What Is The Amazon Buy Box And How Can I Win It?

Amazon has developed a number of features over the years for customers and sellers to use on their platform, and the Buy Box is one of them. As an Amazon professional seller, getting the opportunity to land the Buy Box whenever you can will lead to a phenomenal boost in your product sales and profits.

So, what exactly is this Buy Box and how can you win it? Keep reading to find out how to best optimize your Amazon store to secure this coveted space.

What Is Amazon’s Buy Box, Exactly?

If you’ve ever shopped on Amazon recently, you’ve clicked on the Buy Box to purchase an item. The Amazon Buy Box is the stack of bright yellow and orange buttons on the right side of the product listing that’s labeled “Add to Cart” and “Buy Now.”

These two buttons link to an individual seller’s specific product listing, where a customer can add the item to their shopping cart. This significantly increases how a seller’s product stands out and performs in the Amazon Marketplace. 

The Buy Box is a sought after tool on Amazon with a lot of competition from sellers, since it leads to be a one stop shop for new customers.

For you Amazon veterans out there, you might remember that there was a tool known as Featured Merchant. In 2018, Amazon updated Featured Merchant Status to the Buy Box. And now in 2022, Amazon officially refers to the Buy Box as a Featured Offer.

Why is the Buy Box so important?

Various sources online say that 75-80% of all Amazon sales are funneled through the Buy Box/Featured Offer. That means that a majority of online shoppers will select products directly from the Buy Box and not shop around for other offers.

So keeping this in mind, know that occasionally winning the Buy Box will really give you an uptick in sales. It is such a sought after tool on Amazon with a lot of competition from sellers, since it leads to being a one stop shop for new customers. 

While things are constantly evolving with this feature, we’ll break down how to become Buy Box eligible and how to get your best shot at winning the Buy Box to boost your sales.

‍

How to Become Buy Box Eligible on Amazon

First things first. Check to see if you’re eligible to compete for the Buy Box. 

Only sellers with a Professional selling account are currently eligible to get the Buy Box. This doesn’t mean that you have to be exclusively an FBA seller to qualify. In fact, Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) sellers that qualify for the Prime badge (Seller Fulfilled Prime, also known as SFP) can also qualify for the Buy Box. With Amazon’s recent updates, lots of SFP sellers actually have a better chance at winning the Buy Box in 2022. 

Next, you can check if any of your individual product listings have been listed as the Featured Offer (meaning, they won the Buy Box!). To do this, just go to your account in Amazon Seller Central and do the following:

• Once logged into your Seller Central account, head to the Manage Inventory page
• Click Preferences
• Select the option “Buy Boy Eligible”
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save Changes.
• Sellers can see their status of every product listing (ASIN) in the Buy Box Eligible column 

‍

Amazon Buy Box: How to Win Top Placement

Now that you know you’re eligible for Amazon’s Buy Box, want to find out how you can beat the competition for this coveted space?

Amazon’s Seller Central page lists a few factors that help its algorithm decide which product listing to put as the Featured Offer. According to their website, this is “based on account performance and other risk factors.” The main factors are the top 5 reasons listed below, so apply these following tips and you’ll be on your way to winning that Buy Box.

Efficient shipping times

The latest information we’ve gathered for 2022 suggests that fast shipping is the best way sellers can win the Amazon Buy Box. Sellers should note that good shipping isn’t necessarily about speed. As long as the shipping time frame is respected, then sellers will get good ratings and be an optimal seller for the Amazon Marketplace. 

Maintain inventory levels

This Buy Box tip is also connected to shipping. Having items in stock and ready to go is one of the best ways to make sure you offer accurate shipping times. While we know that keeping the right amount of stock can be a challenge, it’s important to manage your inventory so that your customers never click to buy an item that ends up being out of stock.

Offer competitive pricing

Always make sure your products are listed at a competitive price. This means measuring the competition and knowing the value of what you’re selling. We don’t recommend that you underprice your products; nor should you overprice them. It’s important to draw customers to your listing with prices that are appropriate and up to date if you want to win the Buy Box.

Good overall customer service

Your personal seller rating on Amazon is built with a few different factors in mind if you want to win the Buy Box: customer feedback, good recent customer reviews, customer response time, order cancellations, and more. In general, good service from start to finish is the best way to get those positive seller ratings.

Keep your Amazon store optimized

Images, video, SEO, and other important aspects of a successful Amazon store are all important things to keep on top of when managing your product listings. Keeping your Amazon shop optimized (make sure to check and see if you need to make any updates every month or so) will show Amazon that you deserve a shot at the Buy Box. 

Amazon Buy Box Algorithm: The Inside Scoop

Amazon’s algorithm is constantly changing, and there’s a lot of moving parts involved to tell whether a seller’s product will win that Buy Box. 

Each product listing is individually considered for the Buy Box, so you can always beat your competition with one particular product. Just make sure all of your products are optimized to win the Buy Box if they are eligible.

How to Optimize When You Don’t Win the Buy Box

Our recommendation to you is to keep optimizing your Amazon store to make sure your overall customer experience is exceptional. 

It’s important to remember that the seller who wins the Buy Box does change regularly, so maintaining your store over time gives you a competitive advantage.

The Buy Box isn’t a magic fix to getting a huge number of new sales, but it is a critical feature that can help grow the success of your store over time.

And, it can’t hurt to reach out. If you’ve already checked to see if your product listing is eligible for the Buy Box and you think everything is in place for your product to qualify for it, then reach out to Amazon and see what’s up.

Want more tips like this?

‍