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10 Types Of Facebook Ads D2C Businesses Can Use To Grow Sales (With Examples)

Facebook – the social media giant became a household name around the world in the mid-2000s. Back then, it was used primarily by people to connect with friends and family, share updates, and stay informed about each other’s lives. But with billions of active users, it soon became a hotspot for businesses, particularly in the D2C domain. D2C businesses of all sizes started to establish their presence on Facebook and attract this ocean of users to their websites.

One marketing strategy in the Facebook ecosystem that has proven to be quite a hit amongst D2C businesses is ‘Advertising’. With a plethora of ad formats available, savvy D2C marketers have started using Facebook advertising extensively to grow their sales and boost brand awareness.

So what are the most sought-after types of Facebook ads that successful marketers use to drive clicks and generate revenue? And how do E-commerce advertisers ensure that their ad reaches the right audience? Find out the answers in this post.

Why Advertise On Facebook?

There are several compelling reasons why you must consider advertising on Facebook. Here are the top ones –

In the first quarter of 2023, there were 2.98 billion active users on Facebook. That’s 2.98 billion people you can hope to reach via Facebook advertising – a monumental number of target audiences to tap into even for an established D2C business.
Facebook’s advanced targeting capabilities enable a marketer to reach highly specific audiences. You can pick a group of individuals to target based on factors such as age, gender, location, interests, and behaviours. The benefit of this is that you can create highly targeted campaigns that are more likely to resonate with your target audience.
Compared to traditional forms of advertising like print or TV ads, Facebook advertising is a lot more affordable and cost-effective. You can set your own budget and choose from a variety of bidding options. It ensures that you get a very high ROI for your ad spend.
Facebook also offers detailed insights into the performance of your ad campaigns. You can monitor metrics such as impressions, clicks, and conversions 24X7. This will help in optimizing your campaigns and achieve better results over time.

Six Facebook Advertising Formats You Should Know

There are different types of Facebook ads that you can adopt to reach your target audience. Here are six of the most common formats along with some of the best practices you can adopt to succeed:

Single Image Ad Format

A single image format allows you to promote your products using a single image. These ads are quite popular among businesses because they are easy to create and can be very effective in grabbing the customer’s attention. Here is an example of a single-image Facebook ad –

Best Practices

Since your entire ad revolves around a single image, make sure the creative you choose is visually appealing and relevant to your ad goal.
Use concise and compelling copy that gets straight to the point. Convey most of your message through the image.
Do not ignore the aspect ratios of the image. More importantly, make sure your image doesn’t get stretched or cut off at important places. The recommended aspect ratio is between 9:16 to 16:9. Both PNG and JPEG are supported.

Single Video Ad Format

This type of Facebook ad uses a single video to promote your brand or products. A video ad can convey a lot more information than an image in a short span. However, they are quite time-consuming to create. They are ideal for demonstrating how a product works or even showcasing its different features and benefits.

Best Practices

Keep your video length less than 15 seconds.
Make sure you captivate the users within the first few seconds of the video.
Pick a visually appealing thumbnail image that accurately represents the content of your video.

Carousel Ad Format

This ad format lets you showcase multiple images or videos within a single ad post. This type of ad is ideal for promoting multiple products, features, or benefits in a single ad, or to tell a story across multiple images. Here is an example of a Facebook carousel ad

Best Practices

Make sure each card in your carousel ad flows logically and builds on the previous one.
Start with a hook and accompany the text with attractive images
Create multiple CTAs, multiple catchy headlines, and descriptions for all the cards. This will increase the chances of garnering a click.

Slideshow Ad Format

This ad format is similar to the video ads. The only difference is that slideshow ads comprise 3-10 images that play like a video. It is ideal for those looking to showcase their product with motion and sound but don’t have access to video content. Here is a slideshow video ad format –

Best Practices

Incorporate motion between your images to make them as appealing as a video. This can include panning, zooming, or fading in and out.
Insert music to make it more engaging to your target audience.
Add text overlays to your images to communicate your message.

Collection Ad Format

It’s a mobile-only ad format that contains a cover image or video, followed by several product images displayed in a grid format. This is a great way to showcase a collection of related products as it offers an immersive transition from ad to product page. However, this ad format is only available on mobile devices.

Best Practices

Fill your catalogue with a variety of products. Allow Facebook to choose the products from the list.
Pick a set of products that fit a specific theme or category. For example, it could be a seasonal collection or a product line with a shared design aesthetic.
Experiment with different covers and product images to see which ones perform best. Use that as the main image or video.

Stories Ad Format

These are full-screen, vertical ads that appear in between user-generated stories on Facebook. They are ideal for brands looking to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and boost engagement. These ads offer a more immersive, interactive experience compared to other ad formats. They also offer a lot more freedom of expression as you can experiment with different video effects in this.

Best Practices

Optimize your images and videos to be used on a full screen.
Keep the pace of your stories quick, so that users are not bored.
Many users watch stories with the sound turned off, so make sure your ad works both with and without sound.

10 Types Of Facebook Ads To Win Customers

You can create different types of ads on Facebook serving different purposes. The right one can make all the difference in the success of your advertising campaign. Let us explore the 10 types of Facebook ads that can help you win customers and grow your business.

Lead Ads

Lead ads are usually created to gather contact information for future marketing efforts. These types of Facebook ads are best suited for businesses looking to generate leads and revenue. These ads typically lead users to a form, which allows businesses to collect valuable information like name, email address, phone number, etc. Interestingly, this form is usually pre-populated by Facebook, making it extremely easy for users to submit their information.

