Amazon Choice Badge: How it Works and Its Impact on Your Sales

In the past year, it seems like eCommerce has a big rocket strapped on its back as it is quickly becoming a preferred choice when buying products. Whether it be due to the convenience, the vast choices of products, the price, and even the looming pandemic, the fact remains that eCommerce is here to stay.

The proverbial “one eCommerce platform” that rules them all is currently Amazon. In the United States alone, it is the most popular shopping app with over 150 million people accessing the platform around September of 2019.

In comparison, the second most frequented eCommerce app, Walmart, has users in the 76 million range.

Apart from that, the number of sellers in Amazon is nearing 9.7 million, with 1.9 million actively selling. Statistics indicate that each year, a million more sellers join. In the first quarter of 2021 alone, close to 300,000 sellers joined. Following this same pace, Amazon will be expected to add 1.4 million sellers in 2021.

One of the attractive features of selling on an eCommerce platform like Amazon is the additional revenue that people can make along the way. Around 10% of sellers have reported annual sales of about $100,000, with a few sellers reaching the million dollar mark.

With so many sellers in Amazon, it is no surprise knowing that it is a very fierce and competitive marketplace. Sellers who are seeking their fortune there need every advantage and edge to overcome their competition.

There are many things that can be worked on to ensure the success of sellers. Some of these advantages come in the form of badges that are attached to products. One is the sought after Bestseller Badge which indicates a great number of sales for a specific product.

The other is called the Amazon Choice Badge.

But what is the Amazon Choice Badge? How does a seller on Amazon attain it, and how does it impact sales? In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the Amazon Choice Badge and find the answers to these questions.

In 2015, Amazon introduced the Amazon Echo. It is a machine that recognizes voices and is commonly known for its AI host, Alexa. With it, people can ask questions of Alexa, search the web, play songs, and even buy items from Amazon.

The inception and introduction of the Echo is also what prompted the creation of the Amazon Choice Badge. It is meant to help direct the purchases of buyers when looking for products on the Echo.

Initially, when a person searches for a specific product on the Echo, the buyer’s history is taken into consideration and used to pull up products relevant to the search.

This question is the main reason why the Amazon Choice Badge was created.

If the buyer has no history buying certain products, buying products in a certain category, and even history with companies that offer the same type of product being searched, then the Amazon marketplace recommends a product that has the Amazon Choice Badge.

In short, it allows the algorithm to offer a product when it has no history to draw upon.

Now though, the use of the Choice Badge has extended to the website and the app.

In plain sight, the only similarity between the Bestseller and Choice badge is that they are both badges placed by the Amazon team on certain products.

As mentioned previously, the Bestseller badge is given to a product that has exceeded sales in a certain subcategory within the market.

This means with a little bit of research and study of the various subcategories, sellers could place their product in a subcategory and earn the bestseller badge.

The Bestseller Badge is defined quite clearly, yet the Amazon Choice Badge is anything but. Amazon has yet to lift the hood and allow people a clear look at this badge. However, this doesn’t mean that we are totally in the dark about it.

We’ve learned the history of the Amazon Choice Badge and what it is used for. One big distinction this badge has from the Bestseller badge is where it is assigned or associated with.

While the Bestseller badge takes a look at the subcategory, the Amazon Choice Badge looks at specific keywords. The fact that it is assigned to very specific keywords means that it helps the Amazon algorithm recommend certain products when it needs to.

This also means though that it is harder to manipulate. One of the best practices that sellers can do is to align the product to the most relevant or searched keywords they use when searching for the product.

If there is any other similarity between the two badges, it may be the positive effect it has on sales. However, we'll see later on if the Amazon Choice Badge does have a positive impact on sales.

The factors that affect the earning of the Amazon Choice Badge are still quite vague. However, throughout several years of experience of sellers, there are certain factors that can be deduced.

As stated above, the Amazon Choice Badge is linked to keywords. Products that are linked to keywords that are the most relevant have some of the highest chances of earning the Amazon Choice Badge.

Hone on keywords that will greatly increase the chances of customers finding the product that is being sold. In order to do this, sellers should target long-tail keywords. These targeted keywords usually relate to a problem that a product can solve.

It is doubly important to note though that just because a seller has researched the right keywords doesn’t mean that it should be splattered all over the product page. Amazon will see this and can penalize sellers who do keyword stuffing. This will then lower the visibility of a seller’s products even further.

One of the statements in Amazon’s vague description of the Amazon Choice Badge is that they must be “well-priced”. While this doesn’t leave a lot to go on, it does speak to an already existing facet of a competitive marketplace.

Sellers are already in a constant state of competition. Price is a big point of contention.

While this is a factor for earning the Amazon Choice Badge, this doesn’t mean that a seller should have a product’s price drop to a point where profit is just an unreachable goal.

The best practice is to keep prices competitive. There are softwares out there that can help reprice products and ensure that they don’t deviate too far from the market standard.

Inventory levels are a make or break factor for any seller or store. Even if a seller is at the top of the category, one instance without the right inventory can drive buyers to the next competitors. That is why it is so important to keep the inventory levels topped up.

This factor probably relates to the Amazon Choice Badge as a sign of trust and constant fulfilment of the orders of the customers.

When buyers leave high star ratings on products, this means that people trust the product and put their faith in having the product solve the problems they are concerned with.

Even if a seller’s product isn’t one of the best out of the subcategories, the high star ratings could help sway the vote and garner sellers an Amazon Choice Badge.

If a product was purchased and the buyer did not leave a comment, sellers can consider reaching out to them in order to get some feedback. This also calls interest to the fact that the quality of the products should be absolutely topnotch.

One final tip we have for the rating system is in the product information shared. Curating the page of a product is essential here. Look over the product descriptions and bullet points. Make sure that everything is written clearly to avoid any misunderstandings that could result in low ratings.

When a seller’s products are returned consistently, then Amazon does put stock into this. It is a signal that the product being sold is not of quality. As one may imagine, this greatly decreases the chances of earning the Amazon Choice Badge.

After discussing what the Amazon Choice Badge is and the various factors that contribute to attaining one, the question stands: does the Amazon Choice Badge impact sales?

The answer, like so many things in life, are just not as plain as a “yes” or “no”.

In some way, the Amazon Choice Badge does positively impact sales. For people who continue to order products through the Echo, the badge is an integral cog for how it works. However, even on the website or app, the badge can come into play.

There are certain people who will see this badge on certain products and instantly gravitate towards it. A stamp of approval from Amazon sure does make choosing between products easier.

At the same time though, this isn’t a total assurance. There have been some cases where a certain product has the Amazon Choice Badge, but the product doesn’t match the keyword. The more judicious buyers will be able to see that the product being offered isn’t what they are looking for.

Moreover, if a product has the Amazon Choice Badge, it has increased visibility in the website and app. It is presented as one of the top search results. In a market where there are so many products, visibility is a huge advantage.

Thus, it is clear that the Amazon Choice Badge can have a positive impact on sales. However, it isn’t a silver bullet that guarantees immediate sales increase.

If sellers are pondering on whether to aim for one or not, we reckon the answer is “what do you have to lose?”

We hope that this has been informative, and that you can use this information to further your success in the Amazon marketplace.