Buy Box Series: How Important Is the Buy Box?

So just how important is the Buy Box. And what do you need to know about it before using Amazon as a buyer or, more importantly, as a seller?

SOME BACKGROUND:

When Amazon first opened its online doors in 1995, no-one could have predicted just how large the e-commerce giant would become. Last year, $74.5 billion of revenue went through Amazon, an amount that was responsible for over 5.7% of the total international e-commerce spend. Out of this $74.5 billion, a whopping $61 billion of sales went through the Buy Box, with $30 billion going straight into the pockets of third-party Amazon Marketplace sellers.

AN INCREDIBLE POTENTIAL

With third-party sales set to grow to $41 billion by 2015, the Buy Box itself is the single biggest opportunity for online marketplace sellers today. Understanding how the Buy Box works, therefore, is critical for sellers who want to take advantage of this potentially massive market.

DON’T MISS OUT

82% of Amazon website sales today go through the Buy Box, and this number greatly increases with Amazon mobile sales. It is vital for sellers to understand how Amazon determines who acquires this coveted spot as it can really make or break an online business. We do NOT advise sellers to attempt to beat  the Buy Box or reverse engineer its calculations. Instead, over the next few weeks we’ll provide you with all the information you need to successfully work with the Buy Box, taking advantage of Amazon’s own algorithms to increase sales, maximize profit margins and outperform the competition.

This post is part of our Buy Box series. Be sure to follow our blog for the next installment!