Products that offer a coupon on Amazon US appear more frequently on page one organic search results during the promotion, with that positive impact lingering even after the coupon sunsets. This emphasizes that the value of a limited time coupon extends beyond sales generated by actual coupon redemptions, and is a valuable tool for brands looking to improve the visibility of particular products on Amazon SERPs.

Across two separate two-week cohorts, products that offered a coupon on Amazon US during the full study period saw their weekly organic page one search appearances rise by an average 17.2% compared to the week preceding the promotion. This increase in search visibility wasn’t fully temporary – search appearances were still up a full 10.6% over the pre-promotion average the week after the coupon period ended.

The likely reason behind these shifts is Amazon’s search algorithm prioritizing both lower-priced options in search along with products that Amazon deems likely to convert shoppers. From a study we conducted back in 2022, coupons positively impact conversion rates and, as you may expect, the larger the coupon value, the larger the redemption rate. As historical sales velocity also factors into Amazon search rankings, it’s likely that the increased sales coming from the coupon promotion helps maintain much of the search appearance gains even after the coupon sunsets.

Biggest Takeaways for Brands

• When evaluating the impact of a coupon promotion, make sure to include organic search metrics
  • While top line sales and overall redemptions are obviously important, tracking increases to search visibility for promoted products should be considered a secondary KPI
  • Tactically modifying advertising based on these changes during the promotion can also help minimize the TACOS incurred on top of the coupon’s impact on margins overall
• As part of larger strategic planning, account for these search ‘knock-on effects’
  • For newer or highly strategic products that need a boost in terms of search visibility both in the near and longer term, coupon promotions are absolutely worth considering

Methodology

Momentum Commerce analyzed daily organic search appearances across the top 1 million search terms on Amazon for more than 20,000 products that offered a coupon over the entirety of either of the two-week cohorts (June 8 through June 21, 2023 or August 8 through 22, 2023). The weekly average of organic search appearances achieved by these products during the coupon period was then compared to the weekly averages both prior to and directly following the coupon promotion.

The data referencing coupon redemption rates is drawn from a study of more than 300 client products from October 2021 through February 2022 where a coupon was available, comprising more than 1 million order records.