Amazon best practices for rifle scope listings

Intended audience: firearm optics brands

Summary: This article describes the best practices for creating Amazon listings for rifle scopes and other firearm optics. It reviews how top brands list their products and suggests strategies that brands can use to optimize their Amazon listings.

In the course of compiling an optics database of nearly all rifle scopes, reflex red dots, prism scopes, and holographic weapon sights for sale in North America, I have viewed well over a thousand Amazon listings for rifle scopes. As a result, I have formed some definite opinions about the best practices for listing firearm optics on Amazon.

Take control of your product listings by registering as a brand owner

Don’t let retailers write your Amazon product listings. Retailers tend to write low quality listings, and similar products may be written by different retailers and look completely different. Buyers have much more confidence making a purchase when the listing is clearly written by the manufacturer. I urge you to take control of your Amazon listings if you haven’t already done so.

Surprisingly for a $3,200 optic, this Schmidt & Bender listing literally has no product information beyond what’s in the listing title and the single photo.

This high quality Vortex listing was thoughtfully crafted by Vortex.

To take control of your product listings, you must apply for approval as a brand owner through the Amazon Brand Registry process. Once you have been approved as a brand owner, you can manage how listings for your products are organized, photos, bullet points, and detailed product descriptions.

By registering as brand with Amazon, you will also have access to special tools to create higher quality product listings called Amazon A+ Content featuring rich multimedia content. Amazon reports that upgrading product listings by using A+ Content increases conversions from 3% to 10%. By providing better product information, buyers have more accurate expectations about the product, and that should result in fewer returns and better reviews.

About the Amazon ASIN code and Item Model Numbers

The ASIN code is the primary product identifier used by Amazon, and looks like “B071P26BBN”. Amazon affiliates, such as bloggers or SageRatSafaris.com, use the ASIN code to link to a product listing.
Item Model Numbers are the ID assigned by the product’s brand (manufacturer). Savvy buyers cross-reference the Item Model Number to the part number found on the manufacturer’s web site to ensure they are purchasing the correct product. There is a one-to-one correspondence between ASINs and Item Model Numbers, the difference is one is assigned by Amazon and one is assigned by the brand. The ASIN and Item Model Number are displayed in the Product Details section of the product listing.

Use simple product titles

Write straightforward titles, don’t stuff them with unnecessary keywords or punctuation. Also consider the title length will be limited on tablet and phone devices, so optimize your title to look good at 35, 76 and 155 characters. Product titles should include:

• Brand (e.g., Zeiss)
• Model (e.g., V6)
• Magnification x Objective, when applicable (e.g., 3-18×50)
• Variation detail, when applicable (e.g., ZMOA Reticle w/BDC Turret)
• Riflescope or Red Dot Sight (as applicable, optional)
• Item Model Number, when applicable (e.g., 522241-9994-070)

Here are some examples of high quality product titles:

• Vortex Optics Diamondback Tactical First Focal Plane Riflescopes
• Trijicon AccuPower 1-8×28 Riflescopes
• Zeiss Conquest V6 3-18×50 ZMOA Reticle w/BDC Turret (522241-9994-070)

Here are some examples of low quality product titles that include extraneous information, unnecessary punctuation, or improper magnification/objective notation:

• MINOX ZL3 2-7 x 35mm PLEX – Weatherproof Compact Tactical Riflescope – 3X Magnification with Anti-Fog, Multi-Coated Lens and 2nd Focal Plane
• Nightforce Optics 5-25×56 ATACR ZeroStop Riflescope, Matte Black with F1 DigIllum Illuminated MOAR Reticle, 34mm Tube Diameter, Power Throw Lever & Side Parallax Adjust.
• Sig Sauer Romeo 7 Red Dot 3 MOA Rail Gun Scope, Graphite, Full Size (SOR71001)
• Burris Optics XTR II Rifle Scope – 5-25x50mm Riflescope – Tactical Shooting, Long Distance Shooting
• Bushnell Banner Dusk & Dawn Multi-X Reticle Riflescope with 3.3-Inch Eye Relief, 3-9X 40mm
• Athlon Optics , Argos BTR , Riflescope , 8-34 x 56 First Focal Plane (FFP) 30 mm Tube, Illuminated APMR MIL Reticle , [yes, the title really ends with a floating comma]
• Steiner Riflescope [yes, that’s all it says for the T5Xi line of scopes]

Optimize the Features & Details bullet points

The Features & Details bullet points appear at the very top of the product page on desktop. On mobile, the bullet points appear further down the page, after the A+ content and the product description. If you are registered with Amazon as a vendor (you sell products directly to Amazon, who then lists them as “sold by Amazon”), you may have up to ten bullet points. If you are registered as a seller, you may have up to five bullet points.

