How to Get the Amazon Best Seller Badge for your Product

For you to gain the Amazon Best Seller badge, you have to be the one who has sold a product the most in a particular category over a specific period of time. You can easily identify this badge via the small ribbon icon found in the detail page and is painted in orange.

What is the Amazon Best Seller Badge?

The Amazon Best Seller Badge is a ribbon icon that can be seen on a seller’s detail page. Generally speaking, every category is allowed to have a hundred best sellers. The more generalized a category is, the more competitors a seller will have to compete against in order to get the best seller badge. On the other hand, the more specific a category is, the lesser the competition.

It’s possible that certain categories won’t reach a hundred best sellers. Nevertheless, whatever your category may be, as long as you are one of those who are on top, you will most likely to get the badge you’ve always wanted for your item.

How to be the Amazon Best Seller

You might be wondering how to be the best seller on Amazon. Well, according to Amazon, they determine their bestsellers by calculating the sales of each of their products. Systematically, these calculations are updated on an hourly basis.

In reality, Amazon doesn’t reveal its formula to the public. Due to the fact that the Amazon top 100 sellers are changed on an hourly basis, the number one badge is only available also on an hourly basis.

When an item goes down from its status as a bestseller, as it can possibly happen instantly in one hour, and it can’t be seen on the detail page until the item gets back on top.

Being number one means that an item sold lately has been sold in more numbers compared to all the other items in the same category within a certain marketplace. For example, a product that ranks number one on Amazon UK but is number 250 on Amazon Australia will not have the Best Seller sticker on Australia’s marketplace.

Moreover, the badge is not always available as it depends on every category. If a category doesn’t provide data that’s enough for Amazon’s algorithm, no bestseller badge will be seen for an hour in that specific category.

Your status as a vendor or seller doesn’t matter when it comes to getting a badge. In fact, both 1P vendors and 3P sellers on Amazon are given the chance to get the Amazon Best Seller Logo. Note that the badge can’t display itself in the search results as it is normally seen on the detail page.

The 3Cs of Amazon Bestseller

1. Competition

A 1P vendor who does wholesale straight to Amazon is more likely to sell at a much quicker pace. By selling a large number of products to Amazon, Amazon can sell these products at a cheaper rate.

This is also true for 3P sellers who are brand-registered and are using Fulfilled by Amazon. It is Amazon’s delight to give rewards to a seller who makes business easier for them.

If you fit into these classifications and your account as a whole is in tiptop shape, you will be one of the prospering competitors. Affordable prices, Sold by Amazon, and Fulfilled by Amazon will all help you boost your sales by having more buyers. These also give you more chances of getting the Buy Box, increase your ranking, and sell more to get a shot on being a bestseller.

Furthermore, there is actually a seller you can’t compete and succeed against – Amazon. A product that has been labeled by Amazon with “Amazon’s Choice” in the same category as yours typically will have the upper hand. This product is expected to be low at a price and will be in the good hands of Amazon. This is your real competition as a seller.

The good news is, this is not yet applicable to every category, so you can still achieve the position of being a bestseller along with a badge. Just remember that your badge can be taken from you if another competitor product usurps your position.

2. Calculation

As mentioned earlier, the algorithm of Amazon for determining a bestseller is not available for the public. That said, here are some speculations about Amazon’s calculations:

• It is a possibility that Amazon calculates its algorithm based on its predictions. It may show itself as historical, but that is not the full story of that.
• Ever since the beginning, the time of sales is not based wholly on its history or even if there is a new product launch that is very low in price. The focus is actually on recency.

Amazon bestseller product is an item that sells the most based on Amazon’s algorithm. In fact, reviews will not help you get on top. The badge is only awarded depending fully on the number of sales. Just take note that even if reviews won’t help you get a badge, good reviews will still contribute significantly to your sales.

These are the realities you have to face as a seller in Amazon. Just play according to Amazon’s rules so you will have a higher rate of success.

3. Category

Categories are not created equal in Amazon. Other categories may be viewed more highly than other categories. For example, a best-seller C-pen reader is regarded more than a best-seller reading tool. For that reason, competition depends also on your category. Specific lower categories (e. g. dog brushes) will be better than higher categories (e. g. pet grooming tools).

So in your product listing, if you are a merchandiser of dog brushes and are doing your best to pursue the spot of the Best Seller, it is advised to list your item in a particular category. The category you choose should be the most marked category and also the most uncrowded category.

