What Are All These 'Amazon Best Sellers Rank' Numbers?

Virginia Miller

October 7, 2024

In this article

Hundreds of millions of products are listed in over 30 categories on the Amazon marketplace in the United States. And while such figures may seem ridiculous, the great majority of things accessible on Amazon (that have made one or more sales) are given a particular ranking known as the Best Sellers Rank (BSR).

Understanding Amazon's Best Sellers Rank

Amazon's Best Sellers Rank (BSR) is a ranking system that measures the popularity and sales volume of products sold on Amazon. The BSR algorithm is complex, but generally factors in recent sales velocity, historical performance, pricing, reviews, and more. Understanding your BSR can provide valuable insights into how well your products are performing.

What Goes Into Calculating BSR?

The main components Amazon uses to calculate BSR are:

Recent sales velocity - How many units are sold over recent time periods (e.g. per hour or per day)
Historical performance - Longer-term sales patterns over weeks/months/years
Relative rarity - How a product's sales rank compares to others in its category
Reviews and ratings
Listing quality and optimization
Price competitiveness

The algorithm is constantly updated, so BSR fluctuates regularly based on real-time sales and other factors. Lower BSR numbers indicate higher sales and more popular products.

BSR vs. Organic Ranking

While BSR measures raw sales volume, organic ranking refers to where your product ranks in Amazon's search results. Optimizing your product listings for relevant keyword searches can improve organic ranking. So both BSR and organic rankings are important:

BSR reflects current sales momentum
Organic ranking attracts potential new sales

Tips for Improving Your BSR

Here are some proven tactics for boosting your Amazon BSR:

Price competitively
Maintain sufficient inventory
Provide great customer service and respond to feedback
Incentivize reviews
Run promotions and advertisements
Leverage social media and email marketing
Refresh and optimize listings

Monitoring your BSR regularly and experimenting with these tactics can help drive more Amazon sales over time. Simpl Fulfillment also offers services to help sellers scale up on Amazon and beyond.

The Bottom Line

Amazon BSR is a metric every seller should be tracking. Understanding what impacts your BSR empowers you to make smart decisions and fuel growth through higher sales and visibility. With the right optimization strategies, reaching a "good" BSR is an achievable goal on Amazon.

FAQs

What is the Amazon Best Sellers Rank?

The Amazon Best Sellers Rank (BSR) is an algorithm that ranks products based on recent sales history. It reflects current popularity and sales velocity.

How is the Amazon BSR calculated?

The BSR algorithm considers sales velocity, historical sales data, product rarity, listing quality, reviews, and more.

What's a good Best Sellers Rank?

A "good" rank depends on the product category. Use sales estimator tools to determine the BSR needed to meet your sales goals.

Can I improve my Amazon BSR?

Yes, optimize pricing, reviews, Prime eligibility, inventory, listings, promotions, advertising, and more to drive sales and rank higher.

What tools calculate sales from BSR?

The Amazon Sales Calculator and paid tools like BookScanner let you estimate sales from rank. Amazon also releases some category sales data.

How does BSR differ from organic ranking?

BSR reflects overall sales popularity while organic ranking shows relevancy to a search term. BSR changes faster than organic rankings.

Where do I find a product's Amazon BSR?

You can find the BSR in the Product Information section of Amazon listing pages. It will be ranked against other products in that category.