The Buy Box is an indispensable element of Amazon’s market system. It makes it easier for purchasers to shop by displaying one page for each item for sale, regardless of how many vendors have the item.
The Buy Box offers a great opportunity for sellers to be part of a highly competitive atmosphere on Amazon. Only one retailer for each item is chosen and given the most sales potential; this will continue as long as they hold the “Buy Box”.
Consequently, if vendors are aiming to get more substantial sales, they should understand how to capture the Buy Box. At first glance, the Buy Box appears straightforward, but there is a sophisticated calculation behind it. This is all the information you need to understand the process.
What is the Amazon Buy Box?
The Buy Box on Amazon simplifies the purchasing process, taking away the need to think about who you are actually buying from – be it Amazon or a vendor on the marketplace. The position is at the top right corner of every Amazon item listing.
You can find a variety of products to purchase from multiple Amazon vendors, so Amazon has the Buy Box to choose the seller with the best sale experience for each product. In the shown photo, EpicCo has acquired control of the Buy Box. This is also referred to as “having control” of the Buy Box or “being the seller” of the Buy Box. This is indicating that they have been chosen by Amazon to be the chosen retailer for this specific item currently.
When a customer presses “Put in Cart” or “Purchase Now”, the trader who is in the Buy Box in that second automatically gets the sale. The customer can anticipate that Amazon will have selected a seller who offers a cost that is rivaled by few, quick delivery, top-notch customer service, and a host of other elements that should ensure they are pleased.
The majority of transactions that take place on Amazon are completed through the Buy Box, so retailers who win it frequently will experience a heightened amount of sales as compared to those who are not often chosen.
The Essential Buy Box Elements
Instead of speaking about the objective of taking the Buy Box into possession, it is more precise to express that a seller gains or misses out on their portion of the Buy Box.
Once a merchant has fulfilled Amazon’s minimal criteria for eligibility, the Buy Box protocol subdivides the vendors into different categories according to various parameters.
Amazon pits its rivals against one another to evaluate how each performs on different factors for the same product.
For items with a lot of sellers, different retailers may take turns appearing in the Buy Box.
The proportion of the Buy Box that a single merchant possesses will be greater if they are more competitive than the others.
For instance, the most successful retailer of a product might own the Buy Box for 70% of the day, and the lower-positioned merchant could control it for the other 30% of the time.
How can I win the Buy Box?
If you are the sole provider of a given item, you will be the automatic recipient of the Buy Box.
It is typical for the Buy Box to be divided between multiple sellers, instead of the same seller always having 100% control over it. To win a share of the Buy Box you must:
- Be eligible to win the Buy Box
- Be chosen as the winner by the Buy Box algorithm
Here’s a brief overview, but you can find out more about the eligibility criteria and the Buy Box algorithm further down.
What Makes You Buy Box Eligible?
What does one need to do to be eligible for the Buy Box?
While there’s no sure-fire formula to landing in — or winning — the Buy Box rotation, there are four minimum criteria you must meet if you want to be in the running:
Professional seller account.
Only those merchants who have acquired a Pro-Merchant account in Europe can qualify. An individual seller (in Europe: Basic account) is not.
Buy Box eligibility status.
Your status can be checked in Amazon Seller Central.
New items.
Your item must be new.
Items that have been previously owned are not able to be acquired through the regular Buy Box, though they are able to be sold with a distinctive Buy Used Box.
Availability.
There needs to be an inventory of your listed item.
If the stock is depleted, the Buy Box will switch to another seller’s offering.
Algorithm
Amazon’s system looks at a range of elements to pick the successful bidder of the Buy Box.
| ACTOR | IMPORTANCE | HOW TO IMPROVE |
| Item qualifies for Prime | High | Use Fulfillment by Amazon or Seller Fulfilled Prime |
| Total price to the customer | High | Use automatic repricing software, and keep shipping costs down |
| Shipping time (for non-FBA items) | Medium | Optimize your fulfillment and delivery processes |
| Performance metrics | Medium | Monitor and improve your Amazon metrics |
| Seller Feedback | Medium | Reduce potential complaints, deal with actual complaints effectively |
| Consistent stock availability | Low | Utilize software that predicts sales volume, consider the amount of time it takes suppliers to fulfill orders, and keep extra inventory on hand as a precaution. |
Amazon does not share information about the inner workings of its algorithms. Extensive research has been conducted on the Buy Box, so we can trust the value of the points mentioned above.
What factors are used in the Buy Box algorithm?
The Amazon Buy Box takes into consideration many different variables. Here’s a summary:
Prime
If your offering has a Prime signifier, you will reap the benefits of increased visibility in the Buy Box. The two ways that marketplace sellers can qualify for Prime are:
- Using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
- Qualifying for and shipping under Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP)
Enrolling with FBA is an uncomplicated approach to enhance your opportunities in the Buy Box. Seller Fulfilled Prime serves the same purpose yet requires that you establish before Amazon that your transport system operates with exemplary performance constantly.
Total price
The amount of money the buyer spends overall is an extremely important element in securing the Buy Box. By utilizing a repricing tool to keep the costs low and offering free delivery, you can greatly increase the possibility of being featured in the Buy Box.
Other factors
The previously mentioned elements have the strongest effect on where your Buy Box will be situated; however, there are still several other factors that the algorithm takes into account.
- Shipping time (non-FBA): If you ship items yourself, keep your handling times as short as possible. Same-day shipping is now pretty standard.
- Performance metrics: The algorithm can take into account any metric that relates to customer experience, including negative feedback rate, A-to-Z guarantee claims, valid tracking rate, late shipment rate, customer response time, cancellation rate and more.
- Sales volume and inventory: Selling more items, and always having products in stock is an important factor in the Buy Box algorithm.