Moreover, you might also desire to list your item in categories that are general so that your product will be more searchable for browsing customers. The truth is, shoppers usually browse using keywords and not by categories, so sellers should be more exact with the categories they choose to attain the best seller rank. This is a paradox.

Using a weak-linked category is not ideal

It is a real temptation to list a product in a weak-linked category while pursuing the badge or the status of a best seller. For example, a portable DVD player that’s being displayed as the best seller in the lower category of “DVD player for TV support”. It’s an exaggeration to say the item actually fits there, yet the merchant placed it to get to the top along with its badge.

The seller is actually just selling the item in a general way and not to those who have browsed particularly for the item they really need. The product is also enlisted in a “portable DVD player” facing more competitors.

The following are reasons why you shouldn’t do this:

• It can mislead Amazon customers and is not justifiable. It will only leave a shopper frustrated for seeing irrelevant products. You don’t want to be that kind of seller.
• An unsatisfied customer who didn’t purchase the product before exiting a detail page can be a bad sign for an item in Amazon’s algorithm. If this happens several times and if Amazon becomes aware of this, the company will consider it as a negative.
• Amazon, in reality, counts the time once a page is opened and notices pages that are visited only in a short span of time. This occurs mostly to pages that are not actually sought for such as products under a weak-linked category. Amazon can verily count this against the item you sell as this means less profit your you and for them.
• You can’t be successful in playing games with Amazon’s system. Fortune is only at the beginning, but once Amazon finds out, they are going to catch up.

Obtaining the status of the Best Seller or the badge is not practical for your sales and ranking if you compromise your customers’ convenience. Always think about the worth of your business actions.

More tips on how to be the Best Seller on Amazon

With the information above, we already know that the “best seller” is the item that sells most in a distinct category. Thus, if a seller desires the badge, his products should be sold in great numbers.

Sometimes, the system becomes hard to understand when we find a merchant with 1000 reviews getting the badge but another merchant with 3000 reviews in a similar category and time didn’t get the badge.

To get the badge there are strategies and tricks you can follow:

• Category change
• Research keywords
• Optimizing your listing
• Know more about search links for keywords
• Continually dropping your price
• Plan for a giveaway

1. Category change

This is one of the smartest and most effective tactics to place your item in a category where your product has higher chances of being a best seller. Changing your category listing can actually make your item powerful in some way. As much as possible, your category should be different from the other many categories your competitors are using.

One product can be under so many categories, so you should list your products in several available categories without affecting your product’s relevance.

How does category change work?

To illustrate, we are going to use a lamp as an example. Think of a situation where we see a lamp for studying as the no. 1 best seller under the category “office table lamp”. This means the item perfectly fits this subcategory, and there may also be other better subcategories for this item.

The seller was very clever to place the product where it can get its spotlight. The seller also listed his product here and also in other subcategories with lesser interest (e. g. table devices, office table needs, and more).

Therefore, it is a wise move to change your product’s category to a simpler category to be a bestseller.

2. Researching keywords

Optimizing your listing and target keywords is also key to your goal of being a best seller. These factors are essential for your listing to be visible to clients. Each product can have hundreds and thousands of significant keywords. So, out of all the selections, you should wisely choose the keywords that strengthen your listing.

There are a lot of keyword finders available online, like Google Keyword Planner and other applications for example. You can make use of such software for free or pay one company for the full version.

Using these computer applications will help you see product-based keywords on Amazon. Misspellings and confusions are common to keywords, so you should wisely and carefully use them. Practically speaking, you try to search for different keywords, store them in another application, and apply them in the right way.

Take note that Amazon also has key phrases, so using a similar keyword more than once is not applicable.

For researching keywords, there are two tricks you can apply:

1. Taking advantage of keywords that are misspelled. Oftentimes customers search for items with incorrect spelling. This means that misspelled keywords could also benefit you sometimes.
2. Using your competitor’s brand name as a target keyword.

So, what will really increase the relevance of your listing? Remember that the primary aim of researching keywords is to ensure that every word you use fits in your product listing. Therefore, if a keyword doesn’t really fit in the title or description, include them in your backend or target keywords.

3. Optimizing your listing

It is necessary to carefully look at the titles, bullets, and descriptions you’ve listed. Your target should be to add keywords that possibly have the most searches and ranks that are relevant to yours. These keywords need to perfectly make sense to Amazon’s buyers.