Dynamic Ads

Dynamic ads are quite similar to remarketing ads. These types of Facebook ads allow marketers to promote products based on the browsing history of the user. Once your product catalogue is linked to Facebook and the pixel is installed on your E-commerce site, these ads start getting displayed to your website visitors when they log into Facebook. They will see the ad for the same products they were browsing on your website, making the ad extremely personalized and relevant.

Messenger Ads

These types of Facebook ads allow you to reach users directly on their Facebook Messenger inbox. Upon clicking the ad on their inbox, a Facebook conversation with your page will be initiated. You can also create automated chat experiences that answer common sales questions about your products without users leaving the Messenger app.

Facebook Instant Experience Ads

Instant Experience ads are highly interactive ads that are restricted only to mobile devices. Previously known as Canvas ads, these ads offer an immersive experience where people can watch captivating videos, view photos, swipe through carousels, explore lifestyle images with tagged products, all within a single ad.

Boosted Post Ads

A boosted post looks exactly like a regular Facebook post but with a Sponsored note on the top. Whenever you are creating a post for your page, you will be given the option to boost the post. Enabling this will amplify your post’s reach among your targeted audience and increase the likelihood of engagement and improve brand awareness.

Page Like Ads

If you want to garner more likes for your Facebook page, this is your best ad choice. These ads have a CTA that allows users to like your page. To promote, all you have to do is click on the Promote button on your Facebook page. These ads appear in the Facebook News Feed and can be targeted to specific audiences. Page Like ads are a great method to increase your followers when you are just starting your brand.

Website Traffic Generation Ads

The primary goal of these Facebook ads is to promote your own website by sending Facebook users to your landing pages. You can target specific users using lookalike audiences so that only relevant audiences reach your landing page. These ads can also be optimized for key campaign objectives, such as website traffic or landing page views.

Abandoned Cart Retargeting Ads

Cart abandonment is a plaguing issue for E-commerce businesses. The best way to counter this is through retargeting ads. You can run personalized Facebook retargeting ads aimed at people who visited your site and added products to the cart but never completed the checkout process. These ads usually offer an incentive such as discounts or free shipping.

Customer Thank You Ads

A thank you ad is usually created by businesses that believe in direct selling marketing tactics over traditional methods such as showcasing their products and highlighting their benefits. Such types of Facebook ads generate a better impact as users can emotionally connect to such messages.

New Product Ads For Existing Customers

As the name suggests, these ads are sent to your existing customers on Facebook when you launch a new product. Their goal is to generate additional sales and encourage repeat purchases. Since the customers are already aware of your brand, you can put all your focus on the product and its benefits instead of talking about your brand.

Expert Tips For Great Facebook Ads

Creating great Facebook ads requires a combination of creativity, strategy, and knowledge of the platform’s features. Here are some expert tips to help you in creating these ads –

Acquire New Customers With Custom and Lookalike Audiences

Custom Audiences and Lookalike Audiences are Facebook features that allow you to create ads relevant to a specific group of people. Custom audiences can be created with the help of users’ past interactions with your brand or by using email lists or phone numbers. Lookalike Audiences allow you to target users who are similar to your existing customer base. To create Custom Audiences, you can upload your customer data to Facebook and create a target audience based on that data. Both these features help you create personalized ad campaigns catering to your buyer persona. This can increase the effectiveness of your advertising and drive more sales.

Target Potential Shoppers Who Are Dissatisfied With Your Competitors

Keep tracking users who have engaged with your competitors’ pages or posts. Some of them will be dissatisfied with their product quality or customer. Focus on them and create different types of Facebook ads that highlight your USP. Encourage them to switch to your brand. To target these users, all you have to do is create custom audiences based on people who have engaged with your competitors’ pages, groups, or posts. The chances of converting these users are higher than attracting new users because these users are already in the market searching for similar products.

Use A Conversion Pixel To Track And Retarget Cart Abandonment Activity

By using a conversion pixel you can track and retarget users who visited your website including those who have abandoned their carts. When you target them you can recover lost sales. A conversion pixel is a small piece of code that is placed on your website. It tracks user activity, including when a user adds a product to their cart but does not complete their purchase. With this data, you can use an ad to remind users about the product they were interested in and encourage them to complete the purchase. These users are more likely to convert as they have already shown interest in your products.

Consider Your Facebook Ad Placements

While creating and publishing different types of Facebook ads, carefully consider the different placements available on Facebook. Each ad placement has its own share of advantages and disadvantages, and you must evaluate them carefully by considering your target audience and advertising goals. For instance, in-feed ads are highly effective for increasing brand awareness and engagement while stories ads are a great choice for reaching younger audiences.

A/B Split Test Each New Facebook Ad Campaign

It doesn’t matter what types of Facebook ads you create, it is important to A/B test them. Create text and image variations and test them with a pilot campaign to see which combination generates maximum impact. You can also experiment with the targeting options and placements.

Use Graph Search and Audience Insights

Facebook’s Graph Search allows you to search for specific keywords and phrases related to your industry. It’s a great way to see what content and products are most widely shared by your target audience and your competitors. On the other hand, the Audience Insights feature unlocks a treasure trove of demographic, behavioural and interest data on Facebook users. Both these tools feed you with great insights into your target audience and highlight different opportunities for growth using advertisements.

The Final Word

Facebook ads can be a great choice for D2C businesses looking to bolster their sales and grow their online brand. By selecting the right ad format and targeting the right audience, you can see promising results in your advertising campaigns.

