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Two listings with the same conversion rate can perform very differently if one gets shoppers to add just one more item to their cart.
You’ve probably heard the phrase “conversion rate” thrown around countless times in seller communities. Most sellers obsess over it, and for good reason—it tells you how many clicks turn into sales. But here’s the thing: conversion rate only tells half the story.
Amazon has its own favorite metric, and it’s called unit session percentage. Unlike conversion rate, this number actually impacts your product rankings and visibility in search results. Miss the mark here, and you could find your products buried on page three while competitors take the spotlight.
The difference between these metrics might seem small, but understanding it can mean the difference between steady growth and stagnant sales. Let’s break down what unit session percentage really means and why it deserves a spot on your daily dashboard.
In simple terms, a session is a set of interactions a user carries out within a set period of time (in simpler terms, whenever a unique visitor visits your page, it tends to be counted as a session, though they can also leave and come back, and it will be counted as the same session). A unit is exactly that, a unit of inventory sold.
In terms of calculation, the basic difference between unit session percentage and conversion rate is the following:
The difference is subtle but important. The conversion rate metric looks at how many orders were made, rather than how many units were sold.
For example, if you have 10 clicks that result in two orders, then you would have a conversion rate of 20%. However, if one of those orders contained three units, then the conversion rate would still be 20% even though you technically sold double the units, pushing up your unit session percentage to 40%. This is a blind spot that can be annoying as a seller.
You can find the measure by going to Seller Central, then:
If you have a high conversion rate—great! It means that your listing is compelling enough to get people to buy. If possible, though, you also want to get people to buy as many units as possible each time they go to their checkout.
Keep in mind also that these both tend to take into account the PPC side of things, but you will also want to focus on organic conversion measures that take into account conversions for page views made outside the context of your ad campaigns.
What you’re trying to do here is essentially turning page views into sales. Improving it will not be too different from getting your conversion rate up.
You will still want to make sure you’re tracking what you need to keep your conversion rate up, such as making sure the keywords you use are relevant so people are not turned off once they reach your page (consequently driving down your conversion rate and, by extension, your ranking) and look after the quality of content like visuals and copywriting, and quality of reviews.
If you are specifically focused on your unit sessions percentage, however, you will want to go beyond just conversion to maximize the number of units you actually sell per transaction.
Effective tactics to use here are promotions that sweeten the deal for any additional units bought. This can include:
Promotions, of course, also have the added benefit of gaining you more customers, resulting in a multiplier effect.
Tracking unit session percentage is just one piece of building a profitable Amazon business. You also need tools for sourcing profitable products, managing inventory efficiently, winning the Buy Box, and understanding your true costs across every sale.
Seller 365 combines all these essential apps Amazon sellers need into one affordable subscription. From finding products that sell to tracking profits across marketplaces, everything works together to help you make better decisions and grow faster.
Stop juggling multiple subscriptions and start focusing on what matters most—building a business that actually makes money. Try Seller 365 free for 14 days and see how the right tools can transform your Amazon operation.