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As an Amazon seller, it is essential that you know some basic features of the Amazon platform. Let me introduce you to three of these features and show you their functionalities!
Amazon’s Choice
If you shop on Amazon, you may have seen this little dark “Amazon’s Choice” badge appearing on certain products when browsing the site. This badge is steadily becoming more visible – but what does it really mean?
In a nutshell, “Amazon’s Choice” is the same as saying, “Amazon recommends”. It acts as a stamp of approval which helps buyers to immediately see the one product is the “best”, instead of having to click into the individual listings to check out customer reviews.
Amazon’s Choice began as a program to support Alexa (smart voice controller) voice-operated devices. It originally served as a means to make shopping possible via these devices, and hence will just identify one product per search using voice commands. However, it soon grows to surface more and more on the Amazon website and mobile app. The badge appears as a small dark blue box, contrasting strongly with the white background, at the top left corner of product search results. Bold, eye-catching, and clearly labeled, it certainly makes the product bearing it more outstanding to Amazon shoppers.
I am still not quite sure of how Amazon chooses the products for the Amazon’s Choice badge, but there are some rough hints of how it might work, depending on the below factors: this product would normally be a bestseller in its category, is eligible for Prime delivery and generally has a lower return rate than similar products.
The Amazon Buy Box
For those new to Amazon, you may have heard of how fierce the competition is within the sellers for the Amazon Buy Box. However, what is the Buy Box, and how does it affect sales exactly?
To put it simply, the Buy Box is a feature Amazon uses to help customers select the “best” seller for each product. In this way, things are kept simple for buyers, as only one seller is highlighted for that product. Buyers can make their purchases with the expectation that Amazon has helped them choose a seller who provides a competitive price, rapid delivery, and strong customer service, etc. It’s located at the top right corner of every Amazon product page, like in the picture (highlighted in red):
The Buy Box works like this: when a customer clicks “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now”, the merchant who is in the Buy Box at that moment automatically wins the sale. Some of you may be quick to notice then – doesn’t it mean that sellers who appear regularly in the Buy Box will gain better sales than other sellers selling the same products? And the answer is definitely yes: numerous sources have shown that roughly 80% of the orders made on Amazon go through the Amazon Buy Box, and sellers have very often recounted that their sales increase dramatically when they are in the Buy Box.
Meanwhile, products that only have one seller will still have a Buy Box, but they do not have to compete with anyone else to win it. This situation applies to private label products sold under their unique brands, and direct-to-consumer brands sold only by the manufacturer or an exclusive partner. As such, many sellers have turned to creating their own private labels and own products to avoid having to compete for the Buy Box.
The Amazon Seller Central and the Amazon Vendor Central
Many Amazon sellers may be confused by the below two terms: the Amazon Seller Central and the Amazon Vendor Central. Now, which is the one should you as a seller be more concerned with, and what are the differences between the two?
Amazon Seller Central
The Amazon Seller Central is the web interface used by retailers to market and sells their products directly to Amazon’s customers. If you have a Seller Central account, you’re considered a marketplace or third-party seller. As a marketplace seller, you can fulfill your customers’ orders by choosing to handle the shipping, customer service, and returns for each individual order yourself, or you can allow Amazon to handle this for you by enrolling your products in the Fulfilled by Amazon or “FBA” program.
Amazon Vendor Central
The Amazon Vendor Central is the web interface used by manufacturers and distributors. If you sell via Vendor Central, you’re called a first-party seller. You’re acting as a supplier and selling in bulk to Amazon. Take note though, registration on Vendor Central is by invitation only.
Fundamentally, the difference between the Amazon Seller Central and the Amazon Vendor Central and Seller Central is who will be selling your products. With Seller Central, you are selling directly to Amazon’s customers, while with Vendor Central, Amazon’s retail team buys and resells your products to their customers.
