Mind your numbers!!

I admit that I am a numbers junkie! One of the reasons I love my work on setting up, optimizing and managing multiple Amazon accounts is that it allows me to feed that need. I spend a lot of my time reviewing and analyzing the numbers associated with all aspects of my clients Amazon business.

For those of you that are the manufacturer of your product and have added Amazon as a eCommerce channel, you figure that you own the "Buy Box", but as I have learned through experience, you don't!  The impact of not owning the "Buy Box" is numerous, but the key one is that it directly impacts your sales. Who/what can take the "Buy Box" from you are numerous and you need to understand these in order to determine how to correct this.

First there are your "distributors" who have decided that they have an eCommerce channel that they can take advantage of. To head this off, I recommend that if you do have Distributors that include in your agreement with them that they can't resell your products on Amazon. If the balk at this, and you really want them, then the agreement should include that they must price their Amazon sales at the same price point you have.

Second are the inventory buyers who purchase products in bulk from stores that are trying to free up inventory and/or get needed cash. They may only pick up a few or yours, but if they post them at a lower price, then you have to make the decision to lower your price or simply wait them out to sell theirs.

The third and most serious Who/What is yourself! Amazon may find that you are selling the same product at a lowe price on another eCommerce channel and you find yourself loosing the "Buy Box" in that you are still the only person on Amazon selling it, but your customers have to make an extra click to add the product to their cart. This type of situation may also impact your ad campaigns as this product is marked as "Not in Buy Box" and your ad is not serving up.

There are more reasons and impacts that you may lose the "Buy Box", but the message today is that you need to monitor your "Buy Box %" very closely as it will give you a heads up that something may be wrong and you can work to rectify it before you see an unexpected drop in sales.

Remember, it is important that you review your numbers on a regular basis to understand what is working and what needs to be worked on!

"Your products deserve their place on Amazon, the leading online marketplace"