For sellers looking to grow their business on Amazon, understanding customer behavior is key. One of the most powerful tools available for this is Amazon’s Search Query Performance (SQP) report. Launched in October 2022, this report provides brand-registered sellers with direct insights into how shoppers find and engage with their products. By leveraging this first-party data, sellers can move beyond estimates and make strategic decisions based on actual customer journeys.
This guide will walk you through what the SQP report is, how to access it, and how to use its data to gain a competitive edge.
What is Amazon’s Search Query Performance Report?
The Search Query Performance report is a detailed analytics dashboard that shows how customers discover your brand using Amazon’s search bar. It provides a complete view of the customer’s path, from the search term they enter to the final purchase they make, using direct, first-party data from Amazon.
Unlike third-party tools that rely on estimations, the SQP report offers an accurate look at the entire search funnel. It tracks key moments, including how many times a search term was used, how often your products appeared in the results, the number of clicks they received, how many times they were added to a cart, and the total number of purchases. This allows you to pinpoint exactly where potential customers may be dropping off in the conversion process. The report focuses on your top 1,000 search queries and compares your brand’s performance against the entire marketplace, offering valuable context.
How to get the Search Query Performance report on Amazon?
To access the report, you must be enrolled in Amazon’s Brand Registry and have the necessary user permissions in your Seller Central account. Your account must also be internal to the brand and responsible for selling it in the Amazon store.
Once these prerequisites are met, follow these steps to access the report:
- Log into your Amazon Seller Central account.
- Navigate to the “Brands” tab in the main menu.
- Select “Brand Analytics” from the dropdown menu.
- Click on “Search Query Performance” in the available reports.
- Choose your desired date range (weekly, monthly, or quarterly).
- Select your brand and marketplace.
- Click “Apply” to view the report.
If you encounter permission errors, primary account users can visit the Brand Benefit Eligibility page to correct their status. Secondary users may need to ask the primary administrator to grant them permission to “Amazon Brand Analytics” on the Global User Permissions page.
What does the Search Query Score mean?
The Search Query Score is a ranking system created by Amazon that organizes search queries from most to least important for your business. Alongside the score, the report also shows the Search Query Volume, which is the total number of times customers entered that specific search term during the selected time period.
These metrics are part of a larger set of data points designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of performance. The report is organised at both a brand level, which shows combined data for all your products, and an ASIN level, which details performance for specific products.
Key funnel metrics you will find in the report include:
- Impressions: The number of times your products appeared in search results, which helps measure your visibility.
- Clicks: The number of times customers clicked on your products, indicating how relevant and attractive your listings are.
- Add to Carts: The number of times your products were added to a cart, which shows customer intent to purchase.
- Purchases: The final number of conversions from the search query, measuring the effectiveness of your listing.
For each of these metrics, the report shows your brand’s specific numbers (“Brand Count”) as well as your percentage of the total market (“Brand Share”), allowing for direct comparison with competitors.
What are the benefits of using the Search Query Performance Report?
The primary benefits are gaining competitive intelligence, achieving full visibility into your conversion funnel, and basing decisions on accurate, first-party data. This information is crucial for optimising your listings and marketing strategies.
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Competitive Intelligence and Market Share Analysis The report gives you a clear view of your market share at every stage of the buying process. For instance, if your data shows a high impression share but a low click share for a certain search term, it suggests that while your products are being seen, the main image or title is not compelling enough to earn a click from the customer.
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Full-Funnel Visibility and Conversion Optimization The SQP report provides a complete picture of the customer journey, helping you identify specific bottlenecks. High impressions with few clicks may indicate a need to optimize your product title or main image. In contrast, high clicks with low conversions could point to issues on the product detail page, such as pricing, reviews, or the product description.
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First-Party Data Accuracy Because the data comes directly from Amazon’s internal systems, it is the most reliable information available to sellers. It reflects actual user behavior rather than estimates, providing a solid foundation for strategic planning.
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Seasonal and Trend Analysis With access to historical data, you can identify seasonal trends and track the performance of your optimization efforts over time. This is valuable for inventory planning and timing marketing campaigns.
How to use the Search Query Performance Report?
You can use the report for advanced strategies like discovering new keywords for your products, analysing competitor weak points, and optimising your entire product catalog.
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Keyword Harvesting and Expansion One of the most effective uses of the SQP report is to find high-converting keywords that you are not actively targeting. The report may reveal search terms that are already generating sales for your products. You can then add these proven keywords to your product titles, backend keyword fields, PPC campaigns, and product descriptions to increase visibility and sales.
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Competitive Gap Analysis By analysing search terms where your competitors have a high number of impressions but low conversion rates, you can devise targeted strategies to capture that market share.
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Cross-ASIN and Market Basket Strategy The ASIN-level view allows you to optimize your entire catalog. If one of your products performs well for certain search terms, you can optimize other relevant products in your catalog to also target those queries. Additionally, combining SQP data with Amazon’s Market Basket Analysis report can help you identify products that are frequently purchased together, revealing opportunities for creating strategic bundles.
Understanding the Report’s Limitations
While powerful, the SQP report has some limitations to keep in mind:
- Data Limits: The report shows only the top 1,000 search terms at the brand level.
- Attribution Window: It uses a 24-hour attribution window, meaning it does not count conversions that happen after this period.
- Search Source: It only includes data from searches performed in Amazon’s main search bar, excluding other discovery points like editorial recommendations.
- Metric Discrepancies: The data in the SQP report may not match the numbers in your advertising dashboard due to different attribution models. The report is best used for analysing search behaviour, not for direct ad campaign performance measurement.
Best Practices for Implementation
To get the most out of the SQP report, it’s recommended to establish a regular analysis schedule. A weekly review can help you monitor recent trends, while a monthly analysis can identify broader patterns for optimization. Quarterly, you can use the historical data for larger strategic planning around seasons and competitive shifts. Exporting the data allows for more advanced, custom analysis outside of the Seller Central dashboard.
Recently, Amazon has also released an API for the Search Query Performance report, which allows for automated data retrieval. This can help larger brands integrate the information into their business intelligence tools for more efficient and sophisticated analysis.
Key takeaway
Amazon’s Search Query Performance report is a vital tool for any brand seeking to grow on the platform. By providing accurate, first-party data on customer search and conversion behavior, it allows sellers to make data-driven decisions that can significantly improve performance. Those who take the time to regularly analyze and act on the insights from this report will be better equipped to optimize their listings, target keywords more effectively, and ultimately gain a significant competitive advantage.
