Amazon wants sellers to give customers the best possible shopping experience. With that aim in mind, they have enforced performance-based requirements upon sellers that will help them to qualify for more sales. In this presentation, you will discover: - The essential metrics for winning the Amazon Buy Box - What Amazon expects from its marketplace sellers - How to increase your seller metrics - How data will help online sellers make informed decisions on pricing and performance - The future of the Amazon Buy Box

1. HOW TO WIN
THE AMAZON BUY BOX

2. Lisa Byrne
eCommerce Specialist
XSellco
Welcome!

3. The importance of the Buy Box

4. 82% of purchases on Amazon are made via the Buy Box
Future is mobile with only one option to buy - from the
Buy Box winner
Black Friday 2016: Mobile accounted for 36% of total
online sales, translating to $1.2 billion in US
Importance of the Buy Box

5. ★ CUSTOMER SUPPORT
★ FEEDBACK
★ FULFILLMENT
★ PRICING
★ GET WITH THE DATA
Contents

6. Amazon performance metrics

7. Amazon metrics: minimum targets
Customer
➔ Seller Rating: >90
➔ Stock Level: meet demand
➔ Contact Response Time: <24
hr
➔ Perfect Order Percentage
(POP): >95%
➔ Order Defect Rate (ODR)<1%
➔ Pre-fulfillment cancellation
rate
➔ Late Shipment Rate
➔ Valid Tracking Rate
➔ Return Dissatisfaction Rate
(RDR)
➔ Customer Service
Dissatisfaction Rate (CSDR)
Feedback
➔ Feedback Score: sum of all
feedback - Negative
feedback must be <5%
➔ Feedback Count: total
number of customers who left
feedback. Highest number
possible.
➔ Order Defect Rate (ODR): <1%
Fulfillment
➔ Shipping Time: as promised
➔ Order defect rate: < 1%
➔ Pre-fulfilment cancel rate:
< 2.5%
➔ Late shipment rate: < 4%
➔ On-Time Delivery: >9
➔ Valid Tracking Rate: >95%

8. Customer Metrics

9. Customer metrics
➔ Seller Rating: >90
➔ Stock Level: meet demand
➔ Contact Response Time: <24 hr
➔ Perfect Order Percentage (POP): >95%
➔ Order Defect Rate (ODR): < 1%
➔ Pre-fulfillment cancellation rate: < 2.5%
➔ Late Shipment Rate: < 4%
➔ Valid Tracking Rate: >95%
➔ Return Dissatisfaction Rate (RDR)
➔ Customer Service Dissatisfaction Rate (CSDR)

10. Seller rating
Target: As close to 100 as
possible, +95 recommended.
Definition: The level of customer
experience you provide, scored
on a 0 to 100 scale. Each of your
orders in the last 365 days is
assigned a score, called an
Order Quality Score
Impacting factors: The most
recent orders have the greatest
impact on your overall score
Impacting factors
➔ Feedback
➔ Perfect Order Percentage
(POP)
➔ Order Defect Rate (ODR)
➔ Pre-fulfillment cancellation
rate
➔ Late Shipment Rate
➔ Valid Tracking Rate
➔ Return Dissatisfaction Rate
(RDR)
➔ Customer Service
Dissatisfaction Rate (CSDR)
Need to know:
● Perfect orders score: 100
points
● Loss of points for a problem
● A late shipment: 0 points
● A-Z claims can result in a
negative score of -500
● For multiple issues, the most
significant problem is
counted
Calculate the rate: Total order
quality scores for last 365 days ÷
Total orders

11. Stock Level must meet demand
Implications for Buy Box: Amazon won’t award the Buy Box
to a seller with not enough stock to meet potential demand
Threat to Seller Rating - customers will leave negative
feedback if the sale is cancelled: Pre-fulfillment cancellation
rate
Stock level

12. Contact response time
Definition: Sellers must respond to
customer queries within 24 hours
as per Amazon Service Level
Agreement (SLA)
Minimum target: 90% of
responses need to be sent within
24 hours, including weekends
and holidays
Calculate: average response
times over 7, 30 and 90 days,
comparing your speed to your
competitors
Need for speed: Customers who
receive a response within the 24
hour guidelines leave 50 percent
less negative feedback
compared to those who receive
a later response.
Threats: If you have responded
to 10% of customer queries late,
you are at risk of losing eligibility
for the Buy Box.
Future: Trends toward real-time
responses
Tip:
➔ Use templates to speed up
responses on your most
common queries - cut
response times in half with
a minimum of 5.

13. Return dissatisfaction rate
Definition: Valid return requests that have not been answered
within 48 hours, incorrectly rejected, or received negative
feedback.
Customer expectation: The ability to return purchases, and receive
a prompt response and fast resolution.
Aim: Reduce negative feedback, disputes and claims.
Tips:
➔ Speed up response times
with templates
➔ Reduce negative
feedback: reach out to the
customer by taking a
human approach -
apologize, listen, work to
resolve the issue. When
resolved, ask the customer
or Amazon to remove the
negative review.

