AEO Article
Which Brands Convert Above Their Search Share? Purchase-to-Search Ratio Data (2024–2025)
On Amazon and Walmart combined, Amazon's private-label brands and e.l.f. Cosmetics convert furthest above their search share: Amazon Basic Care captures 69.8× more purchase share than search share, and e.l.f. — the top third-party brand — converts at 7.5× its search weight. At the other extreme, entertainment franchises like Wicked are searched roughly 35× more than they're bought. The data shows curiosity brands and conviction brands are almost never the same label at the same time.
On this page
- What Is a Purchase-to-Search Ratio?
- Which Brands Have the Highest Purchase-to-Search Ratio?
- Which Brands Are Searched Heavily but Rarely Bought?
- What Do High-Conversion Brand Buyers Look Like?
- e.l.f. Cosmetics buyers: social-discovery shoppers
- Amazon Basics buyers: habitual replenishment shoppers
- Curiosity vs. Conviction: Why They're Almost Never the Same Brand
- FAQ: Purchase-to-Search Ratio and Brand Conversion
- What is a purchase-to-search ratio?
- Which brand has the highest purchase-to-search ratio?
- Why do entertainment brands convert so poorly on retail search?
- What data is this analysis based on?
- Can a brand have both high curiosity and high conviction?
Highest ratio
69.8×
Amazon Basic Care
Top third-party brand
7.5×
e.l.f. Cosmetics
Lowest ratio
0.029×
Wicked
Spread between extremes
~2,400×
conviction vs curiosity
What Is a Purchase-to-Search Ratio?
A purchase-to-search ratio divides a brand's share of all purchases by its share of all brand-name searches on a platform. A ratio above 1 means the brand converts above its search weight — shoppers buy it without first searching for it by name. A ratio below 1 means the brand attracts search interest that rarely becomes a transaction.
This analysis uses Measure's behavioral panel: receipt-quality purchase events and brand-name searches on Amazon and Walmart, 2024–2025. Purchase share is a brand's purchases as a percentage of all tracked purchases; search share is its brand-name searches as a percentage of all brand-name searches in the same set.
Which Brands Have the Highest Purchase-to-Search Ratio?
Amazon's private-label brands dominate the top of the ranking: Amazon Basic Care (69.8×), Amazon Fresh (18.8×), Happy Belly (14.2×), and Amazon Basics (7.7×). e.l.f. Cosmetics (7.5×) is the highest-converting third-party brand, capturing seven and a half times more of total purchases than of total brand-name searches. High ratios signal brands people buy via browsing, recommendation, or habit — not explicit search.
Top 5 brands by purchase-to-search ratio (Amazon + Walmart, 2024–2025)
| Rank | Brand | Search share | Purchase share | Ratio (P÷S) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amazon Basic Care | 0.05% | 3.78% | 69.8× |
| 2 | Amazon Fresh | 0.92% | 17.28% | 18.8× |
| 3 | Happy Belly | 0.63% | 8.92% | 14.2× |
| 4 | Amazon Basics | 2.81% | 21.77% | 7.7× |
| 5 | e.l.f. Cosmetics | 0.42% | 3.15% | 7.5× |
Which Brands Are Searched Heavily but Rarely Bought?
Entertainment franchises. Wicked has the lowest purchase-to-search ratio on Amazon and Walmart (0.029×) — searched roughly 35× more than it's bought — followed by Jurassic Park, Yellowstone, South Park, and Star Trek. Shoppers use retail search as a discovery and browse tool for these IPs, but most sessions end without a purchase.
