As the holiday season hits high gear, we know that the increased buying on Amazon is likely to also usher in a wave of resellers.  The marketplace will flood with resellers who either bought products wholesale or bought it on discount at retail then sell them on Amazon.  It's called retail arbitrage - check out this recent article for more on that practice.

Retail arbitrage can mean fighting these resellers to keep the "Buy Now" box on your brand's listings. 

On Amazon, having the buy box means that you are the default seller on a listing – when the shopper clicks “Buy Now,” they will be buying from you. Winning and keeping the buy box is very important: on Amazon, 83% of sales come from the Buy Box.

There's a few tactics resellers will use to take your buy box (and the sale) but there are several factors brands can can have in place to fight them off.  

Price: This is a big factor but not always decisive. In general, the retail platform is programmed to offer best value to the shopper but if there’s some concern about the reseller, even a low, low price may go unseen.  Brands with great presence and customer satisfaction on Amazon are much less likely to lose the sale, even if a reseller is offering dramatically lower prices.

Fulfillment Method:  First-party sellers are all but guaranteed keep their buy box.  The same is mostly true for Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) sellers. Savvy brands who wish to sell directly can seek to differentiate with new sizes, bundles, value-adds, and more.

Inventory: Listings can be more vulnerable during holiday shopping  when the retailer or FBA inventory is out of stock, making it much easier for those resellers take over your listings.

Seller Feedback: Shoppers get a chance to rate their experience – and you as a seller. Stay tight on customer service and you will win more sales.

Order Defect Rate: Both Amazon and Walmart have versions of this. If your orders show up broken, expired, or different from the description on a regular basis, your ODR will suffer as will your chances for the buy box.

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