According to eDesk, over two million third-party merchants are selling around 7,000 products per minute on Amazon and generating a $1.29 billion daily sales revenue. However, in the face of fierce competition, Amazon sellers strive for ways to differentiate their products and stand out.
One of the ways is to win Amazon’s Choice and Best Seller badges. Both badges signify a certain level of popularity and quality but can help sellers to increase visibility and reliability among competitors.
This article explores what the two badges mean to sellers and consumers and analyzes their similarities and differences. We also provide ways to achieve the Amazon’s Choice badge and Best Seller tag to help you generate more business opportunities.
What is the Amazon’s Choice Badge?
The Amazon’s Choice Badge is a special seal of approval on products Amazon offers. As defined by Amazon, the Amazon’s Choice tag signifies that the product is “highly rated, well-priced, and available to ship immediately.” It should also “be delivered faster and returned less frequently” than its competitors.
Products carrying this badge represent the best-in-class selection within a given category or price range, as determined by Amazon. It is designed to make purchasing decisions easier and quicker for shoppers, as it can provide added assurance that fellow buyers have already vetted the product they choose.
Which Algorithm Does Amazon Use To Determine The Amazon’s Choice Badge?
Though the algorithm is kept vague by Amazon, it is widely conceived that Amazon’s Choice tag is closely related to keyword searches.
For instance, a customer is searching for “chicken jerky dog treats” under the pet supplies category on Amazon. After consideration, the customer makes the purchase. Later on, another customer searches for the same specific keyword, “chicken jerky dog treats,” and makes the same purchase.
As the process continues, an increasing number of buyers make the same purchasing decision after searching for the same keyword, indicating that this product is the best match for this particular keyword. Finally, this product listing earns the Amazon’s Choice badge automatically.
How Is the Amazon’s Choice Badge Introduced?
Rather than driven by sales data, Amazon’s Choice badges are more likely to be earned by having a good command of Amazon’s keyword search policy.
In fact, the idea of the Amazon’s Choice badge was first introduced in 2015 when Amazon announced its home assistant Alexa. When you ask Alexa to help you purchase something from Amazon, the voice-operated device will search for the specific keyword and order whatever product is awarded the Amazon’s Choice badge, indicating that this product is a better option than the others in the keyword search result.
How To Get The Amazon’s Choice Badge For Your Products?
The most important factor in getting an Amazon’s Choice badge is selecting the right keyword for your product listing. The best way to do this is by researching and analyzing relevant keywords that top competitors already use in your category. A variety of reverse ASIN lookup tools in the market are helpful.
You should also ensure that the keyword you choose is tailored to match the customer’s specific keyword search and accurately reflect the product you are selling.
Optimize PPC Campaigns
Optimizing your PPC campaigns is the second factor that can help you get an Amazon’s Choice badge. According to Amazon’s algorithm, it rewards products with higher-level tags for ranking in search results, so investing in a good PPC strategy can be beneficial. Ensure you drive relevant traffic to your product pages and use the right bid amount for all targeted keywords to outperform your competitors in keyword searches.
Provide Compelling Prices
As disclaimed by Amazon, the badge will be given to well-priced products. Therefore, it’s crucial to maintain competitive prices for your products, as this will help you attract more traffic and encourage customers to buy. You can offer coupon codes to influence purchasing decisions as well.
Build Brand Identity
A good brand image is essential for achieving an Amazon’s Choice tag because it shows customers that you are trustworthy, reliable, and providing quality products. Ensure you build a strong presence on social media platforms and consistently interact with your customers to build relationships with them.
Improve Customer Satisfaction
The Amazon’s Choice tag only goes to products that are highly rated. So having good ratings and reviews on your product listings is essential. In addition, make sure you respond promptly to negative feedback and clarify that customer satisfaction is your priority.
It would help to read through customer feedback for a genuine user experience review. Then, by constantly improving your product based on these opinions, you are more likely to reach maximum satisfaction of your customers, lower the return rate and maintain a good rating.
Ensure the Availability of the Product
Lastly, you must ensure your product is always available to win an endorsement from Amazon. As mentioned in this article, Amazon’s algorithm will prioritize products with solid availability.
Therefore, you should have a reliable supplier and maintain a good stock level so that buyers can purchase your product without delays. This will also help you to increase your sales and create a better user experience.
Pay extra attention to your inventory level when promoting a lightning deal. Your products may run out faster than you planned when the price is more competitive.
Make the Product Prime Eligible
Finally, to qualify for the Amazon’s Choice tag, you must have your product Prime eligible, offer two-day shipping with Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon FBA program, or use other reliable third-party logistics companies to ensure on-time deliveries.
Enrolling in the Amazon FBA program is recommended to ensure that you will provide your customers with immediate shipping and accurate tracking information.
