VMS

VMS is one of Amazon’s key category performance metrics used internally by Vendor Managers and AVS Brand Specialists to evaluate how a vendor’s sales contribute to the overall category performance. Unlike Volume Market Share (which measures units sold), VMS focuses on monetary value, providing a more accurate picture of financial competitiveness.

How It Works:

• Amazon calculates the total category revenue (e.g., Home Appliances = $100M/month).
• A vendor’s revenue within that category is divided by the total category revenue.
• The result is expressed as a percentage (e.g., $8M / $100M = 8% VMS).
• VMS can be tracked at category, sub-category, or product level depending on reporting depth.

Benefits for Vendors:

• Benchmarking: Shows how a brand performs relative to competitors in the same category.
• Strategic planning: Identifies whether growth comes from increasing category share or overall category expansion.
• Negotiation leverage: Strong VMS may strengthen a vendor’s position in negotiations with Amazon.

Benefits for Amazon:

• Helps evaluate vendor contribution to category growth.
• Guides resource allocation (e.g., which vendors to prioritise in deals and promotions).
• Ensures category leadership by identifying gaps where competitors outperform.

Challenges:

• VMS is often not directly visible to vendors; Amazon shares it selectively in business reviews.
• High VMS may hide weaknesses if category growth is declining.
• Small vendors may struggle to gain meaningful VMS in highly consolidated categories.

Why It Matters:
VMS is a critical indicator of brand competitiveness on Amazon. It shows not just how much a vendor is selling, but how they perform relative to the entire category’s revenue pool. Tracking VMS over time highlights whether a brand is gaining or losing share versus competitors.

Example:
In the Beauty category worth $500M annually on Amazon, a skincare vendor generates $25M. Its VMS = 5%, meaning it controls 5% of the total category’s sales value.

In short:
VMS (Value Market Share) measures a vendor’s share of total category revenue on Amazon, reflecting its competitive strength in monetary terms rather than units sold.