It can be incredibly frustrating for brands selling on Amazon to lose out to multiple resellers also selling their product. There are several issues that can occur but one of the main recurring issues we see is brands losing out on winning the Amazon Buy Box.

In our previous post here, we explained that since there is no limit to the number of sellers who can use the Amazon platform, it is common for multiple merchants to frequently sell the same item. These are known as resellers and when multiple resellers are selling products at the same time, there is competition for which seller will win the Buy Box.

There are several factors that impact winning the buy box but the most important are:

Fulfilment method

Fulfilment is probably the most important variable considered by Amazon. FBA and SFP (seller fulfilled prime) sellers have a high score for multiple variables including shipping method and on-time delivery. It’s very unlikely for FBM sellers to beat other resellers with similar prices and win the buy box.

Shipping time

Shipping time has a high impact on winning the Buy Box, and it’s a crucial factor to ensure a good customer experience too.

Selling price

The final price of your listing, including shipping and VAT, is one of the most important criterias to win the buy box.

In stock status 

Usually, if your item is OOS, you can’t win the Buy Box and it will rotate to another seller. This is why it is crucial for sellers to keep good stock levels of their products.

Feedback rating

Feedback rating aggregates all feedback scores the seller has received over the last 30, 90 and 365 days. The most recent feedback has the greatest impact.

Customer response time

Amazon checks responses for the last 7, 30 and 90 days and compares them with competing sellers. Being able to respond to customers within 12 hours increases your chances of winning the Buy Box.

Feedback count 

Buy Box takes into account the number of buyers who have given seller feedback. A higher feedback count can lead to winning the Buy Box.

Brands can fight most resellers on Amazon ensuring the above factors are in place so you are winning the buy box. That being said, it is also important to have an overall resellers’ strategy in place to have a more significant share of sales, and more control over your products, prices and customer service:

Price & Fulfilment Strategy

Having competitive prices along with an FBA or SFP (seller fulfilled prime) method is the best way to win the buy box. 

Review your contracts

Review all contracts with your distributors and update the terms, not authorizing them to sell on Amazon. Even though you cannot legally enforce RRPs, you can seek legal advice to find out how you can stop your distributors from undercutting you on prices.

Repricing Tools

Using repricing tools helps you to deal with Buy Box prices. With these tools, you can set minimum and maximum prices and the amount by which you want to undercut a competitor can also be specified. As soon as the selling price changes, your price is automatically adjusted which will help you to be on top of changes when they occur.

Create Bundles

You can create bundles composed of different items to create a new bundled product. This way you can add to your catalogue new and unique listings that your distributors don’t have access to.

Exclusive Product Lines

Consider having exclusive product lines on Amazon. Other resellers won’t have access to it which will prevent them from selling. If your products have variations, a good strategy could be to design new child ASINs of the best-sellers products.

Vendor Account

Consider partnering with Amazon and having a hybrid model, combining a Seller and Vendor account. Amazon is always more likely to win the buy box compared to other sellers.