Web users will invariably turn to Google in their hunt for where they can catch the new Avengers movie or where to find the hottest Sushi restaurant in town. When it comes to product searches, however, Amazon is king.
According to Insider Intelligence, 61% of US consumers begin their product hunt on Amazon, close to half on a search engine like Google, and 32% on Walmart.com.
JungleScout– a company dedicated to enhancing e-commerce retailers’ sales through search – echoed these findings, stating that 66% of consumers start their product searches on Amazon.
For brands selling on Amazon, it’s becoming abundantly clear: dominating the share of search on Amazon is critical to success.
Google versus Amazon
By virtue of being logged on to the world’s most popular e-commerce platform, users beginning their product search on Amazon are closer to making a purchase than those starting with Google. And that just plain makes sense given that Amazon users typically have their billing and shipping information on their account ready to go while Amazon Prime users are equipped to make a purchase through the platform’s one-click ordering feature. While Google users are performing research on what they’d like to buy through their searches, Amazon users are ready to hit the checkout button. For Amazon retailers, this makes having their products at the top of the list of the utmost importance. According to Jumpshot, more than two-thirds of product clicks occur on the first page of Amazon’s search results, while one-third occur on the first two rows displayed.
Climbing the Amazon Search Ladder
There are several subtleties to Amazon’s search algorithm to be considered by Amazon retailers to ensure their products are being listed favourably in product searches. For starters, Amazon’s search algorithm includes user reviews, favouring products with genuine five-star reviews. This makes consumer reviews even more impactful.
Optimizing for A10: Amazon’s Search Ranking Algorithm
Amazon’s search algorithm – known as A10 – is getting smarter and can even bring up accurate results following search terms with misspellings and variations. According to Amazon themselves; “Factors such as degree of text match, price, availability, selection, and sales history help determine where your product appears in a customer’s search results. By providing relevant and complete information for your product, you can increase your product’s visibility and sales. Below are some general guidelines to improve your product listings.” As such, Amazon retailers should be focused on populating – through product titles and descriptions – as many relevant terms as possible for their products.
In Summary
The bottom line: ensuring your products are achieving a high product ranking on Amazon’s search engine is becoming of paramount importance. Amazon data indicates that sales on their platform are driven by a healthy mix of customer reviews and favourable search rankings. This makes search optimization on Amazon’s powerful A9 algorithm a must when it comes to staying ahead of competitors.
