‍There is little doubt that Amazon has become one of the most important players in the retail market. In fact, according to a recent analysis by eMarketer, Amazon’s constant investments in logistics, fulfillment and shipping services will make it an almost $300 billion company by 2021. With this much importance placed on the e-commerce giant and its algorithm, brands are scrambling to find ways to ensure their products are optimized for visibility on Amazon.

To that end, a number of resources have been published with the intention of helping sellers improve their Amazon BSR (Best Sellers Rank) on Amazon. But these resources often leave people feeling even more confused about the Organic ranking system than before reading them.

What is the Best Sellers Rank?

Amazon BSR

The BSR is a metric that Amazon uses to rank products in a given category based on sales volume. The Amazon algorithm tracks sales on a per-minute basis. The BSR is not a representation of the product’s popularity, but rather the product’s sales velocity. The BSR is represented on Amazon with a number and a bar graph. Each product is given a number to represent its BSR. The ranking is based on the percentage of sales that product has compared to the total sales of all products in that same category. It’s important to note that the BSR is not a static number and is subject to change.

Also, BSR is not influenced by the Product Review or ratings. According to some sources, the algorithm that ranks products and assigns Amazon BSR has a predictive factor by which it can analyze the future sales of the products too. The BSR doesn’t show how many units of a given product have been sold in a given time frame; instead, it shows how many units were sold compared to the total number of units sold in that category. Sellers can also use the Amazon Best Sellers Rank to estimate or predict their monthly sales

Amazon’s Buyer Behavior

Shoppers don’t always shop with a specific item or product in mind, so it’s important for sellers to make their products as discoverable as possible. Many shoppers turn to Amazon to browse products that are relevant to their search terms. Interestingly, one study reports that the most common way shoppers (potential customers) start their product searches is by browsing those that are currently ranked on the first page of search results.

So to improve the searchability of your products along with the conversion rate, you should optimize your product listing with relevant keywords and compelling copy. You should also ensure that you have a great product tittle, bullet points and high-quality images. This leads us to the conclusion that the visibility of a product listing is a critical piece of the sales puzzle.

The BSR Formula

Theoretically, the BSR is calculated based on: Sales, both the current and historical price changes, including sales and promotions similar to the competitive products each hour. Amazon updates the BSR values based on current and historical sales. And another aspect is that the number of historical sales compared to other products is what makes your product rank higher on Amazon’s results page.

The BSR is calculated each and every minute. The formula for calculating a product’s Best Sellers Rank is as follows: (Total Sales/Units Sold in a Given Time Period) X 100 = BSR If a product sold 5 units in a given time frame, and 100 units total, that product would have a BSR of 20. But that product’s BSR could easily change to 15 if 100 products are sold within that next minute.

Best Sellers Rank and Organic Reach

As we’ve explored, the BSR is a metric that Amazon uses to rank products in a given category based on sales volume. That said, many brands are looking to grow their organic reach on the Amazon platform. The BSR can certainly play a role in this, but only if the product is selling well. If you are seeing a decline in organic sales per month and are curious about what might be causing the dip, you can check your product’s BSR.

If your product is not selling as well, it could be because the BSR is too low and that would be because your Product description would not contain the relevant keywords. The lower your BSR, the lower your product will be ranked in the search results. And while your product’s organic rank may not be plummeting to the bottom of the page, a lower BSR could be shoving your listing down to a place where it’s nearly impossible for shoppers to find it.

Best Sellers Rank and Paid Reach

All sellers want to maximize the potential of their inventory, and many are currently placing Amazon paid ads at the center of their strategy. But it’s important to remember that Amazon’s algorithm takes paid and organic sales into account, which means your product’s BSR can impact how much you pay for ads. And as with organic reach, if you are seeing a decline in paid sales and want to know what might be causing the dip, checking your product’s BSR is a good place to start.

If your product is not selling as well, it could be because the BSR is too low. The lower your BSR, the lower your product will be ranked in the search results. And while your product’s rank may not be plummeting to the bottom of the page, a lower BSR could be shoving your listing down to a place where Amazon’s algorithm sees it as less relevant.

How to Find your BSR Using Excel

The BSR is calculated every minute, which means that the data you see in Seller Central is a bit out of date. You can, however, see your BSR growing if you use a spreadsheet to view the data. You can also use that same data to estimate when you will rank better. The first thing you need to do is find your product page URL. You can do this by navigating to your product in Seller Central, clicking on the “Product Page” tab, and copying the URL from there.

There are a few ways to view your BSR, but the easiest way is to use the Amazon Sales Ranks Explorer. You can access it at BSR-explorer.com and enter your URL. Once you have done that, you can see your BSR and sales information. This data updates every 15 minutes, so you will have to refresh the page occasionally to get the most current information.

Conclusion: Importance of BSR

The BSR is a metric that Amazon uses to rank products in a given Product category based on sales volume. It’s important to note that the BSR is not a static number and is subject to change. The BSR formula is quite straightforward. The Amazon algorithm tracks sales on a per-minute basis. For every minute, the system tallies up the total sales for all products in a category, and then it tallies up the sales for each individual product. Next, it divides the sales of each product by the total sales for all products in that category. Finally, it multiplies the resulting percentage by 100 to get the BSR for each product in the category.