Overview

Amazon Seller Central offers several built-in promotion types that allow sellers to incentivize purchases, increase average order value, and move inventory more efficiently. Understanding which promotion type fits your sales strategy is essential for maximizing conversions without unnecessarily eroding margins. This reference covers the main promotion formats available to third-party sellers, along with practical examples of how each one works.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Percentage Off promotions — These let you offer a discount expressed as a percentage of the item price when a buyer meets certain purchase conditions. For example, you might offer 30% off an item when a customer purchases one or more qualifying products.
• Tiered quantity discounts — Sellers can structure promotions that reward bulk purchases. A common example is saving 20% for every five pairs of socks purchased, encouraging shoppers to buy in larger quantities.
• Buy One Get One (BOGO) promotions — This classic retail format lets you offer a free item when a buyer purchases a qualifying quantity. Variations include buying two lipsticks and getting a third free, or purchasing a muffin pan and receiving a box of muffin cups at no extra charge.
• Cross-product bundling — Promotions can span different ASINs, allowing you to pair complementary products together. This is especially useful for encouraging add-on purchases and increasing basket size.
• Social media promo codes — Amazon also provides a dedicated promotion type that generates shareable discount codes designed for distribution through social media channels, email lists, and influencer partnerships.

How Promotions Work in Seller Central

All promotions are created and managed through the Advertising tab in Seller Central under the Promotions section. When setting up a promotion, sellers define the promotion type, qualifying conditions (such as minimum purchase quantity or specific ASINs), the discount or free item offered, and the promotion's active dates. Amazon then automatically applies the promotion at checkout when a buyer's cart meets the specified conditions. Promotions can be configured to apply to individual products, groups of products, or your entire catalog depending on your strategy. Each promotion generates a unique claim code that can either be single-use or group-use, giving sellers control over distribution.