> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.laurence.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How a Shopper Buys

> The path from a search to an order, and the products, listings, sellers and Buy Box along it

Most Amazon purchases start with a search, pass through a results page and a product page, and end with a click on the offer Amazon features there.

## The path to a purchase

1. **Search.** The shopper types a search, such as "gps dog collar". We call each distinct search text a search (or search term).
2. **Results page.** Amazon shows a grid of products ranked by its own organic ranking, with sponsored (paid) tiles mixed in and above it. See [The Search Results Page](https://www.laurence.com/docs/amazon/search-results-page.md).
3. **Click.** The shopper clicks a product, organic or sponsored. A click on a sponsored tile is what an advertiser pays for. See [The Auction](https://www.laurence.com/docs/amazon/the-auction.md).
4. **Product page.** Also called the detail page. It shows the product, its variations (colours, sizes), its reviews, and more ads for other products.
5. **Buy Box and order.** The shopper adds the featured offer to the cart and buys. Amazon may show the order as a result of the ad for days afterwards. See [Measuring Results](https://www.laurence.com/docs/amazon/measuring-results.md).

A shopper can also arrive on a product page without a search, from another product's page, a recommendation, or an ad elsewhere. Search is the path that matters most for advertising, because it is where Amazon tells us what the shopper wanted.

## Products, listings and product lines

* **ASIN.** Amazon's id for one product (Amazon Standard Identification Number). Every size, colour or scent of a product has its own **child ASIN**.
* **Parent ASIN.** Groups the child ASINs of one product into a **variation family**, shown as one product page with a picker.
* **Listing.** A product page and what it sells. We use listing and ASIN loosely as the same thing.
* **Product line.** Our term: the listings a shopper chooses between by form, so they differ only by colour, scent or size. A product line is what we report revenue for and plan advertising around; a colour is a variant inside it, never its own line.

## Who sells

| Term | Meaning |
| - | - |
| `Seller (3P, third-party)` | Sells directly to shoppers through **Seller Central**, sets its own prices, and owns the inventory and the sale. The common case for our customers. Advertises from a seller-type Amazon Ads profile. |
| `Vendor (1P, first-party)` | Sells products wholesale **to** Amazon through **Vendor Central**; Amazon then retails them and sets the shopper's price. Advertises from a vendor-type profile. |
| `FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon)` | The seller ships inventory into Amazon's warehouses; Amazon stores, packs, ships and handles returns. |
| `FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant)` | The seller stores and ships orders itself; Amazon handles only the listing and the payment. Also called MFN. |

## The Buy Box

Several sellers can offer the same listing. Amazon features one offer on the product page, the **Buy Box**; most shoppers buy from it without looking at the others. A Sponsored Products ad only serves while the advertiser's own offer holds the Buy Box, so a seller who shares a listing with others advertises only as often as it wins the Buy Box.

## Markets and niches

Amazon files every listing into its category tree. We assign each listing to one subcategory of that tree (a browse node) and call that subcategory the listing's **market**. Separately, we group searches by what the shopper wants: a cluster of searches with one shopper intent is a **niche**. A market is about products; a niche is about searches. See [Demand and Markets](https://www.laurence.com/docs/amazon/demand-and-markets.md).

## What we have measured

| Fact | Evidence | Source |
| - | - | - |
| A Sponsored Products ad serves only while the advertiser holds the Buy Box | `Amazon-documented` | Amazon Ads eligibility rules |
| One subcategory per listing is how we define its market | `Our convention` | Our definitions |
| A colour, scent or size is a variant inside a product line, never its own line | `Our convention` | Our definitions |


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