Why does amazon suppress the buy box?

Did you know that 80% of sales on amazon happens through the buy box. So losing the buy box will massively reduce your chances of selling your products. It is really difficult to win the buy box in 2022 as Amazon takes into account a lot of factors including account type, product delivery time, pricing, reviews and a lot more. On top of that, even after winning the buy box, the job is not done. As a seller with so much competition, you need to be on your toes to make sure you keep the buy box. And amazon suppresses the buy box after awarding it. 
Lets first understand what does it mean when amazon suppresses the buy box.

Suppressed buy box.

If your buy box is suppressed, then you will not see the “buy now” button. However you will see the “see all buying options” which will have a list of other sellers selling the same product as well. By now you might have understood that this will reduce your chances of selling your product. Lets hop to what are the reasons why amazon suppresses the buy box.  

Factors due to which amazon suppresses the buy box or does not award it:

1: You are not selling through their FBA:

Selling through FBA increases your chances of securing the buy box. Amazon values their prime members and will push products with prime delivery option i.e. products selling through FBA.

2: Professional account:

You need to have a professional account to get a buy box for your products.  

3: New Sellers:

Amazon assesses new sellers over a 30 day period to understand if you are able to serve the customers as per their standards. New sellers do not get the buy box until enough credibility is built by them. 

3: Pricing:

You need to provide competitive pricing for your products. Amazon in most cases suppresses a listing if the pricing is too high or above MSRP. It is recommended to keep a check on your competitors pricing and regularly update your pricing on those basis.  

4: Less sales:

Under normal cases, if the sales volume is low, there is a high chance that amazon will suppress the buy box. This might be a problem for part time sellers.  

5: Listing quality:

Your listing is not optimized or is not complete. If you product listing quality is bad, amazon will definitely suppress your buy box. You can refer How to Optimize Your Amazon Product Listings to improve the quality of your listing.  

6: Account Health:

It is really important to maintain a good account health. So ensure that your seller ratings are more than 90%, order defect rate is less than 1% and there are no delays in shipping. It is really important to have positive reviews on your products since too many negative reviews will result in you losing the buy box. Tip: In case you are looking to get more positive reviews for your products, do check out FiveStar, a tool to request reviews for 1000’s of orders in a few clicks and get alerts for negative reviews too. 

Did you know that Amazon shifts the buy box in a day among multiple sellers? This is because Amazon is a customer obsessed organization and wants to make sure it gives its customers the best seller to buy the product from. Do check out how to win the buy box in 2022. It has a lot of useful insights which will help you to win the buy box. 

P.S. Happy Selling.