SQP Insight for Category Managers

Author: Kadence Leung 

Last Update：2026/05/05

Who This Guide Is For

You own a product category — tracking which search terms define it, how market demand is growing, where white space exists, and how your brand's position is shifting relative to the full market over time. This guide shows how SQP Insight becomes your category intelligence tool.

What SQP Reveals That Category Reports Don't

Most category reporting tells you your own sales trend. SQP Insight tells you the full market — every search term that drives purchases in your space, how large each term's search volume is, and exactly how much of that market your brand is capturing at each funnel stage.

The result: you can see where the category is growing before your sales data reflects it, and where your brand is being outpaced even while absolute numbers look stable.

Key Scenarios

Scenarios	How to find these	What to look for
1. Map Your Category's Search Landscape Understand which search terms define your category and their relative size.	Open Search Term Analysis Use the Search Query filter to scope to your core category keywords first — especially if your store carries multiple product lines, sorting by volume alone will mix unrelated categories together Sort by Search Query Volume descending within that filtered view Scan the top 50–100 terms	Terms with high volume where your Impression Share is near zero = category terms you're not present for Terms with moderate volume but very high Purchase Share = niche terms where your brand owns the conversation Terms with growing Search Volume week-over-week = emerging demand in the category
2. Track Market Share Trends Over Time  Measure whether your brand is gaining or losing ground in the category.	Select a multi-week date range (e.g. last 5 weeks) Review Purchase Share % (Brand) and Impression Share % (Brand) for your top-volume terms A consistently low or declining Purchase Share on high-volume terms = your brand is being displaced	Purchase Share % dropping period over period across top terms = market share loss Impression Share % falling = losing organic or paid visibility Impression Share % holding but Purchase Share % dropping = shoppers are seeing your listing but not buying; likely a listing quality or pricing issue
3. Benchmark Brand Funnel Health vs. Category Average	Open the Brand vs Market Funnel in Search Term Analysis Compare your brand's conversion rates at each stage against the market average for your key terms	CTR below market on a high-volume term = main image or title issue at this category entry point ATC Rate below market = product page is underperforming (images, reviews, A+ content) CVR below market = pricing likely not competitive for this search intent

Key Metrics for Category Managers

FAQ

Q: SQP only includes ASINs with recent ad spend. Am I missing organic-only category data?

A: The brand-side metrics (Impression Share, Click Share, Purchase Share) only reflect ASINs with ad spend > $0 in the past 14 days. However, the Market metrics — Search Query Volume, Market CVR, Market Impressions total — reflect the entire Amazon market for each term, regardless of whether products are advertised or organic. You get the full market picture for sizing and benchmarking, even if some of your organic-only ASINs are excluded from the brand side.

Q: How is Search Query Volume counted?

A: Amazon counts Search Query Volume using deduplicated queries — if the same shopper searches the same term multiple times within a 24-hour session, it counts as one query. This means Search Query Volume can look smaller than impression totals. Use Search Query Volume for sizing category demand and understanding relative keyword importance across terms — it's the most accurate measure of how many distinct shoppers have this intent.

Q: Can I use SQP to track individual competitor market share?

A: SQP shows your brand's share against the full market aggregate — it doesn't break down individual competitor brands. You can infer competitive pressure from trends: if your Purchase Share is declining while your listing quality is stable, competitors are gaining. SQP Insight is a market-level benchmarking tool, not a competitor-specific intelligence tool.

Q: The Search Query Volume numbers in SQP look very different from third-party keyword tools. Which is more accurate?

A: Amazon's SQP data uses deduplicated UV-based counts. Third-party tools typically estimate volume from click counts or other proxy signals. The two methodologies produce different numbers by design. For category sizing and planning, the first-party data is the authoritative source. Do not mix SQP volume figures with third-party estimates in the same analysis.

Q: A high-volume category term shows near-zero Purchase Share for my brand. Should we target it?

A: Not automatically. First check Market CVR for that term — if it's also very low, shoppers searching that term may not be converting across the entire market, suggesting it's a browse or awareness query rather than a purchase-ready search. Prioritize terms where high volume is paired with meaningful Market CVR. High volume alone doesn't mean high-value opportunity.

Q: How do I know if our category's consideration cycle is long?

A: Look at the ratio of ATC Share to Purchase Share in the Brand vs Market Funnel. If ATC Share is significantly higher than Purchase Share — particularly on higher-price terms — this suggests shoppers are adding to cart but taking longer than 24 hours to complete the purchase. SQP's purchase attribution only captures decisions within 24 hours of the search. A consistently wide ATC-to-Purchase gap points to a category where nurturing campaigns (retargeting, promotions, social proof) are more important than simply increasing ad coverage.