However, creating Facebook ads and managing them can be time-consuming, which is where a reliable E-commerce growth partner like ANS Commerce can help. We provide expert guidance and end-to-end support in creating and executing successful Facebook ad campaigns, ensuring that you can focus on what you do best while still achieving all your growth goals.

Ready to take your D2C business to the next level? Consider partnering with ANS Commerce today. Book a demo now!

Amazon SEO: How to Rank For Searches On Amazon

Amazon has become the go-to E-commerce marketplace for businesses and consumers alike. More and more businesses have started using Amazon as their primary sales channel due to its vast customer base, strong reputation, and convenience in selling their products. This also means that it has become extremely important to optimize your product listings for Amazon search so that it appears above other sellers.

In this article, we will dive deep and understand how Amazon SEO works and the different ways to improve your product rankings on Amazon.

Understand How Amazon Search Works

Amazon’s search is quite similar to other search engines like Google in most aspects. For example, it enables users to search for products by entering keywords or phrases in the search bar that can be found at the top of the Amazon website and mobile app.

Amazon uses A10 algorithm to process search queries

Whenever a user enters a search query on Amazon, its in-built search algorithm, called the A10 algorithm, will process the query instantly and return a list of all the relevant products matching the keywords. Users are also given the option to sort and filter the results based on various factors such as price, brand, ratings, and other category-specific factors.

Here is how the search result looks for “laptop query” on the Amazon website

What Is Amazon’s A10 Algorithm?

The A10 algorithm is the logical successor of the popular A10 algorithm of Amazon. Based on powerful and proprietary technology, the A10 algorithm gauges various factors of product listing, including product description, the images used, embedded keywords, product title, and many more to determine the rank for each product.

Now, Amazon A10’s primary goal is to help buyers shop. Hence, it will prefer high-performing ANIS over others. That is why your product must convert well for customer queries. We will talk more about how you can optimize for Amazon SEO later.

Amazon’s A10 Algorithm Example

Here is an example of how Amazon’s A10 algorithm works –

A customer enters the query “Tennis Racquet” in the Amazon search bar. The A10 algorithm instantly processes the two keywords and begins to match them with all the indexed products in the catalog. It checks whether the keywords “tennis” and “racquet” are present in the product title and description. It then checks the sales history of the product, customer reviews, and performance of the brand over time.

Finally, it includes all the relevant products in the search results and also considers the customer’s browsing and purchase history to display relevant products.

What factors influence Amazon A10’s search rankings?

Here are two major factors that influence product ranking on Amazon –

Product: The A10 algorithm analyzes how relevant your product is to the user’s search query. To gauge the relevancy, it checks for the keywords in the title and description of the product.

Performance: The A10 algorithm analyzes the performance of your product and the brand. Key performance parameters include pricing, sales history, click-through rates, and conversion rates.

In the next section, let us see in detail how to improve the above two factors.

Amazon SEO: How To Improve Product Rankings On Amazon?

Here are some tips to optimize the Product factor of Amazon A10 algorithm and improve its overall rankings –

1. Map the products to the correct node

Amazon uses nodes to categorize products based on their unique characteristics. Due to the presence of millions of products on Amazon, categorization becomes important because it simplifies browsing for customers. But, mapping the products to the right node is even more important for the sellers because it improves the findability of the products. Even though mapping products to the correct node might seem trivial, its importance in improving the rank of your product cannot be understated. Let us understand this with an example.

Example of how to map products to correct node on Amazon

The above product is categorized as Cars & Motorbikes > Motorbike Accessories & Parts > Helmets. Now, the category “Cars & Motorbikes” is the root node and is very generic. It also means the competition is extremely high in that category. Therefore, the chances of a new product ranking high in this category are almost nil. However, if you map it to the branch node “Motorbike Accessories & Parts” or the leaf node “Helmets”, you will have a better chance of ranking higher.

Best Practices to follow

In case you’re not sure how to categorize your product, see how other sellers have categorized similar products.
Always use your knowledge of the product’s features to decide the categorization.
Do not over-categorize. If the product matches the branch node better than the lead node, place it in the branch node.
Keep testing your categorization. Eventually, you will reach the perfect categorization for your product.

2. Optimize your Amazon product title

The product title is the first thing that customers notice about your product. It is important for you to optimize the product title and make it A10-friendly without compromising readability. It should also cover all the key elements of the product, such as:

Product Name
Brand Name
Product Type
Size
Color
Key Features
Product USP

Here is an example of an excellent product title on Amazon

You must also know which keywords to use for your product. Stuffing of the keyword is a big no. Since the title has only a fixed number of characters, you need to be frugal in your keyword usage.

Use keyword management tools to identify the most important keywords for your product. Also, keep an eye out for keywords used by other sellers selling the same product and make your own improvisations in the title.

Best Practices to follow

Use three to four keywords in your title and place them at strategic points.
Place the most relevant keyword first.
Make use of special characters as breakpoints, and then add the next keyword.
Capitalize the first letter in each word except connecting words like “in”, “and”, “for”, “the”, and “an”.
Use numbers instead of words (e.g.: 8 instead of eight)
State the number of items included, size, and color feature in the title

3. Write Amazon product features in bullet points

Amazon has been quite liberal on the product description front. It has given a considerable amount of space to write about your product and its features. But many sellers use this freedom of space to write huge paragraphs about the product. Yes, you must provide all the details about the product, but you mustn’t overwhelm the customers with too many unwanted details.

Also, using paragraphs will make it difficult for readers to consume the content. Many users like to skim through most of the features and read in detail only the ones that they really care about. We suggest using bullet points for writing product descriptions – this will make the content easy to read. Optimize your product description for your target keywords.