• Avoid vague marketing jargon, such as “PRECISE TARGET ACQUISITION – Identify your target and adjust windage and elevation with excellent resolution and tactical-appropriate reticles” or “The best resolution and contrast in all lighting conditions”.
• Include key search keywords.
• Avoid duplicating information that is already in the product title.

Here’s an example of a formula for making the most of five bullet points:

• Application: By describing the applications that a customer may be using your optic for, they will have greater confidence they are choosing an optic suitable for their purposes. This is also an opportunity to pack in search keywords. Examples include close range hunting, long range hunting, close range tactical, F-Class competition, Benchrest competition, PRS or NRL competition, 3-gun or Multi-gun competition, low powered variable optic (LPVO), long range target scope, practical rifle, precision rifle, CQB, etc.
• Turret system: Exposed or capped elevation and windage dials, click value, clicks per turn, zero stop, locking, revolution indicators, total elevation adjustment, custom BDC dial options, etc.
• Reticle system: First or second focal plane, reticle name, MOA or MRAD subtension units, illuminated dot, illuminated reticle, daylight bright, number of illumination settings, CR2032 battery, expected battery life, etc.
• Parallax adjustment: Fixed parallax (and at what distance), side focus or adjustable objective (and closest focus distance).
• Glass and other features: HD, ED, UHD glass, coatings, eye piece focus (fast focus or locking ring), tube diameter, etc.

Use parent-child product variations

Many brands list each and every ASIN separately, that is, each reticle option gets its own separate listing. Primary Arms lists each reticle option for the SLX 4-14x44mm model as a separate product (not recommended).

I recommend that reticle options should be grouped together as variations under a parent product. Some brands, such as Vortex, even group together magnification/objective lens options under a single parent product. When a buyer lands on a listing, Amazon will default to displaying the top-selling variation.

Reasons to merge separate product listings as variations under a parent include:

• Customers can see their options more easily and with greater confidence. If each product variation is listed separately (no parent), it is difficult for customers to see what their choices are when evaluating your product. Amazon search results are notoriously unpredictable.
• All product reviews will be pooled. If each variation is listed as a separate product, a review for one variation will not be displayed in a listing for another variation.
• All Customer Questions & Answers will be pooled. If each reticle option is listed as a separate product, they will each have their own separate Customer Questions & Answers content.

Amazon has pre-defined fields available for defining product variations. For rifle scopes, the relevant pre-defined variation fields, in the order in which they are presented to buyers, are:

• Size variation: displays a drop-down list of text. The Size variation is suitable for selecting magnification/objective lens variations in a product line.
• Style Name variation: displays a gallery of selectable text balloons.
• Color variation: displays a gallery of selectable image thumbnails./li>

Parent-child product variation examples

Depending on your reticle options, you may prefer for users to view reticle names or reticle image thumbnails. When using the Amazon color variation field, you can associate an image thumbnail for each variation. When you click on a reticle option thumbnail, the reticle name and associated Item Model Number is displayed just above the row of reticle option thumbnail.
Here’s an example of a Leupold listing using the color variation to display the reticle options for the Leupold Mark 5HD 7-35×56.

In this Trijicon TR23 Accupoint 5-20×50 Riflescope listing, selecting a reticle option requires two steps: pick the reticle pattern, then pick the illumination color. Unfortunately, they chose poor thumbnails for the color option – pictures of the scope, not the reticle. A better design would be to replace the color thumbnails with close ups of the illuminated portion of the reticle in the applicable color (red, amber, or green).

Vortex lists all Razor HD Gen2 First Focal Plane Riflescopes together under a single ASIN. Buyers first select the size field (the magnification range and objective lens size), then select the desired reticle option available for that size selection. I like this design because buyers can see the entire range of products available under the Razor HD Gen II FFP product line. Product Reviews and Customer Questions & Answers are also combined for the entire product line, which is appropriate because the reviews and questions are generally applicable to all of the products within that product line.