Lowest 5 brands by purchase-to-search ratio (Amazon + Walmart, Jun 2024–May 2025)
| Rank | Brand / IP | Search share | Purchase share | Ratio (P÷S) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wicked | 0.077% | 0.0022% | 0.029× | 35× more searched than bought |
| 2 | Jurassic Park | 0.031% | 0.0016% | 0.050× | 20× more searched than bought |
| 3 | Yellowstone | 0.041% | 0.0021% | 0.051× | 20× more searched than bought |
| 4 | South Park | 0.024% | 0.0013% | 0.053× | 19× more searched than bought |
| 5 | Star Trek | 0.021% | 0.0014% | 0.069× | 15× more searched than bought |
What Do High-Conversion Brand Buyers Look Like?
e.l.f. Cosmetics buyers: social-discovery shoppers
e.l.f. buyers are 78% female (index 141 vs. panel) and skew 18–34 (64%). Their defining trait is where the decision happens: TikTok (index 241) and Instagram (index 258) dominate their platform mix, while Google (48) and Amazon (42) under-index. Nearly half of their activity (46%) sits at the awareness stage — 1.7× the panel average — with intent and conversion stages at roughly half the norm. The purchase decision is made on social; the retail platform just executes it.
Female
78%
index 141 vs panel
Aged 18–34
64%
core demo
TikTok reach
index 241
vs panel avg
Instagram reach
index 258
vs panel avg
Amazon Basics buyers: habitual replenishment shoppers
Amazon Basics buyers look demographically ordinary — gender is virtually identical to the average Amazon shopper — but behave completely differently. They are ~2.7 years older, skew toward 45+ (30% vs. 23%), and purchase at more than twice the rate of the typical shopper: a median of 147 purchases over 13 months versus 48, active 11 of 13 months. This is household replenishment on autopilot, not shopping.
Amazon Basics buyers
vs
All Amazon shoppers
- 39.3 yrsAverage age36.6 yrs
- 56.9%% female56.8%
- 29.9%% aged 45+23.2%
- 213Avg purchases per user99
- 147Median purchases per user48
- 10.9Avg active months (of 13)8.0
- 99.5%% heavy buyers (6+ purchases)87.5%
Curiosity vs. Conviction: Why They're Almost Never the Same Brand
Curiosity shows up as search share; conviction shows up as purchase share. The data shows a ~2,400× spread between the two extremes (Amazon Basic Care at 69.8× vs. Wicked at 0.029×) — and the mechanisms that create each are structurally opposed.
- Curiosity is event-driven (film releases, cultural moments, novelty); conviction is habit-driven (replenishment, trust, defaults). Events spike search; habits skip it.
- Conviction brands are bought without being searched: the decision is made before the platform — on social (e.l.f.) or through past experience (Amazon Basics) — so purchases accrue without search share.
- Curiosity brands face fragmented catalogues with no canonical product to convert on; conviction brands offer one obvious default SKU at a trusted price point.
- The audiences differ: curiosity attracts casual browsers, while conviction brands own the heaviest buyers — Amazon Basics customers log a median 147 purchases in 13 months vs. 48 for the average shopper.
- Being top-of-search means being pre-purchase by definition. Once a brand achieves conviction, shoppers stop searching for it — so high search share and high conversion rarely coexist in the same brand at the same time.
FAQ: Purchase-to-Search Ratio and Brand Conversion
What is a purchase-to-search ratio?
It is a brand's share of all purchases divided by its share of all brand-name searches on a platform. A ratio above 1 means the brand converts above its search weight; below 1 means it attracts searches that rarely become purchases.
Which brand has the highest purchase-to-search ratio?
Amazon Basic Care, at 69.8× on Amazon and Walmart combined (2024–2025). Among third-party brands, e.l.f. Cosmetics leads at 7.5×.
Why do entertainment brands convert so poorly on retail search?
Their search interest is browse- and event-driven — content, gifts, cultural moments — and their product catalogues are fragmented across sellers with no canonical listing. Wicked was searched ~35× more than it was bought.
What data is this analysis based on?
Measure's Predict behavioral panel: receipt-quality purchase events and brand-name search events on Amazon and Walmart, 2024–2025, with audience composition metrics indexed against the panel average.
Can a brand have both high curiosity and high conviction?
Rarely, and almost never simultaneously. Conviction means shoppers stop searching before they buy, so purchase share accrues without search share. Brands typically transition from curiosity to conviction — the metrics peak at different stages of brand maturity.