Surely you’ve seen the “frequently bought together” section on Amazon. But what is it, exactly? How does it work? And can sellers use it to their advantage?
We all know how the upselling process works when shoppers are in a physical store. They browse the aisles or the checkout counter, picking up last-minute items they didn’t know they needed. However, this feature is different when selling online, specifically on Amazon.
Fortunately, the e-commerce giants offer many upselling features, such as product recommendations. When customers receive product recommendations, average orders can increase by a whopping 369%!
But how do stores like Amazon recommend products? They use the “frequently bought together” section.
With this feature, Amazon uses its advanced algorithms to personalize the shopping experience, based on what other buyers are purchasing and the unique shopper’s preferences and habits.
What Is “Frequently Bought Together” on Amazon?
Here’s how the feature works in a nutshell: Amazon uses its advanced ‘frequently bought together’ algorithm to gauge what shoppers are buying in relation to a seller’s products.
The algorithm makes these product recommendations based on popularity, quality, the shopper’s buying preferences, and matching any products that complement each other.
How Does Amazon Frequently Bought Together Work?
It’s important to learn more about the ‘frequently bought together’ algorithm to understand how this section works.
The marketplace analyzes the entire shopping cart before checkout, understanding the items that buyers included in relation to a seller’s products.
As stated previously, Amazon also uses the shopper’s history, preferences, past browsed products, and shopping behaviors to create a unique “frequently bought together” section for each customer.
Amazon will also take other factors into consideration, such as product popularity and ratings.
Techniques to Take Advantage of Amazon’s “Frequently Bought Together” Section
Alas, there are no concrete instructions to land your products on “frequently bought together.” The section is based largely on shopping behaviors, so brands don’t have as much control over this feature.
But there are best practices you can use to promote your listings better and drive sales. Here are some of our recommended tactics:
Improve Your Seller Ranking
The Amazon Best-Sellers Rank (BSR) is a numerical value that expresses how well your products sell in comparison to other items in your category. It also takes other factors into consideration, such as order defective rate, shipping speed, and positive reviews.
Amazon BSR is an estimate of your sales frequency. It may not drive sales further, but it does provide a visibility boost. And the better your visibility, the better chance you’ll have of ending up in “frequently bought together.”
Sell High-Quality Products
The best way to occupy a niche is by selling products your customers want to buy. Your products should be made with the best materials, be durable, and work according to the listing.
When you sell products that are built to last and exceed expectations, you’ll have greater customer satisfaction–and Amazon will notice that in your sales and reviews.
When Amazon sees that your products gain sales and positive reviews, they will promote your listings more than the competition–on both organic search and in features such as “frequently bought together.”
Use SEO
To end up in the “frequently bought together” section, customers need to find your products. The best first place to do that is on Amazon’s search engine. Sellers should use SEO strategies to target the best keywords in their listings, and create content that will guide buyers along the sales journey.
The first step in ranking on Amazon search is by conducting keyword research. Here’s how it works:
- Find search terms in your niche that relate to your products, ideally with high search traffic and low competition.
- Use these keywords in your listing title and throughout the description, but don’t overdo it–fit your search terms in naturally.
Include high-quality images so consumers can get a full view of your products. Diversify your media with videos and infographics to make your content easily digestible and captivating.
Focus on Product Ratings
Product ratings are one of the factors that Amazon’s algorithms look for when displaying your items on the “frequently bought together” section. Even though you don’t have direct control over your product ratings, there are tricks you can use to increase your reviews.
Amazon offers many options for sellers, such as the “Request a Review” button, the Vine program, and the Promotions feature. There are other tactics you can use on your own, such as email responders in Amazon’s messaging system, rating inserts inside the packaging, and mitigating negative reviews.
Bundle Products
You don’t have to wait for Amazon to combine product recommendations. Amazon also lets you sell two or more complementary products in bundles.
Bundles are convenient for the user and also save them money. Plus, bundling products is an easy way for you to increase sales, making it a win-win for you and the buyer.
In addition, you’re also producing more checkout cart data to show which products are complementary. This way, you can convert buyers with bundling and frequently bought together features.
Be a Prime-Eligible Store
There are 148.6 million Amazon Prime subscribers in the US. Amazon Prime users get free and fast shipping on most orders, making it one of the core reasons why subscribers use the program.
By being a Prime-eligible store, you’ll have an easier time converting leads and retaining existing customers.
Matched with other tactics, such as product bundling and SEO, this will help you increase sales and will improve your chances of appearing on the “frequently bought together” section.
Host Deals and Specials
Any customer loves a good deal. Three-fourths of Americans say an offer is a top factor in deciding what to buy and where to buy it. And you can use deals and promotions to hack the “frequently bought together” algorithm.
To use this tactic, look for two or more complementary products. Examples include a blanket with throw pillows or socks with sneakers. Offer these items at a discounted rate; you can use a coupon code to track your sales better.
Over time, Amazon’s algorithms will notice customers are buying these products together and will list them in the “frequently bought together” section.
Understand that this tactic is different from bundling. Instead of decreasing the price of both items when purchased together, deals and specials decrease the price of individual items, and will make customers more compelled to add these items and more to their shopping cart.
Increase Your Order Value
Your order value is the average dollar amount that customers spend every time they visit your store. Having a healthy order value means that buyers are spending more money with every interaction while you maintain inventory and fulfill these orders.
There are more benefits to having a healthy order value, such as higher profit margins and a consistent revenue stream.
Plus, Amazon offers many tools to increase your order value. For example, if the algorithm notices your customers are adding the same items to their carts, Amazon will recommend those additional products to future buyers.
Eventually, this will lead to these items appearing under “frequently bought together.”
Take Advantage of “Frequently Bought Together”
When consumers shop on Amazon, they may come across the “frequently bought together” section. Amazon uses its advanced algorithms to track which items are in users’ shopping carts, and will recommend these items to future customers.
Since Amazon auto-generates the products’ selection, this feature is largely out of the seller’s control. That said, the tactics above can drive visibility and increase the likelihood of appearing in the “frequently bought together” section.
Now, these strategies may amount to a lot of work for a busy e-Commerce owner. Instead of juggling these tasks yourself, reach out to an e-commerce agency!
We offer a full-service solution that aims to increase your sales using various strategies. These include content and SEO, advertising, inventory management, and more. Learn more about our services today.
Author
Stephanie Jensen has been writing e-commerce content for seven years, and her copy has helped numerous stores rank on Amazon. Follow her on LinkedIn for more insight into freelance writing and creating high-quality content.