Use Amazon A+ Content

You create Amazon A+ Content using the Amazon A+ Content Manager. A+ Content allows you to choose up to five modules on a product listing. Amazon A+ Content is responsive: it will automatically adapt itself for display on tablet and phone displays. Amazon A+ Content is not indexed by Amazon for searching on keywords using Amazon’s search feature, so be sure to put your keywords in your bullet points. However, A+ Content is still indexed by Google.

For a quick education about A+ Content strategies, guidelines, and details about the various modules, refer to these helpful articles:

• Amazon.com: A+ Content Creation. Discussion of paying Amazon to create your A+ Content for you (for a fee).
• Webretailer.com: Amazon A+ Content: All Your Questions Answered, April 2020. Includes examples of each A+ Content module.
• Kenjiroi.com: Amazon A+ Content | Tutorial 2020, March 2020. Includes detailed information about the various A+ Content modules, including UI examples for configuring the modules.
• Sagemailer.com: The Ultimate Guide to Amazon A+ Content, November 2019. Includes discussion of eligibility, cost, and content guidelines.
• Atlassian.net: Amazon A+ Content, June 2019. Includes detailed information about the various A+ Content modules.
• Markethustl.com: Amazon’s New EBC Guidelines, Updates, and Modules, June 2018. Includes examples of content guidelines and examples of A+ Content modules.

A+ Content Module Examples

Use the A+ Product Comparison Module

The A+ Product Comparison Module allows you to compare up to six products (columns) by ten attributes (rows). Use this module to include a table of related products at the bottom of your product listing.

A+ Product Comparison Module Example – Leupold

The Leupold Mark 5HD 7-35×56 listing uses the A+ Product Comparison Module to display a table of their closely related scope lines. I like how they use images in the column headers, but I feel they should be using more rows of comparison criteria. For example, I would have included focal plane as a row to indicate which lines offer FFP only or both FFP and SFP models.

Unfortunately, the links take you to a particular model of each scope line. For example, the Mark 5HD link takes you to the Leupold Mark 5HD 3.6-18x44mm Riflescope listing (even when you’re viewing that listing). This approach would be better suited if Leupold included all Mark 5HD scopes under a parent product like Vortex does.

Because Leupold has separate parent products for each magnification/objective lens combination, I would rather see the table display the various parent products (magnification/objective combinations) within the Leupold Mark 5HD product line.

A+ Product Comparison Module Example – Vortex

At the bottom of the Vortex Optics Razor HD Gen II-E 1-6×24 Second Focal Plane Riflescopes listing, Vortex includes a table of the reticle variations. Unfortunately, these are just variations that are already accounted for within this product – clicking them just changes the selected reticle option for the current listing and takes you to the top of the page. A better use of this table may be to display other Vortex LPVO options (with different parent products) that the customer might consider.

A+ Product Comparison Module Example – Primary Arms

I like how this Primary Arms SLX 4-14x44mm FFP Rifle Scope – Illuminated ARC-2-MOA listing uses the Product Comparison Module to link to six different parent products, and takes full advantage of the ten available rows of data. However, I’d prefer that instead of treating each reticle option as a separate product, that Primary Arms treated reticle options as variations under a parent product.

Conclusion

By taking control of your product listings, you can optimize the shopping experience for your customers. Quality listings provide customers the confidence they require to make a sizeable optics purchase on Amazon. Providing detailed product information also manages customer expectations about the product, and may result in lower return rates and higher ratings in customer reviews.

Using parent-child relationships enable customers to more easily see and compare reticles or other variations in your products, and to find the particular one they are looking for. Also, reviews and Q&A content is pooled across all of the children products.

Amazon A+ Content allows you to create high quality listings that inspire buying confidence and speak to brand quality. Creating A+ Content requires a degree of planning, but is fairly straightforward from a technical perspective (no programming is required).

Amazon is a major sales channel, and growing tremendously. By ensuring your product listings are of the highest quality, you can maximize your Amazon sales and move more product!

I’m a licensed hunting guide and NRA firearms instructor with a passion for optics. If you want help crafting the highest quality product listings, I’m available to help!

Tom Shreve

April 7, 2020