What is the Buy Box on Amazon?

On Amazon, each product page has many different sections, and you can get a summary of them here. One very important part of all these sections is the one called the Buy Box. The Buy Box is the box located on the right side of every product page where you can see the price, add the product to your cart, or purchase the product directly by clicking "Buy Now."
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Why Should You Care About the Buy Box on Amazon?

The Buy Box is crucial when there are multiple companies selling the same product on the same product page. The Buy Box determines which company sells the product when a customer clicks "Buy Now" or "Add to Cart."

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When there are multiple sellers on the same product page, one company is assigned the Buy Box. This is often referred to as owning or having the Buy Box. The company that has the Buy Box gets all the sales made through it, and the Buy Box accounts for approximately 83% of all sales. In other words, it is extremely important to be the seller who owns the Buy Box.

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What Determines Who Gets the Buy Box on Amazon?

Several factors can influence this. For example, customer ratings of you as a seller (not just the products can be rated on Amazon), your previous sales history, your ability to deliver products on time, and so on. But the most important factor is the price. Generally, the Buy Box on Amazon is owned by the seller who can offer the product at the lowest price.

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If your company competes with other sellers to sell the same products, it is crucial to monitor your pricing competition and develop a strategy for how to handle competitors' pricing. Often, sellers in such a competitive situation use software to automate pricing.

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The owner of the Buy Box can change at any time and very frequently. For example, if you run out of stock, you lose the Buy Box immediately.

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Can You Buy from a Seller Who Doesn't Have the Buy Box on Amazon?

Absolutely, you can. The problem is that this process is more cumbersome, and most customers use the Buy Box for all their purchases. But it is possible! Amazon lists all sellers offering the product on a separate page that you can click through to from the product page. There, you can see the different sellers' prices, where they ship from, and the sellers' ratings and reviews.

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You can find all the sellers by clicking through the small box located under the Buy Box. See the image below. There are also other ways to reach this list with all the offers.
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When No Company Owns the Buy Box on Amazon

It can happen that no company owns the Buy Box on Amazon. This is common for new sellers who are selling their own brands. Even if they are the only seller offering the product, they are not given the Buy Box. This is because the company has no previous sales history on Amazon. Exactly why Amazon handles the situation this way is unclear to me, but that’s how it is.

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The easiest way to solve this is to make some sales. Sometimes, it also resolves itself over time. However, keep in mind that you cannot run ads when you don't own the Buy Box, so the first sales must come in other ways. For example, you can drive traffic from email marketing or social media, or ask loyal customers (like family and friends) to purchase from Amazon.

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Conclusion - What is the Buy Box on Amazon?

Now you should have all the information you need to understand what the Buy Box on Amazon is. If your company sells its own brands or brands where you have exclusive rights to sell them in a specific country, you don’t need to worry too much about the Buy Box. But if your company is a reseller of products with significant competition, I suggest looking into software that can be used for automated pricing. Additionally, spend time developing a strategy to tackle this potential challenge.

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I hope you found this post helpful and informative. If you did, I would greatly appreciate it if you could generously share this with your colleagues and friends. If your company needs help with Amazon, feel free to reach out to us at SellWave. Thank you!