The Amazon Best Sellers Rank, or BSR, is a number that indicates how well a product is selling on Amazon. But what is a good BSR on Amazon? Basically, the lower the number, the better the product sells. All products on Amazon have a BSR as long as they’ve sold at least once.
If you’re an Amazon seller, your product’s BSR is one of the most important data points available to you. Used wisely, it can help you conduct product research, predict future sales, plan your ad budget with a PPC management service for Amazon, and much more. An Amazon agency can boost your BSR through targeted ads, which translates to higher sales and more money for your business.
Before you launch a PPC ad campaign, learn how to tell if your BSR is good and what you can do to make it even better.
BSR and Amazon Categories
Your product’s BSR isn’t universal across Amazon. Instead, Amazon determines BSR by how well a product sells in its category. For example, a product may have a very good ranking of 100 in the Sports & Outdoors category, but in the Patio, Lawn & Garden category, that same product might have a much worse BSR of 100,000.
What Is a Good Amazon BSR?
The answer to this question depends on the category you want your product to rank for. For instance, a BSR of 20,000 in the Pet Supplies category might be good, but for the Beauty & Personal Care category, it’s considered poor.
BSR is more straightforward when it comes to books. Authors should aim for a BSR of 100,000 or lower, which translates to about 200 sales a month. You might find it easier to achieve this BSR in a niche category, such as Gothic Romance, compared to Contemporary Romance and other broad categories.
You can find free and paid tools to help you determine target BSR for your products. Just enter your monthly sales goal for each product, and the tool will give you a BSR to aim for.
How to Improve Your Amazon BSR
If your BSR is a bit higher than you’d like, follow these tips to attract customers and earn more sales.
- Adjust your pricing: Sellers who offer competitive pricing have a higher chance of showing up first in the “Buy” box. Checking competitor pricing can be time-consuming, so consider using a repricing software tool to automate the process for you.
- Offer Amazon Prime shipping and FBA: Many customers only consider products listed with Amazon Prime’s two-day delivery guarantee. Selling through FBA, which is Amazon’s fulfillment service, is another way to gain customer confidence.
- Write a strong product title: Customers strongly rely on titles to decide if they’re going to click on a product to learn more. Include the product and brand name, plus relevant features, such as size and color. Don’t include irrelevant or distracting keywords.
- Craft a great description: In the product description, include every detail a customer needs to know before making a purchase. Use bullet points to draw the eye and make your description easier to read.
- Include high-quality images: Provide images of your product that clearly show it from all angles. Avoid using stock photos or images that closely match those of your competition. Customers appreciate unique images and rely on them to make buying decisions.
- Add video: Many sellers don’t include video with their product descriptions. Stand out from the competition with live-recorded customer testimonials or engaging video guides that show how the product works.
What’s the Difference Between BSR and Organic Ranking?
Amazon BSR and organic ranking are closely related, but not quite the same. Amazon determines your product’s organic ranking by how often the product shows up as a search result for certain keywords. For example, if customers frequently choose your product over others for a keyword such as “blue cotton jacket” or “flannel dog bed,” Amazon will give that product a high organic ranking. Products with high organic rankings will show up closer to the top of search results.
On the other hand, Amazon determines your product’s BSR through sales numbers. Usually, you’ll need a high organic ranking to improve visibility, get more product views, and ultimately, earn higher sales. Remember that when your organic ranking goes up, your BSR probably will, too.
How Does Amazon Calculate BSR?
Amazon doesn’t tell sellers how it calculates BSR, but factors that likely contribute to its calculations include:
- Historic and current sales
- Prices of similar competitor products
- Price changes, such as lowered pricing from a sale
Amazon calculates and updates BSR hourly. If you have a higher sales volume than you usually do, though, don’t expect your ranking to suddenly improve. This is because Amazon takes into account historical sales for the product to avoid sudden dips or spikes in BSR. Likewise, if you have low sales for a day or two, your BSR won’t simply drop overnight. What matters most is how much your BSR goes up or down over time.
How to Predict Sales with Your BSR
Sellers can use a product’s BSR to estimate future sales or how often the product will sell on Amazon. As an example, assume your product has a BSR of 5,000, which equates to 300 sales per month. You review your sales history and find that your product had a BSR of 6,000 and 250 sales last month. At the same time last year, though, the product had a BSR of 4,500 and sold 270 units per month.
Using these figures, you can determine how many units you’ll sell in a month based on your current BSR. If you don’t want to calculate the numbers manually, try a BSR tracking application to handle the work for you.
Boost Your BSR with Click Fluency
Would you like to learn more about your BSR and find out how to score higher product sales on Amazon? If you’re still wondering, “What is a good BSR on Amazon?,” schedule a call with Click Fluency today! We’ll work with you on your PPC budget, listing optimization techniques, and everything else you need to help your Amazon business grow.