If you send traffic to Amazon from Google ads, Meta, email or influencers, you're probably guessing at what it's worth. Amazon Attribution removes the guesswork, and for brand-registered sellers it also unlocks the Brand Referral Bonus, a credit against referral fees on the sales you drive.
What Amazon Attribution is
Amazon Attribution is a free measurement tool. You create a tracking tag (a special link) for each external campaign. When a shopper clicks that link and lands on Amazon, Amazon tracks what they do next: detail page views, add-to-carts and purchases.
It's available to brand-registered sellers and vendors, and you access it through the Amazon Ads console.
Why it's worth setting up
- You see real sales from external spend. Without it, a Meta campaign shows clicks and Amazon shows a vague rise in sales. With it, you can connect the two.
- You can compare channels fairly. Same metrics for Google, Meta, TikTok, email and influencers.
- You get paid back. The Brand Referral Bonus (below) can make external traffic cheaper than it looks.
The Brand Referral Bonus
When a sale comes through an Attribution tag, eligible brands earn a credit averaging around 10% of the sale, depending on category. It's applied against your Amazon referral fees rather than paid as cash.
Key rules:
- You need to be enrolled in Brand Registry and enroll in the program.
- Purchases count if they happen within 14 days of the click.
- Credits arrive after a delay of about two months, to allow for returns.
- It applies to sales of your brand's products made through your tagged links.
In practice, this means external traffic sent through tags can cost you close to nothing in referral fees. That changes the maths on influencer and paid social campaigns quite a bit.
How to set it up
- Enroll. In the Amazon Ads console, open Measurement & Analytics > Amazon Attribution and enroll your brand. Enroll in the Brand Referral Bonus separately in Seller Central (under Brands).
- Create a campaign and tag. Choose the products you're promoting and the channel (for example Google Ads or Meta). Amazon generates a tracking URL.
- Use one tag per placement. A separate tag for each ad set, email or influencer lets you see what's actually working.
- Send traffic to the right page. A detail page for a single hero product, or your Brand Store for a range.
- Check results weekly. Data shows in the Attribution dashboard, with Brand Referral Bonus estimates in Seller Central.
Metrics to watch
| Metric | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Click-throughs | How many shoppers your external source sends |
| Detail page view rate | Whether the landing page matches the promise in the ad |
| Add-to-cart rate | Whether the product page persuades |
| Purchase rate and sales | Whether the channel brings buyers or just browsers |
| Return on ad spend (after the bonus) | The true cost of the channel |
Mistakes to avoid
- Using plain Amazon links. Only tagged links earn the bonus and show up in reports.
- One tag for everything. You lose the ability to compare creatives and channels.
- Judging too soon. Purchases can come up to 14 days after the click, so wait before calling a test.
- Sending cold traffic to weak listings. External shoppers are less committed than Amazon searchers. A listing with few reviews or weak images will lose them.
Limitations
Attribution is last-click within Amazon's 14-day window, so it under-credits campaigns that build awareness slowly. It also can't see sales a shopper makes later by searching for your brand directly. Treat it as a floor for what external marketing is worth, not a ceiling.
Rankings benefit too. External sales count towards sales velocity, one of the strongest ranking factors on Amazon.