What Are Amazon Promotions? A Complete Guide for Sellers

Want to boost your Amazon sales, fast? For sellers, using Amazon promotions is a key strategy for grabbing a customer’s attention and closing the sale. We’ll share the strategies you need for effective Amazon pricing and promotions.

Amazon promotions are special offers you create for your products. They are tools designed to encourage customers to buy now. They also help a customer choose your item over a competitor’s.

Promotions are an active part of your marketing strategy. They often work by creating a sense of urgency. Limited-time offers, like Deals or Coupons, use countdowns and visible badges. This encourages shoppers to make a purchase quickly.

You create and manage all your promotions within Seller Central. You can find these tools by going to the Advertising tab and selecting Manage Promotions.

To show your promotion, you must have the Featured Offer. This is also known as the Buy Box. If you do not have the Buy Box for a product, your coupon or deal badge will not appear on the page for customers to see.

What Are the Benefits of Using Amazon Promotions?

Promotions are a powerful tool for growing your business on Amazon. When used as part of your sales plan, they provide several key advantages.

Increase Visibility

Promotions help your product get noticed. Many deals, like Coupons and Lightning Deals, give your product an eye-catching badge in search results. This makes it stand out from competing items. Your offers can also appear on Amazon’s dedicated Deals page, which millions of customers visit to find special prices.

Boost Sales and Improve Rank

A sudden increase in sales from a promotion can improve your product’s Best Seller Rank (BSR). This starts what is often called a “flywheel effect.” A temporary sales boost leads to a better rank. A better rank makes your product more visible in organic search, which then leads to more regular sales.

Gain a Competitive Edge

A discount can be the deciding factor for a customer choosing between your product and a similar, full-priced item. This is a key part of Amazon price optimization. Winning that click with a promotion not only gets you the sale but also signals to Amazon that your offer is more appealing.

Clear Out Old Inventory

Promotions are a fast way to sell products that are overstocked or moving slowly. This is useful for seasonal items or to avoid long-term storage fees for inventory that has been in a fulfillment center for too long.

Build Customer Loyalty

A discount can convince a new customer to try your product for the first time. This gives you a chance to win them over with a quality item. A good first experience can lead to repeat purchases and positive reviews, helping you build a long-term customer base.

How Do the Main Types of Amazon Promotions Differ?

Amazon offers 3 main types of promotions, each with its own costs and benefits. Here’s a simple guide to the main ones included in the overall Amazon sale program.

Deals (Lightning Deals & Best Deals)

Deals are short-term offers that Amazon features in high-traffic areas. Customers see these as special, limited-time prices. The discount applies on its own when the customer checks out.

To use Deals, you need a Professional selling plan. Your seller rating must also be at least four stars.

Lightning Deals are very fast. They last only a few hours, usually between 4 and 12. They show a countdown timer, which creates urgency for shoppers. This tool is useful for a quick sales boost or to sell inventory fast. There is a one-time fee for each Lightning Deal, often around $150.

Best Deals run longer. These can last up to two weeks. Use Best Deals when you want a steadier increase in sales over a period of time. These also have a one-time fee.

Coupons and Prime Exclusive Discounts

These promotions use bright, visible badges to catch a customer’s eye. They help you target specific groups of shoppers.

Coupons make your product listing immediately stand out in search results. Shoppers see a visible, attention-grabbing orange badge right next to your item, but they must actively “clip” the discount on your product page to use it. With these discounts, you only pay a small redemption fee, typically around $0.60, each time a customer successfully utilizes that coupon during checkout.

Prime Exclusive Discounts are just for Prime members. The discount is automatic for them at checkout. This is a strong tool during big shopping events like Prime Day. Your product can get a special “Prime Day Deals” badge, which drives more traffic from loyal shoppers.

Percentage-Off and Buy One, Get One (BOGO)

You have the power to create your own promotions directly within Seller Central. Look for the “Manage Promotions” area to start. There, you can set up options like Percentage-Off deals or Buy One Get One (BOGO) offers. Using claim codes with these promotions makes them secure and easy for you to track performance later on.

Percentage-off is a common and effective choice. You simply offer a discount like “Save 15%.” You can also create unique, single-use claim codes. These codes are perfect for tracking your external marketing. You can give different codes to influencers or use them in social media ads to see which campaigns work.

Buy One, Get One (BOGO) helps you increase your average order value. You offer a second item for free or at a discount when a customer buys the first one. This encourages shoppers to buy more from you in a single order.