Here is an example of a good product description –

Example of how to write product description on Amazon

Best Practices to follow

Use a two-tiered bullet approach for writing product description.
Besides features, include the benefits of the product in the description. This will give the users a better context of how the product will fit into their daily lives.
Avoid using common adjectives like “best,” “high-quality,” “durable,” “efficient,” etc. in your product descriptions. Not only are these words overused, but they are also pretty meaningless.
Highlight the main feature or benefit of your product in the first bullet. You can follow it up with a more detailed explanation to make it comprehensible for the users.
Limit each bullet point to 500 characters.

4. Don’t forget to utilize backend search terms

We have highlighted before that it is not wise to overuse keywords in the title and description section. We also know that keywords have an important role to play in your product ranking. So what’s the best way to use keywords if we can’t utilize them fully on the product details page?

The answer is “Backend.” Yes, Amazon offers you a 250 characters space for every listing to include all your keywords. The best part is this content is not visible on the product page. You can list all the keywords that you missed in the product page. If you have many keywords, you can also upload them in .XML or .CSV files.

Best Practices to follow

Include misspelled keywords here. This will cover you for all the misspelled search queries.
Don’t repeat the keywords that you have already listed on the product page. Irrespective of the importance of the keyword, Amazon expects you to list it in only 1 place.
For backend keywords, use spaces between the keywords to separate them. No need to use commas.
Don’t use competitor names or any ASINs as keywords here.

5. Use A+ Content

A+ Content is a part of Amazon’s product description that allows sellers to share their brand story or product features with the help of rich media such as images and videos. Some sellers also use it to offer comparative product information and product setup instructions.

Besides the chance to add keywords to the A+ content, you can use the A+ content to improve your SEO score by offering a lot of additional information. This enhances the UX of your product detail page drastically, leading to improved conversions and better sales.

Here is an example of A+ content.

Best Practices

Always proofread your content before sending it for review to Amazon. It takes around 7 days to get your A+ content approved. In case of any mistakes, you have to wait another 7 days to get it live.
You can talk about your competitors in this section. This will help users compare your product and make an informed decision.
Never use any links that redirect users outside of Amazon. Amazon doesn’t allow this.

Performance Optimization Strategies for Amazon Listings

You must understand that Amazon is mainly a buying platform. Ultimately Amazon’s primary goals are sales and conversions. It values all those products with a higher propensity of getting sold and rewards them by ranking them higher. And as a seller, you must improve your sales numbers to show that you have a winning product. So here are some key Amazon SEO strategies that you can adopt to improve your sales, which, in turn, will have an impact on your product rankings –

1. Keep a competitive price

When determining the price for your product, it is crucial to take into account the prices of similar products offered by your competitors. Your goal should be to either match or beat the competition’s prices, and even consider lowering them more for higher sales.

If you price your product higher than your competitors, Amazon’s algorithm will automatically deduce that it won’t sell as many as others. It will push your listing to the bottom of the SERP. Interestingly, Amazon also uses pricing as one of the key factors to award Buy Box to the seller.

Want to know more about Amazon Buy Box? Check out our guide on – How to Win the Amazon Buy Box in 2023

2. Ensure that you have sufficient inventory

You need to ensure that you have sufficient inventory levels all the time. If you do not have enough stock, you will not be able to fulfill orders on time. You must remember that Amazon wants purchases to happen. The last thing it wants is a customer visiting a product page with no stock or limited stock resulting in no order placement. That’s why Amazon consistently ranks products with sufficient inventory higher over those with little or no inventory.

3. Gain positive reviews and ratings

As a customer, one will always prefer a product that’s liked by others. It gives them social proof that this product is reliable and is working fine. As a seller, you need to work on getting positive reviews for your brand and for your product. Positive reviews can drastically improve your visibility in search results. It can give an impression that your product is popular, leading to a higher chance of conversion.

4. Set up warehouses in all 4 locations (North, East, West & South)

When you have warehouses in all four corners of the country, your shipping speed drastically improves, as you can ship items from the warehouse closest to the customer. For inventory management at each location, we suggest looking at buying patterns & shipping data and storing more inventory where most of your customers are located. It will avoid stockouts, thereby improving product availability for your customers.

5. Use Amazon PPC to increase sales

Amazon Pay-Per-Click is an advertising program that allows you to bid on keywords and display your products in the sponsored search results section. This is a great way to boost your visibility, especially if you are unable to improve your search rankings. You can target very specific keywords, products, and customer segments to ensure that your products always reach the right audience.

6. Adopt Amazon’s DSP ads

Amazon’s DSP (Demand Side Platform) ad is another effective way to boost your sales. With these ads, you can reach customers through targeted and data-driven ads by leveraging Amazon’s rich repository of customer data. DSP ads drive shoppers to your product page from outside the Amazon platform. However, these ads can be managed only by Amazon and not by sellers.

Few more Amazon search engine optimization strategies to help rank

Here are some additional ranking factors that have an impact on rankings –

1. Bring additional traffic to your Amazon product page

Bringing additional traffic to your product page is all about directing customers from other sites to your product page or brand store on Amazon. This will generate more traffic and sales to your product, which will ultimately have a positive impact on your rankings. You can also drive traffic to your Amazon page through PPC ads, email marketing, and social media campaigns.

2. Ship through FBA

Fulfillment by Amazon lets you store your products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers. Also, Amazon will handle the shipping and customer service process for such products. Using Amazon fulfilled shipping not only ensures timely delivery but also increases your chances of ranking higher on SERP results and winning Amazon buy box.

3. Use brand names in your Amazon product listings

When you use brand names in your product listing, it can establish credibility in the minds of your potential customers. It can also help them in finding the product through Amazon search. Adding the brand name also differentiates your product from your competitors, making it more recognizable. A word of caution, you must use your brand accurately and legally. The last thing you want is to get into a legal issue.

Is there anything I shouldn’t do with Amazon SEO?

Here are some major no when it comes to Amazon SEO –

Do not copy content from other listings or websites. Plagiarism can result in penalties and affect your rank negatively.
Do not use irrelevant keywords in your listing. Make sure you select appropriate keywords for your product to rank.
Do not ignore Amazon’s guidelines for product listings. Doing this will result in penalties or the removal of your listing.
Do not use blurry or low-quality images. It can make your products appear less desirable, resulting in lower conversions and poorer rank.
Do not ignore the backend keywords, as this is the best way to add all the relevant keywords for your product listing.
Do not ignore reviews and ratings, as they are one of the key factors in determining your product listing’s rank.

Navigating third-party marketplaces like Amazon can be challenging for E-commerce businesses without the right knowledge and expertise. If you’re having trouble maximizing your sales and profits on Amazon, ANS Commerce can help.

Our team of experts will offer you comprehensive marketplace management services, including account setup, optimization, management, and ROI-driven performance marketing. With our support, you can establish a strong brand presence and increase your sales potential on the platform.

If you need further help in setting up and optimizing your Amazon marketplace, reach out to us by booking a demo.

FAQs About Ranking On Amazon

How often does the Amazon search ranking get updated?

Amazon updates its search rankings on an hourly basis. But for a new listing to come up in the ranking, it can take anywhere between 24 to 48 hours.

What are some of the best Amazon SEO tools you can use?

Some of the popular Amazon SEO tools include Amazon Pi, Helium 10, Ahrefs, SellerApp, and AMZOne.

What is the Amazon SERP?

Amazon SERP(Search Engine Results Page) is the search results page that a user sees after submitting a search query on Amazon.

What is Amazon’s Featured Offer? And how does it work?

Amazon’s Feature Offer is nothing but your Amazon buy box. It is a section on the product details page that enables customers to add the product directly to their cart with a single click. The Feature Offer works by assembling products from different sellers, identifying which of those among them are reliable and offer the best deals, and finally, recommending that seller and offer as the default purchase option in the product details page.

Does Amazon A+ content affect SEO?

The short answer is Yes. A+ content does affect your SEO score. After all, it is an additional space for you to embed relevant keywords around the product. Also, the rich images help by offering more information to the customer. This can improve conversions, drive sales, and hence a better SEO score later on.

How to Win the Amazon Buy Box in 2023?

The Buy Box is the holy grail for Amazon sellers. It’s your key to unlocking better sales and improved visibility on the platform. Unfortunately, with ever-changing algorithms and intense competition, winning Amazon Buy Box has become a daunting task. Still, with the right strategies and persistence, it is possible to secure the buy box position for your products.

In this article, we will discuss how the Amazon Buy Box algorithm works when you are a distributor (selling the same product with other sellers) and explore strategies on how you can win Buy Box in 2023. We will also see if there is anything different if you are the only seller of the product. Let’s dive right in.

What is the Amazon Buy Box?

The Buy Box is the section on Amazon’s product detail page that allows shoppers to add the product to their cart with one click. In the desktop view, the Buy Box is located above the fold on the right side of the page. Here is how it looks:

Here is how Amazon buy box looks on desktop

The Buy Box appears just below the product image and the main product details section for mobile. Here is how it looks on mobile:

Here is how Amazon buy box looks on mobile screen

The Buy Box is available to only one seller at a time. Only those that provide the best customer experience, as determined by Amazon’s algorithm, are selected for the Buy Box position. Other sellers will appear as a clickable list below the Buy Box, which is less visible to customers and can result in decreased sales.

Why is Winning Amazon Buy Box important?

Winning the Amazon buy box increases your chances of successful sales by 4 times. Studies suggest 82% of all purchases go through Amazon’s Buy Box. The number is even higher for mobile.

A presence in Buy Box will skyrocket your Amazon sales and bolster your visibility in no time, as your offer will be the default option for customers to purchase.

Also, Amazon uses Buy Box metrics to evaluate seller performance. Winning the buy box also means a higher ranking on the product listing page and better ad performance. Especially for sponsored ads, as Amazon only allows sponsored ads for sellers who win the buy box.

How Amazon Buy Box Works?

The Buy Box is based on Amazon’s proprietary algorithm that:

Assembles products from different sellers.
Identifies which seller is the most reliable and with the best offer at the time
Recommends that offer and seller to the customer.

When allocating buy box positions for distributors, the Amazon Buy Box algorithm ensures that the sellers keep rotating from time to time to keep things fair, provided a better seller and offer emerges, whereas, if you are a sole seller, the algorithm awards you with the Buy Box if you meet all the eligibility criteria set forth by Amazon.

The Buy Box algorithm aims to ensure trusted sellers with reasonable prices and good customer service always win the Buy Box. This improves the consumer experience, resulting in repeat purchases and more orders for Amazon.

Amazon’s algorithm uses a variety of factors to decide the Amazon Buy Box seller. They include –

Price: The algorithm prefers competitively priced products. It awards Buy Box to the seller with the lowest price, provided the other factors are favorable.
Fulfillment method: The algorithm prefers products that are fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) or by Amazon’s shipping service (SFP) over FBM (Fulfilled by Merchants). It ensures that the product reaches the customer accurately and on time, resulting in improved customer satisfaction.
Seller rating: The algorithm awards Buy Box to sellers with a higher seller rating for Buy Box. The sellers with higher ratings are considered trustworthy as they offer better fulfillment and product quality.
Inventory: The algorithm prefers sellers who have sufficient stock of the product. It ensures that the seller will certainly ship the product on time without any last-minute surprises.
Sales history: The algorithm prefers sellers with an excellent sales history.
Buy Box eligibility: Lastly and most importantly, the algorithm only allows sellers with a professional selling plan and meet the basic Amazon Buy Box eligibility requirements (we will discuss this in the next section).

Amazon’s algorithm evaluates all these factors and assigns an individual score to each offer by a seller. The offer with the highest score wins the Buy Box.

Requirements for Amazon Buy Box eligibility

To be eligible for buy box, Amazon sellers in India must:

Be subscribed to the Amazon FBA plan.
Have good performance metrics, including a cancellation below 2.5%, an order defect rate (ODR) below 1%, and a late shipment rate under 4%. You can check your performance metrics on your account health page.
Sell new items. Refurbished or used products are usually not eligible for the regular Buy Box. To get the Buy Box for renewed products, you must list it as a separate product.

You can check whether your listing is Buy Box eligible in your Amazon Seller Central dashboard.

Busting Amazon Buy Box pricing myths

The biggest pricing myth regarding Amazon Buy Box is – The lowest price always wins the Buy Box.

This is not true. While having a low price is undoubtedly a critical metric considered by Amazon, it is not the only factor to determine whether you win the Amazon Buy Box or not. The algorithm considers multiple factors like seller rating, inventory, and sales history to award you the Buy Box.

In fact, having a very low price might hurt your chances as it will indicate a poor-quality product. At the same time, raising prices too high can make your offer less competitive. You should instead make minor price adjustments that can help you maintain profitability and improve your chances of winning the Amazon Buy Box. Checkout our blog on pricing strategies for E-commerce and DTC brands.

How is the Amazon Buy Box evolving? (Recent updates on Amazon Buy Box)

The way Amazon displays offers from multiple sellers in the Buy Box has undergone significant changes over time due to updates in Amazon’s algorithms and increased competition.

Recently, Amazon in Europe made a decision to change the layout of the Buy Box in order to comply with agreements made to address antitrust concerns raised by the European Commission. Under this new rule, Amazon will now prominently display the offer from the second seller on the product display page. This rule is currently only in effect in Europe; however, it may be implemented in the United States and other countries in the future.

How to win the Buy Box on Amazon in 2023?

1. Sign up for Amazon FBA

First and foremost, you need to become an FBA seller and outsource your order fulfillment to Amazon. This ensures that your products always reach the customers on time, as FBA is one of the fastest shipping options available. You need to send your products to Amazon fulfillment centers whenever a customer makes a purchase.

2. Maintain sufficient inventory

Having enough stock of the product ensures you can fulfill customer orders without delay. Also, by maintaining sufficient inventory, you demonstrate to Amazon that you’re a reliable and trustworthy seller. This can further increase your chances of winning the Amazon Buy Box.

3. Maintain a good seller rating

Amazon considers a variety of metrics to determine a seller’s rating, such as shipping time, order defect rate(ODR), pre-fulfillment cancel rate, and late shipment rate. A good seller rating is a sign that you offer a great customer experience. Long story short, ensure that you fulfill orders accurately and on time and offer excellent customer service. This can make you an attractive candidate for the Amazon Buy Box.

4. Focus on product pricing

It’s important to maintain a competitive price to increase your chances of winning the Amazon Buy Box. The price should not be set low when your performance metrics are poor, or your seller ratings are not good. If you have perfect performance metrics, you can always price your products higher and still win the Buy Box.

Here is a cheat sheet for you to win Amazon Buy Box in 2023 –

Win Amazon Buy Box with these pricing strategies

There are three popular pricing strategies that you can employ to improve your chances of winning the Amazon buy box. They are –

Rule-based repricing:

This repricing technique is all about setting up a set of rules and conditions that will automatically adjust your product prices on Amazon. The rules can be based on factors such as the prices of other sellers, your own cost of goods, and your desired profit margin. This is one of the most efficient and easy-to-adopt pricing strategies, but it doesn’t take into account real-time market conditions.

Manual repricing

As the name suggests, this repricing method is all about manually adjusting your prices based on the prices of other sellers, cost of goods, and required profit margins. This strategy is not the most efficient one, as changing rules manually can be time-consuming, but it gives you immense flexibility to change the prices according to market conditions.

Algorithmic pricing

This is probably the most effective and efficient repricing technique out of the three, as it uses advanced algorithms and machine learning techniques to analyze market data and come up with accurate pricing decisions. The only flaw with the algorithmic pricing method is that it demands a significant investment in technology and expertise.

As you can see, each of these strategies has its own pros and cons. So carefully choose a strategy based on your resources, goals, and budget. But we recommend using automatic repricing tools like Repricer, Bqool, and Seller Snap to ensure that you are pricing your products competitively.

Why am I not winning the Amazon Buy Box?

There could be several reasons why you are not winning the Amazon Buy Box depending on whether you are a sole seller or distributor on the platform.

Here are a few reasons you are not winning the prestigious Buy Box as a distributor –

Your prices are not competitive.
You are using a fulfillment method that is slower or less reliable than others.
You have low seller ratings indicating low seller performance.
You have very low stock levels and run out of stock regularly.
You fulfil orders very late.
You are not Prime eligible.

