What is Buy Box Eligible and How to Check Buy Box Eligibility Status?

For every Amazon Seller, winning the Buy Box is one of the most important tasks. But, to win the Amazon Buy Box, a seller has to be Buy Box eligible. In this article, I will cover all the aspects related to Amazon Buy Box Eligibility like ‘what is Buy Box eligible?’, ‘How to be Buy Box Eligible?’, ‘How to check Buy Box Eligibility Status?’ etc.

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Why is there no Buy Box on Amazon?

A major concern for every new seller once they have listed their products is ‘why is there no Buy Box on Amazon on my listing?’ or ‘why am I not Buy Box Eligible?’

If you have read the previous article, Amazon Buy Box – The Ultimate Guide (Part 1), you must have realized the answer by now. If not, here is the reason for no Buy Box:

1. Buy Box is assigned to every product but not every seller.
2. A seller has to be Buy Box Eligible to win the Buy Box.
3. Out of the pool of eligible sellers, one seller is selected at any given time as the Buy Box Winner.
4. As a new seller, you are yet to establish your performance and fulfil Amazon Buy Box Eligibility Criteria and so initially you will not get the Buy Box.

What is Buy Box eligible? (What does ‘Buy Box Eligible’ mean?)

Amazon Sellers who meet all the performance-based qualifying requirements of Amazon to win the Buy Box are called Buy Box Eligible (earlier known as Featured Merchant).

Buy Box Eligible status usually operates on the account but can be assigned on a category-to-category basis also.

To remain Buy Box Eligible, a seller must maintain high-performance levels. Even after a seller becomes eligible for Amazon Buy Box, low performance can result in losing the Buy Box Eligible Status.

Amazon Buy Box Eligibility Criteria

For Amazon, customer experience is of utmost priority. And so, it comes as no surprise that Buy Box Eligibility Status is primarily based on Seller Performance Metrics.

• ODR (Order Defect Rate) – ODR is based on customer feedback, A-to-Z claims, and chargebacks. Maintaining a low ODR is not only important to become Buy Box Eligible, but also to avoid Seller Account Suspension. [Read more about ODR here 👉Account Suspension due to Order Defect Rate]
• Other Seller Performance Metrics – Quality of product matters. Amazon measures it through various seller metrics like Seller Controllable Return Rate (Returns and Refunds due to product-related issues) and Product Rating given by customers among the others, which can be tracked under Seller Performance Measurement section in Dashboard.
• Customer shopping experience – Offering quality services to improve the shopping experience of customers such as the speed of delivery, delivery options and 24/7 customer service (including through the seller’s participation in FBA) affects a seller’s Buy Box Eligibility status.
• Seller Seniority and Experience – Time and experience on the Amazon selling program also contribute towards the eligibility for Buy Box.

NOTE: Only those items are eligible for Buy Box that can be shipped to the shipping address of the customer.

There are no specific guidelines to follow or performance targets to become eligible for Buy Box. In order to become Buy Box Eligible, the best policy is to maintain very high standards and try to excel in all the qualifying areas discussed above.

Maintaining high standards over time helps develop customer trust, which is important for Amazon and thus, in turn, helps you qualify to become a Buy Box Eligible Seller.

Also, the Buy Box Eligibility criteria mentioned above are subject to change over time. However, sustained seller performance and low ODR will help achieve as well as preserve a seller’s eligibility status to win the Buy Box.

How can I check the Buy Box Eligibility status? (Step by Step Process)

There are 2 ways you can check your Buy Box Eligibility Status:

1. Monitor your listings on Amazon –

This is the crudest and most straightforward method. When you see that one of your listings has won the Buy Box or that it is shown in the More Buying Choices box, it means you are eligible to win the Buy Box in that category.

2. Through Amazon Seller Central –

This is a simpler way to do the same. To see if you are Buy Box Eligible, login into your Amazon Seller Central Account and follow the below-given steps:

Step by Step process to check Buy Box Eligibility Status:

1. Click on the ‘Inventory’ tab in your Amazon Seller Central.

   

2. Select ‘Manage Inventory’.

   

3. Click on the ‘Preferences’ tab.

   

4. In the Column Display Section, there is a field for ‘Buy Box Eligible’. Enable this if not already enabled and click on ‘Save Changes’ at the bottom.