How To Set Up an Effective Amazon Promotion Campaign?

Are you looking to create an Amazon promotion, like a percentage off or a buy-one-get-one-free deal, using a claim code? Here’s a simple guide to help you out!

1. Navigate to Promotions: Log in to your Seller Central account. Hover over the Advertising tab and click on Manage Promotions.
2. Choose Your Promotion Type: Click the “Create a promotion” tab and select the type you want, like “Percentage Off.”
3. Set the Rules: In the “Conditions” section, choose which products are part of the promotion and set the rules, such as “Buy at least 2 items, get 10% off.”
4. Schedule It: Set a start and end date. The start date must be at least four hours in the future.
5. Set a Budget: For percentage-off promotions, you must set a budget (between $100 and $100,000). The promotion will automatically stop when 80% of the budget is used.
6. Review and Submit: In the final step, you can choose the type of claim code (single-use or group). Review all the details and click “Submit.”

How Much Do Amazon Promotions Cost?

Understanding the costs and how to track the results of your Amazon promotions is key to making them profitable. 

Here’s a simple guide to optimizing your Amazon pricing for promotions.

How Much Do Promotions Cost?

When you run a promotion, you face two costs: the discount and the Amazon fees. Knowing both helps you keep your campaign profitable.

What You Pay for the Discount

This is simple math. The discount you offer, multiplied by the number of units sold, is your discount cost. If you give a $5 off coupon and 100 people use it, that’s $500 out of your pocket. Always check that the final sale price works for your margins.

Amazon’s Charges

The fees vary based on the tool you pick. Here is how they break down:

Coupons involve a small fee every time a customer “clips” and uses the coupon. This fee is usually between $0.60 and $0.80 per redemption. You must add this fee to your total discount expense.

Meanwhile, deals like Lightning Deals have a flat participation fee. Since early 2025, the fee structure has changed. You now pay a fixed $70 daily fee plus a variable 1% of your deal’s sales. This fee has a cap of $2,000 per deal, so you won’t be surprised by a massive charge.

How to Prevent Overspending

You can protect your budget with the Percentage Off promotion tool. It lets you set a maximum budget for the promotion.

You can set a limit anywhere from $100 to $100,000. Amazon watches this for you. The promotion will automatically stop when it hits 80% of the budget you set. This feature is an important safety measure that prevents a wildly popular campaign from costing too much. Always use a budget to stay in control of your spending.

How to Measure Success

To know if your promotion was successful, you need to track the right numbers. ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sales) is a common metric, but it doesn’t tell the whole story because it doesn’t include the boost in organic sales your promotion creates. 

Ultimately, this data feeds back into your overarching Amazon pricing strategy. Here are the main terms you need to track how well your Amazon promotions perform:

• Sales Lift: The true jump in sales beyond your normal daily amount.
• ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sales): Measures your ad campaign’s efficiency.
• ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): Shows the revenue earned for every dollar you spent on ads.
• ROI (Return on Investment): Your overall profitability after considering all marketing expenses.

You can track your promotion’s redemptions and conversion rates directly in Seller Central. If you’re driving traffic from outside of Amazon (like from social media), use Amazon Attribution to see how those channels are affecting your sales.

What Are The Best Practices For A Successful Amazon Promotion Campaign?

It’s simple to run a great promotion. You need a clear deal, seen by the right person, at the right time.  

Make Your Deal Stand Out

First, make your discount easy to get. A big percentage off, like 50% off, catches the eye fast. For higher-priced products, a dollar amount, such as “$20 off,” often feels more substantial. Just ensure that the sale price is still profitable for you.

You must also stop discount stacking. Before you launch a deal, confirm the item is not already running a coupon. Set your promotion to prevent shoppers from combining multiple discounts. This keeps your budget safe.

Finally, focus your promotions on your top-selling products, especially during big events like Prime Day. Promoting popular items drives the highest sales volume and introduces new people to your best stock.

Target the Moment and the Shopper

Run your biggest promotions when traffic is highest. Time them for key moments like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Shoppers are ready to buy then.

You should use tools like Brand Tailored Promotions to reach the right people. You can show special offers only to shoppers who already follow your brand. This increases your chances of a quick sale.

Always optimize your listing first. Before spending on a promotion, check that your product page is perfect. Great images and clear descriptions make sure the traffic you bring in actually buys your product.

Finally, you need to mix your channels. Share your promotion codes on social media. This sends traffic directly to Amazon, which gives you a great sales lift.

FAQs about Amazon promotions: