If you are selling on bol.com, you're probably familiar with the term ‘buy box’. Knowing how to get your products in the buy box is crucial for sellers on the platform. In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about this feature on bol.com. We’ll talk about what the buy box is, how to win the buy box, and what it can do for you as a seller.
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What exactly is the buy box on bol.com?
The buy box on bol.com determines which seller gets the order. Bol wants to provide their customers with the best offer - and the best offer is in the buy box. A product being in the buy box considerably increases the chance that it will be added to the shopping cart. If your product does not show up in the buy box, it is highly likely that a competitor gets the order. The battle for winning the buy box occurs when multiple vendors offer the same product on the platform. The battle is won by the seller that has the best offer in terms of price, delivery time, and service.
Suppose you want to buy a book and type in the title as a search query. If several partners of bol.com sell this particular book, only one of these partners is selected as the seller. The seller’s name will be visible in the search results that show up after looking for a product. Other vendors that sell the same book will be shown underneath the shopping cart button, giving customers the option to choose between multiple sellers of the product. However, being in the buy box is very important since consumers don’t really look at alternative sellers. In 99% of online searches, a consumer will pick the product that is displayed in the buy box.
The best strategy for winning the buy box on bol.com
The buy box on bol.com is a much-desired spot for businesses that are looking to grow. To win the buy box, there are several things you need to consider:
- Fast delivery
Fast delivery plays an important part in winning the buy box. Bol.com requires partners to be fast and transparent when it comes to delivery in order to satisfy the end customer. This is because consumers expect faster delivery time, sometimes even same-day delivery. The bol.com algorithm looks at the number of delivery days you specify as a seller. If this is 1-2 working days, for example, bol.com will calculate it as 2 working days. Whatever you do, make sure that you make the set delivery time, because delivering your products later than promised works to your disadvantage.
- Sharp pricing
Offering the most competitive prices as a seller will give you a better chance of winning the buy box. You can see the performance of your pricing on the price analysis page within bol.com. On this page, you can see whether your price is in line with the market, or if the price for your product is competitive.
- Service standards of bol.com
Sellers on bol.com are evaluated on a number of service points. These service points all have their own service standards, which are minimum requirements that you must meet in order to continue selling your products on the platform. High scoring service standards will result in a better chance at winning the buy box on bol.com.
Checklist for winning the buy box on bol.com
Bol.com has compiled 8 criteria points that help sellers win the buy box. We have listed the important points for you below:
- Delivery on time; 93% of all orders should reach customers on time.
- As few order cancellations as possible: to be precise, only 2% is allowed.
- Addition of track-and-trace number to all packages and letters.
- Available by phone on weekdays between 9 AM and 5 PM.
- Minimize customer questions; having a lot of customer questions indicate that product descriptions and/or images are unclear.
- Rating of 8 or higher; this applies to the rating you get as a seller and has nothing to do with product reviews from end customers.
- As few returns as possible.
- Quick response to customer inquiries: 90% of customer inquiries are answered within 8 business hours. Business hours are Monday - Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM.
To win the buy box on bol.com, you need to score high on all points. Bol.com keeps track of this for you in a transparent way. You can find a clear weekly overview of how you score on these service standards through your sales account on the website.
Your bol.com strategy
It may seem like bol.com itself always wins the buy box, rather than giving it to an external partner. However, this is not always the case. As we mentioned before, the algorithm looks at delivery time, pricing, and service. If you want to compete with bol.com, which often offers competitive prices for products, without having to manually adjust prices, then using repricing tools from ChannelEngine and Vendiro can be of great help.
Need help with using these repricing tools? As a certified partner of several integrators, Brandsom knows exactly what you need to make your sales on bol.com and other marketplaces a success. If you're looking for advice on how to score high on all the aforementioned criteria points to win the buy box on bol.com, then fill in the contact form to get in touch with one of our specialists for a no-obligation consultation.