   

5. Now, when you check a particular SKU, the ‘Buy Box Eligible’ column will show ‘Yes’ if you are eligible for Buy Box for that product and ‘No’ if you are not.

   

Being Eligible for Buy Box does not ensure that you will win the Buy Box. It only suggests that you are among the Sellers who are eligible for Buy Box. To actually win the Buy Box, you will now compete with all Buy Box Eligible Sellers for that product.

How to be Buy Box Eligible?

If you are not already eligible, strive to improve your seller performance metrics. In order to fulfil the Buy Box Eligibility Criteria and achieve Buy Box Eligibility Status, you must improve your Order Defect Rate and other Seller Performance Metrics.

This can be done by following the best practices advised by Amazon:

1. [Most Important] Ensure Low ODR (Order Defect Rate) – Ensure that your products are not defective. Also, make sure the packaging is appropriate and follows Amazon’s Packaging Guidelines to avoid any issues cropping up in transit.
2. List Accurately – Accurately listing your products can avoid customer confusion and false expectations. Select the Titles, Descriptions, and Categories for your products carefully and properly select the product conditions to avoid any kind of confusion at the customer’s end. Make sure the product images are of high quality and clearly display what the product looks like.
3. Ship on Time – Timely shipping is important, especially during the festive seasons. Every buyer expects their order to be delivered latest by the Estimated Delivery Dates. So,
   • Ensure that you are shipping the products with enough time to meet or beat the estimated delivery dates and then Confirm Shipment to avoid any unnecessary canceled orders.
   • If you are aware that meeting the estimated delivery dates deadline is not feasible for any order, notify your customer straight away. That holds even for the issues outside of your control (for example, a natural disaster or carrier issue). This will help establish customer trust and also prevent negative feedback.
4. Ship Accurately – Ensure that you are shipping the right product if you want to be eligible for Amazon Buy Box. Timely shipping alone is not going to work if your customer ends up receiving the wrong product and leaves a negative review for you on Amazon. Establish reliable fulfillment and shipping procedures to ensure such mistakes do not happen.
5. Communicate with your customers – Communication is the key. Communicate with the customer throughout the process and keep them updated about the status of their order.  There is nothing more frustrating for a customer than not knowing the status of their order. Let your customer know when there are any changes to the order status, especially if the order is getting delayed for any reason. Respond to customer requests and updates to the order swiftly. Right communication at the right time will help build customer trust, often even under the wrong situations.
6. Provide Excellent Customer Service – Provide post-transaction support (refunds, returns, and exchanges) to help ensure customer satisfaction. This will not only create goodwill for your brand or store but also help in reducing the chances of negative reviews which is extremely important to ensure you are buy box eligible.

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Conclusion

Being Buy Box Eligible does not guarantee that you will win the Buy Box. It is only the first step. But, a crucial one!

Unless you are Buy Box Eligible, you cannot win the Buy Box.

Here’s a quick summary of how to become buy box eligible:

• Make sure you are selling authentic products,
• Have proper fulfilment process in place to ensure correct and timely shipping,
• Connect with your customers. Provide timely updates and follow up, and
• Strive to give the best customer service.

This will help you build customer trust and satisfaction. And, for Amazon, nothing is more important than keeping its customers happy.

Exact Buy Box Eligibility requirements may change over time but as long as you can maintain high performance with respect to customer satisfaction, you should be in a safe place.

What Next?

Next in this series of Ultimate Guide on Buy Box is How to Win Buy Box on Amazon.

It covers all 5 important factors for winning the Buy Box in depth along with tips and strategies that can help you perform better wrt to those factors. I will also touch upon how to get more feedbacks and avoid & deal with negative reviews. Read to know more

👉How to Win Buy Box on Amazon – Part 3: The Ultimate Guide on Amazon Buy Box

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