While you’re probably well familiar with the old standbys needed to inch closer to an Amazon Buy Box — good customer support, competitive prices, fast shipping times — the devil is always in the details. RepricerExpress knows that in order to succeed at the big picture, you’ve got to have all your little ducks in a row so here are some of the more minor points you may have forgotten about in your quest for a Buy Box.
Used Items are Categorised Differently
If your Amazon business consists of selling used items, like books or clothes, then aiming for a Buy Box will get you nowhere fast. However, all is not lost because you still get a reward in the form of a Buy Used Box. The criteria for it are roughly the same as for a Buy Box, meaning you still have to perform at your peak to create that shortcut between looking and purchasing.
What’s neat about having two Boxes for new and used goods is they can be featured simultaneously for an item. Say you’ve won a Buy Used Box for your efforts and it dovetails with another seller’s new item. Sellers will then have the option of directly purchasing that item either new or used, and chances are, you’ll win out because the item will cost less.
Keep That Item in Stock
Ran out of a particular product? Your chances of winning a Buy Box just evaporated. Amazon will not award sellers a Buy Box if their inventory of that item is empty, so it’s imperative that you keep a full line.
Even more, Amazon won’t tell sellers that the Buy Box item is out of stock — they’ll just award it to the seller who does have the product in their inventory. It’ll sting a bit, but hopefully it’ll motivate you to masterfully plan your inventory practices so you never miss out on a Buy Box.
Exception: Amazon isn’t a totally heartless creature that will dangle the carrot in front of you only to yank it away at the last second. The only time you can still get a Buy Box and be technically out of stock is if the item is a back-ordered item and you’ll have it back in stock within 48 hours.
Second Place in the Buy Box Competition
Really competitive Amazon sellers don’t like finishing second in anything, let alone when trying to win a Buy Box. But there’s a bit of a silver lining to the cloud: while you may not get the ultimate prize of the Buy Box, Amazon does sweeten the deal a bit for you so the metaphorical second place finish isn’t as rough.
If you show strongly, there’s a chance Amazon that you can still be featured on the More Buying Choices box or Offer Listings pages, which will give your products a huge amount of exposure. Admittedly, it’s not as good as the Buy Box ($60 billion of sales went through the Buy Box Vs $15 billion outside of it in 2013), but it’s just below the Buy Box and it’ll be almost impossible for consumers not to at least check you out. For this to happen, you’d have to fill all the criteria you normally would when competing for a Buy Box.
Extra Incentive for Trying to Win a Buy Box
It’s a little redundant to say sellers need any extra motivation in winning a Buy Box, as we’re all aware of how valuable it is.
But when you take into account the rise of online shopping, it becomes doubly crucial to bear down and sell strongly. While there’s a fair bit of noise on the desktop Amazon site, the mobile site is noticeably stripped down. And you know what’s right underneath an item’s image and price? Yup, you guessed right: the Buy Box. Online shopping makes it even easier to utilise the Buy Box and there’s absolutely no extraneous scrolling or looking around.
Another tip to keep in mind when trying to go after the online crowd is how the mobile site Buy Box stands in even more isolation. Your name will be completely front and centre for the shopper to see without anyone else cluttering things up.
Often times, the margin at the top is so thin, it’s the smallest things that make the biggest differences. One of those is knowing what to pursue and what to leave behind, or, as Kenny Rogers sang, knowing when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em. RepricerExpress is one of the quickest ways sellers can win more Buy Boxes as it will continually keep your pricing competitive against other sellers. Why not check out your free 15-day trial—your sales could be increasing right now—today.
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