To get a Buy Box is the aim of every online seller. Walmart is considered among the best marketplaces in the world. Many sellers compete with each other to get a coveted Buy Box on Walmart. Winning a Buy Box means getting a high and robust financial incentive. Buy Box provides the initiative to earn well. It is a significant sign of sales success in the world of e-commerce that a person has achieved a Buy Box.
The Buy Box is not a thing that is related to the customers or the visitors. It doesn’t appear in front of any customers while visiting the brand or the product page. It is a different type of competition that is held behind the scenes and based on the algorithm.
Listings on Walmart are based on the product type. All the buyers selling the same product are ultimately narrowed down to a single listing because of the sameness of the product. As per the terms and conditions of Walmart, the Buy Box could be only awarded to the most deserving and appropriate seller. The algorithm would choose that candidate based on the sale of a particular product. The consumers will click the “Add to Cart” button, and the algorithm automatically selects the products from the Buy Box’s winner to the customer’s cart. The customer will get the outcome he wants without knowing about the Buy Box.
To win the Buy Box, the competition is brutal and cut-throat. The question is, “How would you be able to win the Buy Box? and what would be your strategy to be in the line of the winners?” Irrespective of the fact that your product is desirable and attractive, you still need a strategy to expand your area of approach. You can lose millions of potential customers in the case of absence of a concrete strategy. To be a participant in the Buy Box and aim to achieve it, you need to understand how it works and the central understanding of the Walmart Buy Box game.
Winning Buy Box will change your sales and profitability dramatically. I have worked with many brands and plenty of companies. As per my experience, I can share some of the tips that can be helpful. Have a keen look at the consequences related to the Buy Box. Additionally, understand the effect of the Buy Box on your brand, sales, and performance of your business on Walmart. Considering all such information, you will likely win the Buy Box.
What is the meaning of winning the Buy Box?
Following are the advantages that you and your brand can acquire upon winning the Buy Box:
Your brand dramatically comes into the limelight.
Helps to achieve the customers’ loyalty and trust
Highlight the fact or exclusivity that is linked with your brand or store.
While running in the race to be the winner of the Buy Box, you need to focus on the following factors to ensure your success
Competitively lowest price must be offered to the buyers:
Many people go to Walmart for shopping because this place is known for the lowest prices offered. While handling your page and the products, you must keep this fact in mind. The product price and the shipping charges must be fixed carefully and technically. It might become the price that can help you get into Walmart’s decision to give you the Buy Box.
You don’t have to compromise over the price while adjusting the lowest cost, but you have to act intelligently. Even the slightest difference in the price can matter. Reducing the price of pennies can help you get the Buy Box. You need to do thorough market research and check the cost of the same product the competitors sell. Here, it would be best if you quoted the price by lowering a penny from the lowest price quoted by the competitors.
It is a catchy and appreciatable technique for the cost-effective shipping method. This is why you will refrain from engaging in any race of over-pricing the product. Instead, you will focus on providing the best products to the consumers at the best and lowest price.
While struggling to get the Buy Box, you also need to understand and focus on Walmart’s price parity strategy and price leadership rule. By the price parity rule, Walmart limits the working credibility of the brand holder. It doesn’t allow the brand holder to sell the same product at the lowest cost on another competing site. Rather than being seller-focused, the price leadership rule is more product-focused. You are limited to setting the price of the product. You cannot set the cost of the product to more than the price of the same effect on another site. The mere reason behind this price-effective strategy is the aim of Walmart. Walmart is said to be the market designation with the lowest product cost.
It was the initial step to be focused on by the brand holder at Walmart. There are some other factors as well that need to be focused on to win the Buy Box on Walmart.
Never get in the category of stockouts:
The “Out of Stock” banner is the most harmful thing for a store holder. It is an essential piece of advice always to have some stock at hand. Use the analytics and get in touch with the listings. To win the Buy Box, you will have to remain in the category of the brands that never left stockout. The policy of Walmart gives weightage to the brands that keep updating their inventory. If you keep on struggling with the inventory shortage, Walmart will drag you down on the sellers’ list regardless of the price of the products or the quality of the material provided.
Some people and experts advise getting into a discount strategy and giving price drops to customers, but I will recommend focusing on the inventory. No matter the discounts and the reasonable prices you have set for the product, Walmart counts you less if you don’t maintain your merchandise perfectly. What can the customer do with the discounts and the best price if the product isn’t available?
It is easy to keep up with the inventory, but sometimes it becomes challenging to make the speculation about the sales boost. It can happen seasonally. For example, the demand for warm clothes boosts in the winter. The product will witness a seasonal spike. The brand holder can use the leverage analytics tools to cope with the seasonal spikes and ensure that the inventory remains in surplus.
Give some importance to the indirect parameters:
Usually, people maintain the focus on the direct factors and neglect many indirect aspects, but winning a Buy Box is tough competition. One must retain control over any indirect element while struggling to get the winner’s title.
Timely delivery:
You can bump up your sales and attract customers by showing them a quick delivery routine. If you can deliver the very next day or in 2 days, you can strongly display the attribute and facility along with the product listing. The statistics have shown that more buyers fall for brands with less delivery time.
- Listings of the product:
The accurate and complete description and the product will not only help attract more buyers but will also assist in higher the rank of your brand in the algorithm of Walmart. Upon the complete elaboration about the product’s quality and attributes, you will become the consumers’ first choice. Additionally, it will become easier for Walmart to recommend you as the most reliable seller.
- Packaging of the product:
Packaging is the custodian of good presentation and safe delivery. If a product is not appropriately packed, there are clear chances of damage. Excellent and decent packaging will enhance the placement of the brand higher in the minds of the customer. This is another way to get more positive reviews and remarks on your store.
- Reviews and remarks:
To win a Buy Box, it is crucial to work in the domain of the review. It is a way to show the worth of the brand in the eyes of the customers and buyers. It is an organic way to get a high SEO ranking. You will get a high place in the search rank because of organic SEO optimization.
- Maintenance of the seller’s performance standards:
Walmart’s necessary performance standards are essential to be followed by the brand if it wants to stand higher in the race to win the Buy Box. Following are some focus points in the way forward:
- Fewer chances of time-lapse and product damage
- Less than 2% defect rate in the tenure of 90 days
- Availability of valid tracking rate
Conclusion:
In a nutshell, it is crucial to win a Buy Box for every brand that is working at Walmart. Some tips and tricks are essential to be followed by online stores. Sometimes, it is difficult for people to learn and practice such rules and regulations. In this case, eMarspro is available to help you. They can provide the best and most relevant services to the customers. Such services can assist the clients in ranking high on Walmart’s algorithm and enhancing the chances of winning the Buy Box.
