Amazon Sales Rank [Top Tips to Sell More]

If you would like to know more about the Amazon Sales Rank, you’ve come to the right place.

When I started selling on Amazon, I honestly had no idea what an Amazon Sales Rank was and why it even mattered. After a few days of selling and research, I realized the sales rank was one of the most valuable pieces of information provided by Amazon.

I want to share this information about the sales rank with you to help speed up your start to your Amazon career.

That’s why I’ve written this article about the best sellers rank to help you get all the facts.

So below is everything you need to know about the sales rank on Amazon so you can leverage it to help you make more sales and educated purchasing and sourcing decisions.

What is Amazon Sales Rank or BSR?

The Amazon sales rank is also referred to as the Amazon Best Sellers Rank (or BSR).

It’s a measure of how well a product is selling based on its category. Basically, its sales performance on Amazon based on a list of sales rank criteria.

The BSR is a sort of ranking system or calculation where each sale counts as a point and the more points your product has, the better its rank.

This is what the BSR looks like on Amazon:

Every time a new sale is made, Amazon’s algorithm recalculates the product sales rank for each category & sub categories.

As there are thousands of sales in each hour across all the categories, you can imagine just how complex this process is.

A low BSR or sales rank on Amazon means that your product is performing well in its category.

This means that the best sellers product listing will be assigned the number 1 in its category, while the worst-selling product in that category might have a number in the millions and not make the best seller lists.

Or not even a number at all if no sales at all!

Also, it’s possible for a product to have more than one sales rank by being assigned one for each of its top-level categories, subcategories, and sub-subcategories.

So, when considering products to sell on the platform, you can tell which ones are likely to have more sales faster or more frequently than others in the same category with a simple glance at the sales rank: the lower on the best seller list, the better.

The article linked to below dives deep into everything most sellers need to know about the Amazon sales rank, including how it’s calculated, how to find it, what a good Amazon BSR is, and how to leverage this type of data to help you improve your sales on Amazon.

3 Ways You Can Use BSR to Help You Sell More

Now that you understand what Amazon’s sales rank is and you know the product is selling, it’s time to discover ways you can use the ranks and best sellers list to help you sell more.

1. Source Products Easily

By understanding the role of the Amazon sales rank and product rankings, you will be able to make product sourcing a lot easier no matter what niche, product categories or sub-categories you dig into

The BSR will help you determine what’s trending & its sales velocity, what your customers are buying, and what people are searching for.

With this information in hand, you will be better equipped to source products that are likely to have faster sales on Amazon. Get your credit card ready.

2. Estimate Future Sales

The BSR allows you to gain more insight into your future sales.

New and inexperienced sellers often wonder how many products they should source if they find a good deal. The sales rank can help you come up with an estimate in answer to that question.

A low sales ranking means that the product is likely to sell well – as long as you can match the lowest price on Amazon.

Having said that, you need to be very careful when considering seasonal sales.

Make sure you check the sales history of the product before investing as rankings constantly fluctuate.

The product history will help you make a better-informed decision so you avoid getting stuck with a product that only sells seasonally.

3. Conduct Competitor Research

The sales rank is a relative measure, which means you not only have to consider your own sales figures but those of your competitors, as well.

You can also use the BSR or sales rank to aid in your competitor research for your own Amazon product listings.

After all, on Amazon, sales competition is key.

The best seller rank will give you a clearer picture and deeper insights into how your competitors’ products are performing.

By monitoring their sales rank, you can make changes to your own listings based on that information.

For instance, you can find a product that is similar to the one you are selling and then make BSR comparisons.

If yours is way higher than the competitor, then you might consider different tactics for improving your Amazon sales rank, such as tweaking your keywords to optimize your product descriptions and increase sales.

Every seller wants their Amazon seller’s rank to be as low as possible.

4 Tips To Improve Your BSR

Tip #1: Improve Your Product Listings

Buyers often judge products by the title & the product description of the listing. The title is, therefore, one of the most essential elements on a product detail page.

The title tells people EXACTLY what your product is about. And while Amazon recommends your title to be descriptive, short, and to the point, the platform does allow for up to 250 characters.

This means there is plenty of room to include important keywords that will help your product rank for the terms buyers commonly use in searching for that type of item.

Here are some elements to include in your title:

Product name
Brand-name
Distinguishing features (color, size, use)

Put these together in a way that not only optimizes your keyword use but also educates your customers about your product before they even get to your product page. This will help drive up your conversions and rankings as well.

And most importantly – your title should make SENSE. So don’t cram it so full of keywords that it starts to sound like nonsense. Just do your product research for the right buyer’s keywords and you will be good to go.

Tip #2: Use Compelling Images

Most people make purchasing decisions based on emotions. And images are great emotional recognition tools. That’s why it’s important to use attractive, high-quality images on your product page in order to capture the interest of your potential buyers.

The right images can cause a shopper to stop scrolling and click on your listing, so take the time to create and upload high-quality images for your product as this will have a massive impact on your sales.

Mind These Amazon Rules

Keep in mind that Amazon has a few rules when it comes to product images.

For instance, the main product image should only contain the item you’re selling, and it should be on a white background.

You’re allowed between five and nine images for your listing, and although the main image must be against a white background, your other images can include models, action shots, text, or other accessories that aren’t included in the purchase.

This could include:

The product image from various angles (top, side, close-up, etc.)
Images of the product in action
The back of the product label
Image text listing your product’s features
Images comparing your product against other products
Images showing the product size comparison (e.g. with a person holding it)

Your images must be 1000 x 1000 pixels so you can take advantage of the zoom feature that allows users to scroll over images to enlarge any part of them.

Tip #3: Optimize Your Bullet Points

Some buyers may still have a few lingering doubts after seeing your title and images. The bullet points are your opportunity to remove those doubts and seal the deal.

The bullet points on Amazon are pretty straightforward. You are allowed five spaces for bullet points, BUT you are not limited to just five words or sentences.

You can maximize your use of these bullet points by using shorts, descriptive paragraphs of between 2 and 4 sentences.

Make sure you focus on your products features AND benefits.

Some Amazon sellers prefer to simply point out product features as benefits. And while that is a great way to spark the need for your product, it’s a good idea to include BOTH features and benefits to appeal to as broad an audience as possible.

Place the most important feature at the top, and follow it with an explanation that drives home the benefits for the customer.

Also, address, and questions or objections that may cause people not to buy the product, as in the example below:

And remember to update your bullet points often.

For instance, if you get reviews with complaints that arise from any misinterpretation of your product, you can then update your bullet points, and maybe even the product title, in order to account for that.

Tip #4: Get Good Reviews

On Amazon, reviews are the driving force behind sales. The majority of online shoppers look at product reviews to help them make a purchasing decision.

Many of the products with a good BSR value or high in the best seller lists also have an equally good number of reviews.

You need to work on getting more reviews as they are the social proof of your product’s quality.

Amazon products with slightly lower ratings but high numbers of reviews tend to rank better in the search results than those with higher average ratings but fewer reviews.

Having said that, items with a star rating of 4 stars will typically outperform a similar one with an average rating of only 3 stars.

Amazon uses a weighted system to measure the average star rating of items, and there are many factors that affect the rating for each review. This means that the average isn’t a simple mathematical statistic.

With enough positive reviews and comments, you will have enough leverage to outweigh your competitors.

Final Thoughts

There you have it with sales rankings.

Everything you need to know about Amazon sales rank and best seller items. This should play nicely on how you can use it to your advantage to help you sell more on the platform.

Remember to use tools like Tactical Arbitrage to help you source the best and most profitable products for your Amazon business.