Moreover, wisely use synonyms too so as to not repeat the same keyword over and over again. Here are a few steps for a good quality listing to become the best seller:

• Compose your title in a way that shoppers in Amazon would probably search for it the most. This means using the most searched, top-ranked, and significant keywords.
• Don’t throw away your money, effort, and the quality of your listing by duplicating keywords. For example, we are going to use a few keywords such as a computer desk, cherry finish desk, and Sauder computer desk.

A bad quality example of a title is “Cinnamon Cherry Sauder Beginnings Computer Desk, Cinnamon Cherry Finish”. Well, the better version of this title should simply be “Sauder Beginnings Computer Desk, Cinnamon Cherry finish”. In the second example, the words “Cinnamon” and “Cherry” are not repeated, making it more readable and comprehensible for your audiences.

This is how you can make your titles effective along with your descriptions so it is not hard to read and is comprehensive enough for shoppers.

4. Search links for keywords

This is a different strategy that will help in adding up to your sales. In fact, Amazon knows once a shopper searches an item and presses a listing. You can benefit from this tactic as a seller. Tracking keywords will provide you a link to know which keywords work best for your listing and give you more customers.

5. Continually dropping your price

Pricing is also a big factor that affects your status as the best seller. A more reasonable and affordable price will always be on top of the market. Therefore, decide on your prices smartly. Also, cheaper products usually get your customers’ attention and will help improve your rank.

6. Plan for a giveaway

This sometimes is better compared to lowering your prices. This is another strategy you can apply to get the badge without having to compromise your reputation. Begin sending out giveaways in little amounts at least five times a day.

Slowly, you can then progress to increasing your giveaways. It can be 10 items on the next day, 15 items on the third day, and so on. Consistency in this area gives Amazon’s algorithm a concept that the speed of your sales has improved.

Why does timing matter?

To remind you of the process of acquiring the badge, it is very direct to the point – you just have to sell more. Yes, it’s true you have to constantly look for ways to boosts your sales. Therefore, you should do your best to use whatever strategy you have in mind and take advantage of the conditions.

The strategies below don’t offer you instant results, but they will be worth it when your business starts to gain momentum. Remember, the way to get the badge is to be a part of the top 100 in one category.

The moment you get the badge, try to gain as much from the situation you are in. Note that the best seller rank changes hourly, and once you take hold of it, give your all to maintain it.

How do you boost your sales in order to get the badge?

1. Lower your prices

Lower your price as much as possible without having to suffer a negative. Do this to keep your sales up and get the badge. You have to carefully count the number of units you are going to sell at a low price before you stop. Always keep track of your sales so you will not suffer losses.

One more option is to give an ultimate discount for only a short period of time. This is only workable for items with a four to five-star rating plus Prime shipping. This is called an “Amazon lightning deal”, a deal that displays itself on the pages most visited by shoppers on Amazon. Moreover, during the period of promotion your items will have a deal badge.

2. Facebook promos

This tactic is often used by sellers in Amazon to increase sales temporarily. They create redeemable codes for discounts using promotions on Facebook. It’s completely up to you how you want to set it up. To give you an idea of how it works, some sellers hand out limited coupons to people with a Facebook account. They can redeem this discount on Amazon. Here are some other ways:

• Start with a lesser discount just to check if Facebook users are utilizing the codes. You can increase this when you observe that more are using the discount codes.
• You can send away different amounts of units in a day. For example, you can give 20 units for four days or gradually increase its number per day.

This Amazon promo is available to those sellers who participate in the Amazon Brand Registry and whose feedback rank is positive. If you belong to such categories, you can advertise your goods yourself through Facebook or other social media channels with the Amazon discount codes.

So, here is a piece of valuable information you could use to make the most from your badge:

·   Establish yourself as a seller – your listing will have the badge depending on where you wisely add your keywords so your products can be part of the high-rank listing. You would want to expose yourself as much as possible. It’s better to use a listing that has been selling already for a long period of time for a more successful business. Listings that are still fresh doesn’t have enough exposure to deserve the badge.

·   Increase your stock – fill your inventory with stocks of your product for you to use for discounts and promotions that will temporarily increase your sales. It is also expected that your sales will rise because of your badge and ranking. Having a badge is some form of investment. Moreover, if your stock runs out while your business is on its peak, your rank might decline quickly.

