Amazon continues to be the superstar of the e-commerce world, with website traffic continuing to increase year-on-year, and estimated to be responsible for more than 10% of all online sales – worldwide.
If you are using Amazon as a route to market for your products, then it is key you understand Amazon Sales Rank (a big part of it’s core ranking algorithm) to put you a step ahead of the competition.
Amazon Sales Rank, what is it, and how does it work?
Your Amazon Sales Rank is a number between 1 (one) and 1,000,000 (one million).
Simply put, the lower your Sales Rank number, the better your Sales Rank. Your products on Amazon will all have a ranking within their subcategories, but not always within their main category.
Sales Rank helps illustrate the popularity of your product compared to similar products it shares categories with. Each products’ Sales Ranks shows how well it is selling compared to the other products in the same category over a time frame, with later sales influencing the ranking more significantly than past sales. Given this, Sales Rank can appear volatile and change quickly.
Amazon SEO’s algorithms rewards higher Sales Ranks with better product visibility for relevant keyword searches. This means that your customers will see your product more frequently, more people will buy, and this in turn will further increase Sales Rank. When a product reaches #1 Sales Rank (top spot) it will be highlighted with a special orange badge. This is a brilliant way to stand out even more, and will inevitably result in your sales skyrocketing!
What is the Sales Rank of my product?
Every Amazon product listing has an “additional information” section. Within this is an up to date Sales Rank figure (providing there have been some sales).
So how do I increase my Sales Rank?
Whilst it is an Amazon secret as to exactly how their algorithm for Sales Rank works. We know there are a few ways you can give it a boost – and get that sales flywheel turning faster and faster.
1. Content is King
The best performing products on Amazon – those with high conversion rates all share common factors when it comes to their content:
- Excellent, Hi-Res images
- Use of video to demonstrate the product and its features
- Professionally written, keyword-focused copy
If your images are grainy, or it’s not clear what your product includes, or your descriptions are written poorly, you’ll struggle to convince your customer that you are a credible seller. Review your content regularly to ensure it is supporting your sales is promoting conversions. An agency that specialises in Amazon content can guide you through the process if you it is not something you can do in-house.
2. Positive reviews build trust and sales
The more great reviews you receive, the more visible your product in search results, and the more you’ll be able to build up your Sales Rank (further increasing your positions). Whilst reviews are normally difficult to get, you can use the Vine programme offered by Amazon to accelerate the process. Amazon will send out a portion of your stock to customers free of charge, and these customers are obliged to leave you a review. This process soon pays for itself when volume sales arrive due to higher Sales Rank and better ranking in Amazon product listings. Alternatively, leave a “request a review” slip inside your packaging and offer a discount off their next purchase, or use the button in the Amazon backend to have Amazon request that review for you, via the customer’s email address, Alexa device or other means.
3. Get smarter with your pricing
Customers are often looking for offers & deals, and they will filter their search results by the price, bringing the cheapest products to the top. Alongside this, Amazon also use price to influence product rankings. High pricing in comparison to similar products in your categories will likely result in much lower visibility, whereas competitive pricing will have the opposite effect.
Pricing must be a considered decision based on multiple factors such as margins and expected sales volumes. But, as time goes on, greater sales, better rankings and more great reviews will mean prices can be raised incrementally with minimal adverse consequences.
4. Take advantage of Amazon Prime
In search results, Amazon promotes Prime listings over listings that fall outside the Prime programme. Prime offers next day (or near next day) delivery, and a host of other benefits to the customer.
If you can be part of Prime you will most certainly achieve larger numbers of sales at a more rapid rate with Amazon promoting your products above non-Prime options. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling with Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA) where you keep your stock in Amazon’s warehouse, or if you’re fulfilling the sales yourself, Prime still gives your products a massive boost.
Final thoughts on Sales Rank
Sales Rank isn’t something you can fully control. But, by making some small steps that will see your products start to sell in greater volumes, you will see Sales Rank (and the associated ranking boosts) increase, and feed back into the cycle delivering more sales and…better Sales Rank.