Here are a few reasons for not being able to win Buy Box as a sole seller –

You have low seller ratings indicating low seller performance.
You have poor customer ratings and reviews.
Your product details are not complete such as titles, images, and descriptions, are incomplete or inaccurate.
You have low stock levels and run out of stock regularly.
You fulfill orders very late.

Fix all the above issues to improve your chances of winning the Amazon Buy Box in 2023.

Lost Amazon Buy Box – What next?

The Amazon Buy Box is undoubtedly one of the most promising ways to improve your sales on Amazon. But if it evades you or you lose it after winning it, do not be dejected. You can still win the Buy Box by:

You can still win the Buy Box if you are a distributor:

By setting a competitive pricing
By ensuring that you deliver products on time and faster than your competitors.
By keeping your ODR below 1%.
By ensuring that you are Prime eligible.

If you are a sole seller, you can win Buy Box by:

Encouraging customer reviews and addressing any negative feedback in a timely and professional manner.
Continuously monitoring and analyzing your sales and competitors to stay ahead of the curve.
Keeping a close eye on seller rating, customer feedback and returns.

If that doesn’t work, you can always try to be present in the Other Sellers section of Amazon. Now this section might not be as prominent as the Buy Box, but you still get good visibility over sellers who are not visible at all. But remember – to feature in this section, you must still meet all the eligibility criteria of Buy Box.

Other sellers section below Amazon buy box

Managing Amazon marketplaces requires expert knowledge and a deep understanding of how the platform works. Many D2C brands and E-commerce businesses find themselves in a challenging position to optimize their sales and profitability on Amazon. As a D2C enabler, ANS Commerce can help brands like yourself, by providing comprehensive marketplace services, including account setup, optimization, and management, ensuring a strong brand presence and maximizing sales potential on the platform.

Wrap Up

By following the strategies outlined in this blog, such as analyzing pricing, improving fulfillment methods, enhancing product detail, boosting customer feedback, and increasing inventory, sellers can increase their chances of winning the Amazon Buy Box and boosting their sales on Amazon.
If you need further help on Amazon Buy Box or want assistance in setting up your e-commerce store, reach out to us by booking a demo.

Top 5 Sales Channels & Their Benefits in E-commerce Business

The E-commerce sector is expanding at a fast pace due to advancing technology and shifting customer tastes. People today are making new purchasing choices with smartphone applications, shopping websites, social media platforms and marketplaces. This is why diversifying your sales channels is essential if you want to pour sales immediately into your bucket.

Initially, new businesses might want to concentrate on a single sales channel but businesses that connect with consumers where they already spend their time are the most successful ones. So organizing a multi-sales channel plan and making a presence on various platforms can help you reach a large audience and boost sales instantly.

However, don’t hop on every sales channel that you come across. Not every platform is meant for the sales of your product. You should select the sales channels that best represent your brand and match your company’s enterprise. The most prominent sales channels are given to help you choose the ones that can meet your requirement well.

5 Important Sales Channels for your Business

Marketplaces

The use of marketplaces is a common choice for both consumers and sellers. Brands can post their items on these platforms, take care of the logistics, or let the market handle them. However, sellers must pay fees, which reduces their sales profitability.

Although most customers who use marketplaces are searching for a great deal rather than brand loyalty, they remain a significant entry point for customers. Selling on marketplaces can therefore be a beneficial addition to your sales channel plan if done sparingly.

Social Media

In spite of the fact that marketplaces facilitate huge sales, social networks are seeing a significant increase. They enable marketers to sell to their followers directly without having to go through another platform in the middle. Several social media firms have already launched integrated e-commerce channels to increase their product sales. Users can instantly view the price, and place their order for the desired goods by clicking on a picture or video.

These choices are already accessible on well-known social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Own Website

You won’t have to worry about market constraints, costs, or rules if you run your online store. Your e-commerce store is one of the greatest sales channels accessible. However, investing in it could take more e-commerce resources but the long-term rewards outweigh them. Moreover, the brand involvement makes it easier for the customers to access, rely and purchase the products from the site.

Product Comparison Site

An increasing number of products and their variety in different brands make it difficult for customers to select the one that is suitable for them. So, they dig for details on product comparison sites to get a clear idea of the desired product. The sites like Shopzilla and PriceRunner help customers get complete knowledge and also make fine choices on the product. However, these sites also play a huge role in increasing the sales of the brands as well. The distinction and benefit of this kind of channel are that the comparator connects the product directly to the pages of your website rather than acting as a middleman or as a salesperson.

Retail

When we talk about retail the first thing that comes to mind is the store. Retail is not limited to just a store but includes outlets such as pop-up shops, artisan fairs, farmer’s market booths, or even a shelf in a neighbour’s shop. Retail is a fantastic method to get your goods out there, whether you manage the store independently or whether the store owner supports your business as a distributor. The biggest benefit is that you get to interact personally with your consumers and receive real-time feedback.

Quick Tip – With multiple sales channels managing inventory and fulfillment can be a hassle. Prefer taking the help of a third party in such a case.

Benefits of Using Multiple Sales Channels

Provides Buying Flexibility

It provides an omni-channel experience to the customers allowing them to purchase the product in many ways. Customers get more alternatives to choose how and when to buy if you make it simple for them to access your goods in many ways, such as through an Instagram post or a smartphone application.

Generates More Revenue

The more channels you open, the more probable it is that new customers will find your stuff. Thus, making a presence on new sales channels can result in more opportunities to expand your business and diversify the sources of your revenue.

