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Decode Amazon’s Best-Sellers Rank with Our Tried and Tested Guide

Decode Amazon’s Best-Sellers Rank with Our Tried and Tested Guide

Amazon marketplace, that millions of people all over the world use regularly, has millions of products listed in multiple categories. Most of the products that are sold on Amazon’s website have a special ranking known as the Best Sellers Rank (BSR). This ranking is given to products that have made one or more sales. Not only does this ranking help the customers choose a better product, but it also tells the customers how popular it is amongst buyers. But what exactly is the Best Sellers Rank? How does it work? And how can you improve your product’s Best Sellers Rank on Amazon?

We are going to answer all these questions in this week’s blog:

What Exactly is Amazon Best Sellers Rank? 

The Amazon Best Sellers Rank, or BSR, is basically a rank that virtually every product on Amazon gets when it makes one sale. As ranks work, the lower the item’s BSR is, the better sales they have. For example, if a product has a #3 rank, it has made much better sales than the one ranked #60,000. 

Every category and major sub-category on Amazon has a different BSR ranking page. Some of these categories are Books, Clothing, Shoes and Jewelry, Electronics, Office Products, and more. One item can be listed in two different categories and thus can have two different BSR rankings. This means, for example, the same product from the same seller with the exact same number of sales can have a higher rank in the Kitchen & Dining category while having a lower rank in the Home & Kitchen category. 

How is the Calculation for Amazon Best Sellers Rank Made? 

Amazon does not reveal exactly how the Best Sellers Ranking system works. However, there are certainly some factors that contribute to the system. These are; 

  1. Current and previous sales.
  2. Changes in product pricing and promotions.
  3. Competitor products. 

The biggest contributor to the BSR is not only the current sales trends but also the previous sales history. The rank is updated hourly. 

Amazon Best Sellers Ranking and Organic Ranking – How are they Different? 

One big thing that a lot of new sellers confuse when they first start selling on Amazon is the difference between Amazon Best Sellers Rank and organic ranking. The biggest difference between the two  is that the BSR shows you how well your product is doing based on its sales while organic rankings show how well your product ranks based on keywords. 

But having different ways of ranking the products does not mean that these two are not linked at all. If you want your product to be visible, you have to use keywords to ensure that. Visibility means more sales, and more sales will get you a better Amazon Best Sellers Rank. 

However, just having a good BSR ranking on Amazon is not enough. Some products have a top-selling rank organically but can rank lower in BSR. Remember that Amazon does place more importance on keyword-relevant products than bestseller ranks. That is why you should always do your research about keywords before you put them on a product listing. Only choose relevant keywords because organically ranking by keywords will give you more visibility amongst customers than BSR. It goes to say that BSR is also important because a lot of people check this ranking before buying a product. 

3 Ways You Can Use Amazon Best Sellers Rank Data

Even though organically ranking higher is actually better for your sales overall, there are a few ways sellers can use the information they get from the BSR ranking on Amazon. 

1. Newbies can research products easily

This is a useful method to uncover successful products. When researching products to sell on Amazon, they must be in-demand, and the best sellers rank can provide this information. Remember, the lower the rank, the more sales are being made, so you can create a short-list of products that are potentially viable by checking the BSR’s. 

2. Experienced sellers can keep an eye on their competitors 

To be a successful seller on Amazon, not only do you have to have good products and customer service but also be aware of the competition. It is the only way to stay one step ahead at all times. Compare similar items from your competitors to see if they are doing better than you in the BSR list. If they are making more sales, then maybe it is time to tweak some keywords in your product listing to get a higher organic ranking and make more sales. 

3. Estimate your sales using BSR

This is a potent function of the BSR and by far the most useful way to use the data.
Imagine if you could predict how often a product sells on Amazon? Well, now you can!

Let’s say your own product has an Amazon Best Sellers Ranking of 1500. By totting up your own sales, you’ll already know that a BSR of 1500 equates to, for example, approximately 700 transactions per month. Then take a look at your BSR history. Your BSR from one month previously was, for example, 2500 because your sales were not as good. Let’s say you made only 500 sales. Historically though, your BSR at the same time the previous year was 500 when you made 1600 sales.

Using this data, you can work out that if your rank was:

#1500 with 700 sales
#2500 with 500 sales
#500 with 1600 sales

Then, other products with an Amazon Best Sellers Rank similar to these figures are most likely making sales of a similar proportion.

You should also be a little wary because as mentioned, rankings can fluctuate between categories, and so these are only estimates. Even as estimates, this is valuable data that you can use when you are researching new products or tracking your competitors.

How Can You Improve Your Amazon Best Sellers Rank? 

The answer to this question can be summed up in one sentence- to improve your BSR ranking, you need to sell more products. The more your sales go up, the better you will do on the BSR ranking. But here are some ways you can improve the visibility on your listings and make more sales. 

1. Optimizing the product listing copy

To rank higher in the organic ranking, you have to have an optimized listing of your product. This means not only including relevant keywords in the product listing but also having a compelling copy. This way the visibility of your products will improve and so will the sales. 

2. Price your products well

You should always have a proper pricing strategy for the products you are selling. If your price is reasonable and fair amongst the competition, people will be more attracted to your product and the sales will inevitably improve, taking your BSR ranking up with them. 

3. Use good images in your product listings 

Always remember that in the online market, looks are what sell. Your potential customers cannot touch or experience your products. All they have are the images you put up on your listing. So make sure the pictures you put up there are of great quality and highlight the important features of your products. Your customers will be attracted to your product through these pictures. Better pictures will lead to more engagements, which will lead to more sales and a better BSR ranking. 

4. Make sure to add a video to your product listing 

Just like images, videos also help your customers experience your product better virtually. A good quality video of your product in action will lead to a lot more engagements on your product. 

5. Utilize Amazon Prime and FBA

Amazon has a tendency to favor sellers that use their fulfillment service known as Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). This will also give you the chance to offer Prime facilities on your products. A speedy delivery will always satisfy a buyer, and that is why so many people in the world are subscribed to Amazon Prime. This is a great opportunity to improve your sales. 

Conclusion

Now you know all the basics of Amazon Best Sellers Rank and how it works. Not only that, we’ve also given you a brief idea about how to improve those rankings through the use of the tools available to you. While the Amazon Best Sellers Rank can appear complicated at first glance, it’s worth taking notice of. The benefits to you as an Amazon seller are huge, not only for your own Amazon business, helping you make improvements, but also for gaining valuable insights into your competitors’ sales and activities.

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