box eligibility
- Click on the Inventory tab in Amazon Seller Central and select Manage Inventory.
- Click on the Preferences tab.
- In the Column Display section, click the box for Buy Box Eligible.
- (Optional) Click the box for Buy Box Price to see the current winning price.
- Select Show When Available from the drop-down menu.
- Look at the Buy Box Eligible column for a particular SKU. If the seller is eligible, it will say yes.
Note: You may see some listings as eligible to win the Buy Box for some products but not for others. And the yes is no guarantee that you will win.
Conclusion
While the Buy Box is not a requirement to sell on the platform, it can be the make it or break it for some sellers. Amazon has become the main online shopping platform in the US with 4 out of every 10 dollars spent online is on Amazon. (Forbes)
So make sure you have your inventory planning, pricing, and customer service system in place and ready to go as soon as you join Amazon world.
If you need any assistance with your inventory planning, or anything else give Riverbend a call! (877) 289-1017
Adam provides analytical support for both our Riverbend clients and team to best asses and assist with plans of action, reports and overall best practices on Amazon. Adam has three years of Seller Support experience as an associate, lead and trainer. He has specialized in day-to-day operations, catalog inquiries, state and federal tax reviews, feeds, escalations, gating, and assisted with brand registry items. His down time is spent with his two cats and spouse enjoying streaming, gaming, pub crawls and house parties with friends.
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