Drives Quality Traffic

The main objective of every e-commerce company is to focus visitors on the online store since this is the most lucrative source of income. By establishing connected sales channels, you can bring in more visitors to your website who are more likely to suit the buyer’s profile you are seeking.

Improves Customer Experience

You’ll not only attract new customers, but you’ll also give your current customers more options for purchasing your goods, thus enhancing their experience. Customers prefer having alternatives and flexibility when making purchases, and multichannel selling enables you to give them both.

Highly Cost Effective

Investing in an online store and selling through multiple sales channels is still less expensive than opening a physical store with several branches around the country. The Internet makes it more affordable and simple to expand a business globally in a world that is becoming more and more digitally interconnected.

How can ANS Commerce Help?

ANS Commerce is a leading e-commerce enabler that helps businesses create an online presence with an integration-ready proprietary brandstore service- Kartify. We are a team of experienced professionals that provide everything e-commerce to our clients and partners. Our highly customized and tailored services help brands connect with their consumers and increase sales with solutions like performance marketing, marketplace management, and warehouse and fulfillment. Once you are connected to our experts you do not have to worry about anything. Whether you are lacking resources, technology or operational front, we will handle everything for you. So request your DEMO now and enjoy stress-free growth in your business.

How to improve your marketplace sales?

A perspective by ANS Commerce in SARAL 2020 – India’s biggest virtual e-commerce summit organized by Unicommerceзаймы микрозаймы без процентов на карту

Unicommerce successfully organized SARAL 2020, India’s first-ever virtual mega e-commerce summit on 30th May 2020. The summit brought together thousands of e-commerce sellers, brands, retailers, SME’s, and enterprises on a single platform to discuss on the theme ‘How can eCommerce Selling be Simplified’. The Industry leaders shared their thoughts, ideas, and plans to enable businesses around the country to understand and find solutions to their challenges in a post-COVID-19 world.

One of the key sessions was conducted by Amit Monga, Co-founder, ANS Commerce, on ‘Optimizing e-commerce presence through marketplace and carts’. He talked about marketplace scaling and how it is vital for a new brand or any brand on its e-commerce journey to get the marketplace model right and identify core marketplaces, and long-tail marketplaces that suit a brand’s product categories.

Here’re a few highlights from his session:

In-source vs out-source: A brand needs to choose whether it wants to do its e-commerce operations in-house or outsource it to a specialist. It’s a fine balance between promoter time/ cost and speed.
Horses for the courses: Many factors such as model complexities (B2B2C, B2C, Dropship), categories, SLA levels for each marketplace, and returns management to ensure healthy sellable inventory must be kept in mind to achieve growth targets.
Amazon Easyship vs FBA: Amazon is a marketplace that has various models for any brand aiming to become a seller and how a new brand must consider what product category it is in, how it should ship its products out to the end customer, and how it should manage inventory. For instance, a new fashion brand that is just starting out should preferably choose Easyship over Amazon FBA as a marketplace as it has the flexibility to ship products to the end customers from its premises without having to worry about splitting and replicating the inventory with Amazon warehouses and can also naturally progress to Sellerflex once the brand has scaled up.

After identifying the right marketplace model, managing these four important hygiene factors is the game-changer in any market:

Catalog management is essential to optimize content such as titles, keywords, enhanced A+ content, and product descriptions as these are critical for higher ranking, better conversions, and customer experience. Utilizing the assets available in the marketplace, such as having a brandstore and performing A/B testing with the brandstore can help achieve these objectives.
Identifying the right assortment that works for which market and observing the right trends and competition benchmarking can help you set achievable goals. To forecast future growth planning, a brand needs to identify the strength of the market in terms of pricing, the level of assortment in a category, and the right inventory planning.
Payment and inventory reconciliation with the help of business analytics is essential to grow at a sustainable and profitable rate. Every brand should recognize and understand the significant cost heads for each marketplace. To ensure that a brand grows sustainably, it must make full use of the information available in analytical reports and coordinate with the category teams to curate and execute marketing plans.
Reputation management or reviews from end customers on product, seller, or service are important. One should monitor the reviews and ratings to improve the quality of products, services, and pricing.

Now it’s the time to scale

Leveraging each marketplace to scale your business

Once the right model is identified and basic hygiene is taken care of, one must have insights on how to leverage the strength of a marketplace to drive visibility and growth of business and how a business must plan its resources well to take advantage of each of these marketplace levers. For example, Amazon has a marketing platform known as Amazon Marketing Services (AMS), which the brands can use to drive CPC driven campaigns, product display ads, sponsored ads, or drive CPM promotions with category teams. Similarly, Flipkart also has its marketplace tools to improve visibility and ranking like product opt-ins. Other marketplaces such as Bigbasket, Nykaa, and Grofers have product sampling tools that help the brands to segment the right set of customers and reach out to the right target audience, which has become very crucial to surviving in the e-commerce space. These marketplaces also allow brands to run performance marketing campaigns on traffic driven websites such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat.

ANS Commerce enables execution across 15+ marketplaces and harness marketplaces’ reach while optimizing brand’s resources. We integrate all your marketplace platforms to deliver a consistent brand experience to customers everywhere and manage inventory effectively. We process orders worth >4 Cr. on marketplaces on a monthly basis.

Our full stack solution offers brands to create their online brandstore and jump start marketplace operations in no time. We use the understanding of strengths and insights of various marketplaces to power brandstore. Our extensive experience across product, ecommerce, retail and marketing help the brand achieve higher sales and stronger brand differentiation.

For more information about our marketplace offerings visit our website.

If you are a brand planning to go online then drop us an email on [email protected]