14. Customer Service Dissatisfaction Rate
Definition: The percentage of
customers dissatisfied with your
responses.
Function: Amazon created these
metrics to help sellers identify
performance strengths and
weaknesses.
Penalties: Currently, there are no
account penalties associated
with these measures but it is likely
there will be in future.
Amazon Monitoring: Amazon
surveys customers to assess their
experience with your service.
Download survey responses to
improve your service.
3 Tips:
1. Craft the perfect response
2. Personalize your responses
3. Use listings to anticipate
customer needs

15. The branded approach to winning the Buy Box
Having a known brand allows
sellers to easily cross-sell and
upsell through follow-up
messaging.
Recommend other products
related to a customer’s previous
purchases in your thank you
email, and personalize the
experience even further
Amazon cross-selling: ‘More from
this seller’
Customers search for brands
when seeking items that they
associate with a company
Implications for the Buy Box
Amazon's algorithm is rewarding
sellers who drive traffic to their
Amazon store from other
channels - Amazon expert and
entrepreneur, Ezra Firestone

16. Feedback Metrics

17. Feedback metrics
Feedback
➔ Feedback Score: sum of all
feedback - Negative
feedback must be <5%
➔ Feedback Count: total
number of customers who
left feedback. Highest
number possible.
➔ Order Defect Rate (ODR):
<1%
Positive feedback is essential to
selling more and increasing
profits.
1 in 10 Amazon customers leave
feedback.
Amazon encourages sellers to
request feedback
- Don’t directly ask for
positive feedback
- Don’t offer incentives for
positive review
Tips:
1. Be smart with your timing
2. Be selective of who you ask
3. Choose the right products
4. Go above and beyond
5. Anticipate customer needs
Like a pro: Check out your
competitors’ feedback to identify
any potential issues with products
and resolve problems before they
occur.

18. Reverse negative feedback

19. Fulfillment Metrics

20. Fulfillment metrics
Fulfillment
➔ Shipping Time: as promised
➔ Order defect rate: < 1%
➔ Pre-fulfilment cancel rate:
< 2.5%
➔ Late shipment rate: < 4%
➔ On-Time Delivery: >97%
➔ Valid Tracking Rte: >95%
Reduce the risks of an A-Z claim
1. Ship promptly using a
reliable shipping company
2. Use tracking on all orders -
provide the buyer with
these details on dispatch
confirmation.
3. With high value items,
request signature
confirmation with the
tracked delivery, or insure
the postage.
Methods of Fulfillment
FBA - Fulfillment by Amazon
FBM - Fulfillment by Merchant

21. Fulfillment by Amazon
Benefits of FBA
1. Save space - scale your business with Amazon’s facility to store large quantities
2. Save time - Amazon pick, pack and post orders to customers
3. Increase sales - two thirds of FBA sellers saw a 20% increase in sales on Amazon US
4. Win the Buy Box - Amazon assumes a perfect score for FBA orders
5. Access Prime members - 73% buy 2-3 times per month
Downside to FBA
Fees - paying to store products that aren’t selling - storage cost potentially higher than
product value

22. Fulfillment by Merchant
Steps to fulfillment for FBM sellers
1. Amazon notification of sale
2. Order dispatch - 2 days to dispatch - must confirm dispatch with Amazon
3. Packing -
Interior: Packing slip, company contact information, professionally presented and
carefully wrapped.
Exterior: Labelling ‘Your Amazon [region] Marketplace Order’ on the outside of each
package. Clearly print shipping address.
4. Confirm Shipment : inform customer of method of shipment and tracking details.
Include the ‘Ship from’ address in the shipment confirmation message

23. Pricing
Think profit, not just sales

24. Price smarter than the competition
1. Target competitors at the busiest shopping times
2. Target your competitors based on your strengths
● Fulfillment: If you are competing on a product that is FBA, you can price higher than
competitors who are FBM on that product. If you and your competitors are FBA, you will
need to consider your other strengths.
● Feedback: With a higher feedback rating than your competitors, you can price higher. If
your feedback score is lower than your competitor, it would be recommended to set a
competitor rule to price below the higher performing competitor
● Seller rating: With a high seller rating, you can price your competing products higher than
the competition.
● Domestic v international shipping: If you are a domestic seller targeting domestic buyers,
you can price your competing product higher than an international competitor - buyers
are more likely to purchase from a local seller for convenience, speed and confidence in
the safe arrival of the product.
● Stock levels: Make more profit when your competitors are likely to run out of stock, - price
the competing product higher than your competitor. Amazon will not award the Buy Box
to a seller who is low on stock
● Many more...

25. Target the competition
Examples of competitor
rules in XSellco Price
Manager

26. A competitor
changes their
price on
Amazon
Amazon
notifies
XSellco of the
change
XSellco
calculates the
new price
Background
safety checks
are performed
XSellco
notifies
Amazon of the
price change
Amazon’s
Pricing Error
System checks
the new price
New price is
updated on
Amazon
How does it work?
5 Billion Times
Last Month
How does repricing work?

27. Price wars
Bust the Myth: The lowest price does not
always win the Buy Box
Repricing is not a race to the bottom.
● Ignore out-of-bound sellers
● Know your competitors pricing
trends: predict next moves
● Is the competitor eligible to win
the Buy Box?
● Optimize your chances for
maximum Buy Box share with high
performing ratings - so you don’t
have to constantly compete at
the minimum price.

28. Get with data
Get the full picture by asking the right questions
➢ Who is currently winning the Buy Box and how many times have they won?
➢ What is my pricing history on each product and at what price have I won the Buy Box?
➢ Where in the world can I sell my products for a higher profit?
➢ When should I schedule my price changes for the ultimate profit?
➢ Why am I losing the Buy Box to another competitor?
➢ How many sellers are competing on my product?
Remove guesswork from your pricing strategy - Don’t reprice blindly, make informed decisions

29. Get visibility on your
Amazon store performance

30. Check your Amazon store performance
Know how to improve
on your seller metrics
and improve your
Amazon store grade

31. Check your Amazon store performance
XSellco eCommerce
experts can help with a
free analysis on how
your products are
performing to win the
Buy Box

32. Every metric is achievable

33. Thank you!
www.xsellco.com
@xsellco