The buy box

To make our customers' daily lives easier together, we want to provide the best offer. When multiple partners offer the same item via bol, one of the partners is selected for the buy box. And that is the partner who, at that moment, has the best offer in terms of price, delivery promise, and quality. If you have the buy box, the chance that the item added to the shopping cart comes from your product range significantly increases.

A good offer helps you get into the buy box. Various factors are considered for this.

Various factors are weighed when assigning the buy box. This ensures our customers get the best deal and partners have a fair chance:

1. Availability: The item must be available for delivery.
2. Condition: Such as second-hand or returned items.
3. Price: The price of the item, including shipping costs and VAT, is an important factor. Customers often choose the best deal. Small price differences (e.g., €0.01) have no impact.
4. Delivery conditions: The algorithm considers:
   1. Delivery time: the faster, the better.
   2. Delivery period, such as 'ordered before 23:00, delivered tomorrow'.
   3. Extra delivery option(s): allowing the customer to choose a different (later) delivery moment.
5. Performance score: Based on delivering items on time, avoiding cancellations, and correctly providing a track & trace.

By keeping these factors balanced, we strive for a fair and optimal buy box position for all our partners.

Which of the mentioned factors weigh most heavily differs per product category. We continuously adjust this weighting based on customer behavior. For everyday items, for example, fast delivery plays a major role, while for furniture, price is often more important.

We continue to improve the algorithm behind the buy box to offer customers the best deal and increase conversion. This way, together we ensure an offer that truly meets customer needs.