Pros and Cons of the Amazon Choice Badge
Being selected as Amazon Choice can benefit your business since it shows customers that Amazon has carefully assessed and chosen the product.
Here are the advantages of winning the badge:
• Increased visibility: With the badge, your product will be more visible in search results and help you stand out from competitors.
• Higher conversion rate: An Amazon’s Choice tag can lead to higher conversion rates, encouraging buyers to choose your product over others.
• Higher sales: Due to the endorsement by Amazon, these products are preferred by customers, bringing more sales to Amazon sellers.
• Increased credibility: Being awarded the badge gives consumers assurance about the reliability and quality of your product, resulting in increased credibility and trust.
Although there are many advantages to earning Amazon’s Choice, here are a few other downsides of the Amazon Choice badge:
• Increased competition: As more products earn the badge for different keyword searches, sellers may find it challenging to stand out even with the badge.
• Higher cost: To ensure that you meet Amazon’s standards for quality products, you may need to invest in higher-quality materials or production processes, which can be costly.
• Limited badges: Amazon only awards a limited number of badges per category and product, thus making it difficult to get the badge.
• Temporary badges: The Amazon algorithm evolves regularly and may not inform about the changes. The badge may be taken away if your product fails to meet the updated quality standards.
• More scrutiny: Being awarded an Amazon’s Choice label means that you are subject to more scrutiny from the Amazon team and must ensure that your product meets their quality standards.
• Higher expectations: Consumers expect higher quality from products with an Amazon’s Choice tag, which can increase pressure on the seller to maintain a high level of quality.
What is the Amazon Best Seller Badge?
The Amazon Best Seller badge is an exclusive ranking awarded to products sold the most within a certain period. This badge, similar to the “top-rated seller” on eBay and “Bestseller” on Etsy, can be seen on product detail pages, indicating that these products are trendy among buyers. The badge helps customers quickly identify the top-selling items in their search results and gives them more confidence to purchase.
What are the Methods Amazon Uses to Determine the Best Seller Badge?
The system is updated hourly so the customers can be sure that the most up-to-date products are featured. In addition, the rank is improved by a lower BSR, and the Best Seller badge is given to those whose Seller Rank is among the top 100.
How To Make Your Product A Best Seller On Amazon?
Unlike the Amazon Choice badge, the Best Seller badge is more closely related to the product’s popularity. So increasing the sales of the listing is one of the essential foundations. Here are a few ways to help you achieve this goal:
List Your Product in the Right Category
When listing your product on Amazon, choosing the right category is important because different categories have different competition levels and can make a big difference in your success.
Provide Competitive Rates
Providing competitive rates for your product is vital to make it a best seller on Amazon. Consumers are always looking for the best deals and are sensitive to prices, so if you can offer them a lower price than other sellers, they will be more likely to choose your product. This will help you get the Best Seller badge and increase sales, leading to better visibility and higher profits.
Promote Lightning Deals
Lightning deals are one of the best ways to attract more customers at the cost of short-term profit loss. Additionally, they can increase your visibility prominently in the search results and level up your chance to become the best seller.
Adopt a Better PPC Strategy
PPC campaigns are another great way to get more visibility and sales. Bestsellers invest in improving their PPC strategies and targeting the right audience with their ads. A better PPC strategy will help you reach more customers, boost visibility, and thus get more sales.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Amazon’s Best Seller Badge
Attaining the Best Seller Badge can bring bountiful rewards and advantages to your business.
Here are the advantages of being awarded the Best Seller badge:
• Enhance Presence: The Best Seller badge will help you get more eyeballs and stand out from competitors in a particular category.
• Elevate Conversion Rate: Buyers have more confidence in best-selling products and will purchase those with Best Seller badges.
• Increase Sales: With an increasing number of purchasing decisions made by the customers affected by the Best Seller badge, you will get more sales, which further helps you maintain your Best Seller Rank.
• Strengthen Reputation: Customers know that only a few products have earned the prestigious Best Seller title. In this way, the badge could be seen as a form of good reputation.
Comparison In Detail: Amazon Choice VS Best Seller
Having examined the Amazon’s Choice badge and Best Seller badge from all angles – what they mean, how to earn them, and their respective benefits and drawbacks, let us now compare the two based on various metrics.
Methods of Determination
As discussed, Amazon’s Choices are bestowed upon product listings determined by its algorithm. These items usually have great prices and high ratings and can be immediately sent out.
On the other hand, Best Seller labels recognize those products that sell exceptionally well based on real-time and past sales data, a metric easier to track and understand for Amazon vendors.
Amazon creates both Amazon’s Choice tag and Best Seller badge to highlight those products that stand out from the competition.
