Amazon Store Spotlight Ads: When to Use Them and How to Set Up

Store spotlight is a Sponsored Brands ad format that features your brand logo, a headline and three sub-pages of your Amazon Store, each shown with an image and label. Clicking takes shoppers into your Store rather than a single product. It works best for brands with several distinct product lines and for branded or broad category searches.

Here is what you need, when the format makes sense, how to set it up, and how to measure it.

Requirements

• Brand Registry (for sellers), since store spotlight is a Sponsored Brands format.
• An Amazon Store with sub-pages. Amazon requires a minimum number of sub-pages (historically at least three, each with products); check the campaign builder for the current rule.
• A logo and headline that meet Amazon's creative policies.
• Products in eligible categories.

If you don't have a Store yet, you can build one for free through the Stores builder once you're brand registered. See Brand Registry for Amazon ads for what registration gives you.

Store spotlight vs product collection

Because shoppers browse before buying, store spotlight usually converts at a lower rate per click than product collection. Its value is exposure to the whole range and, for branded searches, keeping shoppers inside your brand. The Sponsored Brands ads guide compares all three formats.

When store spotlight makes sense

• Your brand sells distinct lines, like a kitchen brand with cookware, utensils and storage.
• You want to own branded searches with your full range, not just one product.
• Broad category searches ('camping gear') where shoppers haven't picked a product type yet.
• You're launching a new line and want it seen next to established ones.

It makes less sense if you sell one product in several colors, or if your Store pages are thin. Sending paid traffic to a poorly built Store wastes the click.

Build the Store pages first

Each sub-page you feature should be a real landing page:

1. A clear header image that matches the label in the ad.
2. Best sellers at the top with prices, ratings and add-to-cart buttons where available.
3. A short benefit line or comparison grid if the page has many similar products.
4. No dead ends: link to related sub-pages at the bottom.

Setup steps

1. In the Amazon Ads console, create a Sponsored Brands campaign and choose the store spotlight format.
2. Select your Store as the landing page.
3. Choose the three sub-pages to feature. Edit labels and images if the builder allows.
4. Write the headline; mention the range, not one product. Example: 'Everything for your home bar, in one place.'
5. Add keyword targets: brand terms and broad category terms work best. Add negatives for very specific product terms.
6. Set bids and budget, then submit for review.

For headline formulas that pass moderation, see Sponsored Brands headline tips.

Worked example

An outdoor brand sells tents, sleeping bags and camp kitchen gear. It runs store spotlight on its brand name plus five broad terms like 'camping gear' and 'camping essentials' for 30 days:

Brand terms are cheap and efficient, which is typical. Broad category terms convert at 4% of clicks, much lower, but average order value is higher ($85 vs $70) because shoppers browse and add more. With a 40% target ACoS on category terms, the campaign is working. Keep brand and category keywords in separate campaigns so you can bid them independently. The math is easy to check with the ACoS calculator.

Choosing which three sub-pages to feature

The three tiles are the whole ad, so treat the choice as a merchandising decision. A few guidelines:

• Lead with your best-selling line. The first tile gets the most attention.
• Pick pages that are clearly different from each other. 'Tents', 'Sleeping bags' and 'Camp kitchen' tell a story; 'Tents', '2-person tents' and '4-person tents' don't.
• Use labels shoppers would search for, not internal names. 'Cookware' beats 'Chef Series'.
• Choose images with one clear subject that read well at small sizes. Busy lifestyle shots shrink into noise.
• Feature a newer line in the third tile if you want to give it exposure next to proven products.

Revisit the choice seasonally. A home brand might feature outdoor dining in late spring and gift sets in Q4, with headlines to match.

Bidding store spotlight

Because store spotlight converts at a lower rate per click, bid from your actual conversion rate rather than copying Sponsored Products bids. If store spotlight converts at 5% on category terms, your average order is $85 and your target ACoS is 40%, a sustainable bid is about $85 x 0.05 x 0.40 = $1.70. Branded terms usually convert much better, so they can carry lower bids and still win, because few competitors bid aggressively on your brand. Start category terms conservatively and raise bids 10% at a time while ACoS stays under target.

Measuring store spotlight

• ACoS and ROAS, with the 14-day Sponsored Brands attribution window.
• New-to-brand orders, especially on category terms.
• Store insights: visitors, page views and sales attributed to Store traffic. Look at which sub-pages get clicked and convert.

If one sub-page gets most clicks but converts poorly, improve that page before raising bids. And if brand terms dominate results, consider whether you're paying for shoppers who would have found you anyway; defend your brand on Amazon ads covers when branded spend is worth it.

Common store spotlight mistakes

• Featuring sub-pages that hold one or two products. Shoppers expect a range when they click a category tile.
• Running store spotlight on very specific product searches ('12 inch carbon steel wok with lid'), where a product-focused ad would convert better.
• Leaving out-of-stock products at the top of featured sub-pages, which wastes the click.
• Writing a headline about one hero product. The format is about the range, so the headline should be too.
• Mixing brand and category keywords in one campaign, which hides how poorly (or well) the category terms perform.
• Never updating the Store. Seasonal pages and fresh images keep returning shoppers interested and help the ad stay relevant.

Fix these and store spotlight becomes a steady part of your Sponsored Brands mix: cheap on brand terms, and a reasonable way to win shoppers on broad category searches who haven't settled on a product type yet.

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