How the Box Chooses a Winner
Amazon runs a real-time algorithm for every shopper and every page load. It weighs delivered price, shipping speed, stock depth, and seller performance. A lower price can still lose if on-time delivery or Order Defect Rate lags. The official criteria are outlined in Amazon’s help file “Offer Display”.
Signals That Move the Needle
- Price after fees: Landed cost within a few percent of the lowest offer.
- Fast fulfilment: FBA or Seller Fulfilled Prime gives a speed edge.
- Healthy metrics: Order Defect Rate under one percent and on-time tracking over 97 percent.
- In-stock rate: Consistent availability keeps algorithm confidence high.
Protecting Your Share
Buy Box Monitoring shows live ownership and alerts you the moment a rival takes the box. Connect Retail Issues Alerts to catch price suppressions or stockouts that drop you from contention. Together these tools let you adjust price or replenish inventory before sales vanish.
Start your free SellerSonar trial and keep the Buy Box firmly in your net