For customers, the badges help them save time when making purchasing decisions. Amazon’s Choice label means it has won endorsement from Amazon, while the Best Seller badge indicates that many buyers favor the product.
For sellers, the badges can increase their reliability and gain more trust from the customers. Moreover, with these labels, they can increase click-through rate, conversion rate, and sales with ease.
How to Earn Them
Even though the two badges have distinct criteria, sellers must take similar actions to gain them.
For instance, providing a competitive price and being highly rated are the two requirements for winning an Amazon’s Choice badge. However, if you strive for a Best Seller badge, you may also need to lower your price to attract buyers. At the same time, to increase the conversion rate, both need to maintain a good rating by improving products and enhancing customer service. Otherwise, a listing with a low price but a poor rating will barely garner customers’ interest.
It is also imperative that your products are at a sufficient inventory level and prepared to ship in an instant once customers place their orders to win both badges. Continual availability for shipping is one of the criteria necessary to gain Amazon’s Choice. Maintaining adequate stock is also fundamental if you hope to keep hold of your Best Seller title.
Other actions that will increase your chance of winning both badges include optimizing listings with targeted keywords, setting up PPC campaigns, promoting lightning deals and providing discounts, enhancing branding identity, maintaining an online presence on social media, and so on.
How Long Do They Last For
Unfortunately, though it is complicated to earn either badge, it can be even more difficult to maintain either.
Amazon’s Choice badge can be revoked at any moment since Amazon algorithms are regularly evolving and may determine that you no longer deserve the recognition. The Best Seller badge can also be taken away once your competitors outsell you.
The two badges both require significant effort to maintain. However, Amazon’s Choice badge may last longer than the Best Seller tag.
Can Customers Trust Them Anymore
According to a report written by BuzzFeed News, Amazon’s Choice products may have major design flaws. In its interview, BuzzFeed News talked to several Amazon customers about their poor shopping experience who falsely believed in Amazon’s Choice tags. “Amazon’s Choice is just our recommendation made by Amazon, and customers can always ask for specific brands or products if they choose,” answered an Amazon spokesperson during this interview as a respond.
Meanwhile, the Best Seller badge is also losing trust among some consumers. An article written by Bloomberg revealed that some deceitful sellers are placing popular items in slower-selling categories to make them outsell their competitors.
In these cases, winning both badges is all about deeply understanding Amazon’s algorithm and is the outcome of delicate listing manipulations.
Actually, it is not a either/or situation when it comes to Amazon’s Choice and Best Seller badges. Though Amazon can not display both badges simultaneously in the first main image, sellers should strive for both labels since they can offer maximum benefits in the long run.
A suggestion to win both badges is to earn the Amazon’s Choice badge first with all the proper optimization mentioned above. By winning the badge, you can increase the units sold, leading you to garner the Best Seller label.
Conclusions
To conclude, Amazon’s Choice badge and Best Seller badge are great tools for sellers to increase their popularity among buyers. However, they can be challenging to acquire and maintain due to the constantly evolving criteria by Amazon and the increasingly fierce competition in the marketplace.
Maximize your chances of gaining both badges by optimizing listings with specific keywords, offering competitive prices, maintaining adequate stock levels, and providing superior customer service – this is what Amazon wants from their sellers. With these tactics employed to the highest standard, you can show that your business meets Amazon’s exacting standards and thus win more business opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Amazon Choice Products Better?
The Amazon’s Choice badge is awarded to products that offer value for money relative to their competitors and have been rated highly by customers. They are suitable choices for buyers looking for an affordable option with good reviews. However, they are not always “better” products since they are top results of certain keywords rather than product categories.
Can Only Major Brands Earn Amazon’s Choice Badge?
No, Amazon’s Choice badge is available to any seller who can meet the criteria. Smaller brands should not be discouraged because they may offer more competitive prices and better reviews than major brands, giving them a chance to earn the badge.
Can You Pay To Gain Amazon’s Choice Badge?
No, the badge is not a paid advertisement and, therefore, cannot be bought. All sellers must meet the criteria to earn the badge fairly.
What Is The Difference Between Amazon’s Choice and Sponsored Products?
Amazon’s Choice badge is awarded to products that are believed to be good options by Amazon. Sponsored Products are ads used by sellers to promote their products on Amazon. Sellers can pay for these sponsored ads to drive customers to their listings.
Can Best Seller Badge Guarantee Me An Amazon’s Choice Tag?
8-figure Amazon seller and serial online entrepreneur since 2015. Research and practice various online business models, and apply his in-depth learnings to further expand and grow his businesses as well as help others to achieve greater successes. Ex-VP of a high tech VC in Vancouver and a Management Consultant with over a decade of experience in the industry. Master's Degree from HEC Paris.