If you can meet the requirements for Prime and have a competitive price, then the qualities listed above can increase your chances of winning the Buy Box over competitors who have Prime enabled and a similar price. It is not likely that these other factors will be of much consequence if Prime and a competitive rate are not present.
Is the Buy Box relevant for all Amazon sellers?
The Buy Box feature appears on the page for all goods for sale on Amazon, however, it only has a significant impact on the merchants who offer “competitive products”. In other terms, retailers are selling items that have other traders supplying the exact same thing.
An example would be Energizer AA lithium batteries that have an ASIN of B071D87WPV, and there are forty vendors vying for the Buy Box.
The Buy Box still remains visible and operates in a similar manner, even when Amazon is the vendor marketing that product. It is harder to outcompete Amazon for the Buy Box than it is to overpower another third-party seller. You can learn more about this topic in the Buy Box legends located near the conclusion of this article.
Products which are single-supplier items still have the Buy Box, but you don’t need to battle anyone else to acquire it (though Amazon may put the brakes on it if they consider your price to be too excessive – we will discuss this further later).
Typical examples of products with only one seller include:
- Private label products sold under your unique brand.
- Direct-to-consumer brands are sold only by the manufacturer or an exclusive partner.
A benefit of private label selling is that it produces distinct items, allowing vendors to have their own listings which eliminate the competition for the Buy Box from other vendors.
4 Key Metrics That Amazon’s Buy Box Algorithm Looks For
First and foremost, a quick summary of all essential topics that will help your company become a Buy Box owner.
While there are many variables that influence your chances of winning the Buy Box and getting favored by Amazon’s algorithms, there are four that have the highest Buy Box impact:
- Using Fulfillment By Amazon.
- Seller-Fulfilled Prime.
- Landed Price.
- Shipping Time.
Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA).
The most influential factor that affects the Buy Box is how the product is fulfilled.
Amazon considers their Fulfillment By Amazon service to have ideal results on all scales, thus making it the best way to increase your chances of obtaining the Buy Box.
It’s not impossible for Fulfillment By Merchant (FBM) sellers to win over FBA sellers; it takes a determined effort to achieve top scores on all aspects and a very low cost.
Although FBA usually is a sound decision, it is still vital to look over the whole situation to determine if it will be advantageous or detrimental in the long run.
Seller-Fulfilled Prime.
Seller-Fulfilled Prime provides a great opportunity for vendors that use the Fulfillment By Merchant process to fulfill requests and gain the perks of Amazon Prime at the same time.
This fulfillment method offers the best of both worlds:
- You maintain control over your own shipment, which is especially good for sellers with heavy products, who can use this method to bypass FBA’s extra fees.
- You will also benefit by having a higher chance to win the Buy Box and getting access to Prime members.
This approach is not available to all sellers who use Fulfillment by Merchant. Having first-rate overall statistics is essential if you want to be eligible.
Landed Price.
The landed cost is the overall cost of an Amazon product, inclusive of the shipping fee.
The less you pay for an item, the larger the portion of sales will be taken up by transactions within the Buy Box.
If you have better results than your competitors, you can charge more and continue to have the majority of sales on the Buy Box.
If your competitors have superior measurements, you’ll have to drop the price tag to remain in the same position of the Buy Box.
Shipping Time.
The easiest criterion that the Buy Box evaluates is the estimated delivery period as promised by the vendor to the purchaser.
For products and categories that require quick delivery, like birthday cards and perishables, this statistic will profoundly influence the Buy Box since patrons often insist upon expedited delivery for those things.
Buy Box Amazon Pricing Strategies: Manual vs. Rule-Based vs. Algorithmic
Many sellers use discounted prices in comparison to that of other stores to give themselves the best chance of winning the Buy Box.
Nevertheless, this does not consistently result in increased earnings due to the explanations included below.
There are three methods of repricing used on Amazon:
- Manual.
- Rule-based.
- Algorithmic.
Manual Repricing.
Manually adjusting one’s prices for each ASIN entails manual repricing.
This is an excellent choice for those selling items that are handcrafted or rare, but it does not work well for those selling commodities.
This method is usually seen as not sustainable for businesses that are expanding.
Rule-Based Repricing.
A pricing strategy of rule-based repricing looks at the prices of rivals and then adjusts the cost of the same product or service in accordance with pre-specified regulations.
For instance, you can create a regulation that surpasses the rival by a certain margin or remain in the most inexpensive price range.
This method is easier than manual repricing, but it also has some major downsides:
- By only looking into competitors’ pricing, it is limited in its capabilities.
- Setting up the rules is a time-consuming task, and rules can come into conflict with each other, requiring excessive management.
Finally, sellers who possess excellent metrics may not be taking full advantage of their opportunities because rule-based prices don’t always enable merchants to make the most out of their prices and rise to the potential heights of the Buy Box.
It results in a situation where all sellers are continually decreasing their prices, which eventually leads to a decrease in profits for everyone.
Algorithmic Repricing.
Algorithmic repricing is thought to be the most advanced and revolutionary re-pricing alternative.
Rather than solely concentrating on opponents’ prices, algorithmic repricing considers all the aspects that can make an impact on your prospects of achieving the Buy Box.
Research carried out in 2017 at Northeastern University found evidence that algorithmic repricing is associated with an increased Buy Box share and increased profitability.
Keeping track of numerous essential points guarantees that you are reaching the appropriate equilibrium between Buy Box shares and profits.
This technique of studying data has been demonstrated to be the most cost-effective for vendors, necessitating less effort and generating higher returns.
This technique of redoing the prices is the costliest one of all of the possibilities present and would be ideal for larger traders who are currently making large profits.
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