The Importance of Amazon’s Best Sellers Rank (BSR)

How to find Amazon BSR? 

A product’s BSR is listed on multiple pages, including the Amazon Best Sellers page, the product detail page, and on a category-level Best Selling Products page, such as Electronics. 

Ideally, you should aim to be the top seller in your specific granular subcategory instead of in the overall product category. 

For example, Jenga is currently ranked #26 in Toys & Games overall but is #1 in Stacking Games, a subcategory of the overall Toys & Games category. This level of detail provides insight into how your products perform on a big-picture and SKU-specific level.

Why is Amazon BSR important?

Amazon sales rank is used to determine a product’s popularity within its category and against its competition. A product’s eligibility for the metric is determined by the number of recent sales and historical sales data relative to any other products in the same category. The lower a product’s BSR is, the more sales it is receiving, and vice versa. If your BSR is #1, your product is currently the most-purchased item in that category.

As Amazon BSR is based on recent and past performance, there’s no need to get caught up on winning the placement to drive sales velocity for your products. Even if a product has made it to #1 on the BSR list, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is highly ranked for organic search. Although you should always focus on driving sales, know that BSR does not have a direct correlation to helping you generate organic sales.

Best practices to improve Amazon BSR

The Amazon Best Seller metric shows a product’s sales rank compared to other products within that category. Therefore, BSR cannot be used to drive more sales, but you can implement the strategies below to increase sales and, ultimately, give your BSR a boost.

1. Conduct product research

If you are just getting started as an Amazon seller or want to add more products to your existing Amazon catalog, looking at competitors’ BSR ranks would be a great starting point. Explore the Amazon Best Sellers and Movers & Shakers lists in the relevant categories to your business. The Best Sellers list is based on BSR, while the Movers & Sellers list shows the biggest gainers in sales rank over the past 24 hours. 

2. Pick the correct product categories

As Amazon BSR scores go up and down based on how sales compare to other items in the same category, it’s essential to choose the category carefully when creating the listing.

Become familiar with all the category and subcategory options and pick the one that is most accurate to the products you’re selling. And if you offer products with variations, be sure that the parent and child ASINs are all listed within the same category.

3. Optimize product listings 

Optimize listings with relevant SEO keywords so your products appear in customer searches and include compelling copy that calls out its features and benefits. As Amazon shoppers cannot see or touch your product in person, having high-quality images, video, and A+ Content can all help drive conversions. Higher conversion rates = more sales = improved BSR.

Feedvisor’s content creation and optimization services, for example, ensure that your products rank effectively across both organic search and paid efforts and drive engagement to maximize impact. As part of this process, the team analyzes your listings and historical performance and then optimizes the visual and written content — both above and below the fold — to appeal to target audiences, applying A/B testing as appropriate.

Performed according to Amazon best practices, listing optimization creates accurate naming conventions, descriptive titles, high-quality hero images, compelling product copy, and correct product variants to convey any unique differentiators or value-adds and inform the consumer’s purchase decision.

4. Implement A Dynamic Pricing Strategy
Research the competition within your category, forecast consumer demand and gauge price elasticity to understand which price point will result in greater sales and a BSR boost. Alternatively, you can use Feedvisor’s dynamic pricing solution that leverages AI to build dynamic demand curves and explore price elasticity. It will automatically identify the price point that leads to increased sales a boost in BSR.

5. Leverage AI to Optimize Your Amazon Advertising Strategy 

To drive impressions, conversions, and ultimately, a better BSR, you also need to have an Amazon Advertising strategy in place. By running PPC campaigns, you can effectively get your product in front of a larger audience searching for similar terms. 

Sponsored Products, for example, are keyword-targeted—and can also be product attribute targeted—to fulfill various business goals. Whether you aim to gain visibility for new or low-exposure ASINs, generate incremental sales, maximize profits, or liquidate an under-converting product, Amazon ad campaigns help generate demand and can positively impact your organic ranking. Feedvisor’s AI-Driven Advertising Optimization Platform enables sellers to automatically find the best performing keywords, optimize bid management and achieve better advertising efficiency.