What’s the Buy Box?
The Buy Box in Amazon is the box on product detail page from where customers start the process of purchase by adding products to the shopping cart.
The sale competition on Amazon is fierce and success on Amazon is all about the Buy Box! With multiple sellers selling the same product, only one seller wins and the major factor that determines who makes the sale is “Amazon Buy Box”.
If you are a seller on Amazon and looking forward to get your item in the Buy Box, there are a few important lessons you need to learn-
Update inventory in real time-
Customers who submit orders for products that are not in stock are likely to leave you with a negative feedback. To ensure that buyers cannot place orders for out-of-stock items, keep your inventory updated. Not only does this reduces stock-outs, but also improves customer service and customer acquisition strategy.
If you do not have current stock for a product, you cannot win the buy box. Use inventory planning best practices to keep your most selling products in stock.
Providing accurate and timely shipping information-
Once an order is received and shipping data is generated, the multi channel management system can collect it and send directly to Amazon in order to enable accurate tracking information and offer quick shipping to buyers.
In addition to it, data no longer being entered by hand, shipping details are more likely to be correct to reach the intended buyer.
Use Fulfillment by Amazon- Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service provided to sellers with the storage facility for their inventory and executes orders from Amazon Fulfillment Centers. FBA presents sellers with the opportunity to exceed expectations of their customers with safe, smart and speedy order delivery.
Selling your product with FBA is much easier than shipping it yourself, for a number of good reasons. Amazon will already have the product in one of their fulfillment centers, which means you just don’t have to worry about people coming to you with the product problems if you ship your product with Amazon, because Amazon handles all customer service and will take responsibility for shipping issues. They will accept returns and will send out a new product if requested.
In order to qualify for the Buy Box, sellers need to utilize FBA to get their products and orders fulfilled by the most trusted, experienced and efficient hands of Amazon.
Have Order Defect Rate as low as possible-
Out of the above mentioned factors, Order Defect Rate (ODR) is one such important metric that is taken into account to qualify for the Amazon Buy Box.
As recommended by Amazon, ODR should be less than 1% in order to be eligible for the Buy Box. Order Defect Rate (ODR) is calculated on the basis of service feedback and chargeback claims. It means that less than 1% of your orders ended up with extremely poor buyer experience.
If ODR reaches more than 1%, first of all you lose the Buy Box eligibility as Amazon does not want to spoil its reputation by putting the Amazon Buy Box at risk.
Secondly, Amazon also has the right to terminate your account straight away, holding payments in order to refund customers.
So, it’s time to focus and monitor your ODR rate to understand exactly how you are viewed by Amazon.
Conclusion
Winning the Amazon Buy Box is the aim of retailers in the online world but it is strictly dependent upon eligibility and competing effectively against other eligible listings. If you are selling on Amazon today, keep an eye on defect rates, competitive pricing, inventory levels and shipping practices to develop your business on Amazon and build a positive reputation before you can qualify for the Buy Box.