·   Keep track of your competitors – as mentioned, you have to be part of the 100 sellers who are on top of a particular department to get the badge. Thus, it should be automatic for you to check how much you need to sell to get there. Check the items that are bottom-listed so you know the volumes of their sales.

Important note: PPC Follow Up

Whatever marketing strategy you are using to keep your sales up, you must be prepared once you have the badge. A PPC follow up is obligatory. Your badge will also be included in the PPC. This will ensure you a sales increase so be prepared to keep your campaigns on PPC up the moment you gain the badge.

Take advantage of the time you have with the badge as BSRs update every single hour. Your goal should be to increase both your sales and ranking to possibly keep the badge locked with you for some time. Planning and having enough knowledge is key.

Want to take advantage of Best Seller Ranking to analyze the success of your niche and products? Looking for ways to improve the indicator and boost your sales? Read our article on Amazon BSR to learn more about how it works.

A list of business terms for new Amazon Sellers

1. Average Offer Count – this is the number of items enlisted for sale within a specific time range. It is the sum of the complete number of items plus the total days in that period of time.
2. Average Sales per Order Item – this is the “order product sales” over the total ordered products.
3. Average Units per Order Item – the number of units ordered over the total ordered products. For example, 9 books over 3 ordered products are 3 units on average.
4. Buy Box – this is the white box on the detail page situated on the right side of the page. This is where customers add products to their carts for purchase. The buy box is not open to all sellers but only to those businesses with very good metrics in sales.
5. Feed Type – this includes Product Relationships, Pricing, Inventory, and more.
6. Gross Product Sales – this is computed by multiplying the number of sold units and the products’ prices. Also, this is totaled with both the shipping and packaging fees for the time selected period.
7. Order Session Percentage – this is the number of orders produced in relation to how many shoppers viewed the items. This is computed by placing the total number of orders over the total sessions for the period of time chosen.
8. Ordered Product Sales – this is the revenue and is computed by multiplying the price of the products to the ordered number of units.
9. Page View Percentage – this refers to a specific ASIN gets in relation to the complete page views number for all items. The sum of page views depends on the selected time period.
10. Page Views – this is the number of visits that your “offer pages” received in every session (range of time). A buyer may take a look at your offer pages several times within the same time range.

FAQs

Q: How is sales rank computed?

A: Sales rank is based on the total sales of an item where fresh and new sales are counted more than the older ones.

Q: Why is not my sales rank displayed?

A: For an ASIN, a sales rank is seen if it has a record of sales assigned to categories that are featured. A sales rank is not created for all categories for the reason that not all are beneficial for customers. While best sellers are updated every hour, it will take about 12 hours for something to display itself on the sales rank.

Take note that “featured categories” are different. You can ask a customer service representative if you are assigned to this.

Q: Why are my sales rank not progressing after an increase in sales?

A: Your sales rank depends on several factors. While your sales are increasing, other products sold by other sellers might also be increasing. Also, remember that sales rank counts both new and old sales to settle the rank.

Q: How can I acquire a New Release badge?

A: The number one New Release badge Amazon is given to ASINs considered as the number one bestseller among products that are newly released in a particular category. The description of a new release is different among categories. Street date and publication dates should be ensured for your ASIN.

Q: What resolution does the image for the bestseller product need?

A: The listing for the bestseller product needs an image with medium resolution. Make sure that the picture is uploaded by using the “self-serve media management” tool.

Q: Why does another product with lesser and poor reviews get a better sales rank than mine?

A: Sales rank generation actually relies on order data, and reviews are not really taken into account. Moreover, the amount of reviews you have doesn’t necessarily mean that you have more sales.

Q: How to find the Best Sellers on Amazon?

A: The badge is found on the detail page and not on the search results. You can simply search the best sellers on Amazon’s product page.

Conclusion

Undoubtedly, the badge can attract more customers in the market, yet it is only seen on the detail page. Don’t distract yourself too much when you don’t get the badge. Start on building your business by making your item a best seller that is legitimate under a category that is legitimate.

Keep your focus on your listings, keywords, and ranking; everything else will follow. You can easily get the badge once you start with the basics. Focus on the convenience of your shoppers and don’t try to trick them. Keep an eye on the growth of your sales, recognition of your brand, and the loyalty and satisfaction of your customers.