Online marketplace strategies for ecommerce growth [guide]
How can online marketplace strategies help with your ecommerce growth?
Ecommerce has revolutionized the way businesses sell products and services, making it easier than ever to reach customers across the globe. With this convenience comes the challenge of standing out in an increasingly crowded online world.
This is where online marketplaces come in.
Read on and download our comprehensive whitepaper to learn how to use marketplace strategies to grow your sales big time!
In this ecommerce guide you’ll learn about:
- The key factors behind the growth of marketplaces and their continued success
- The trends, challenges, and opportunities in the ecommerce landscape of the future
- The benefits of selling online on marketplaces
- The critical role of technology and innovation in the ecommerce field
- How to successfully grow your sales with the right marketplace strategies
This free guide will provide you with plenty of insightful contexts, data, expert advice, and examples.
Ecommerce landscape: growth potential overview
Although the global economy has been experiencing a general slowdown, it is projected that global ecommerce growth will experience only a minimal decline over the next few years.
According to the Worldwide Ecommerce Forecast, global ecommerce sales won’t go negative, even if the general growth pace is a bit slower than during the pandemic.
The shift towards online shopping has not just been a temporary response to Covid-19. The pandemic has permanently affected consumer habits. Once shoppers experienced the luxury of buying anything from the comfort of their own couches 24/7, it forever changed their shopping routine.
According to Deloitte’s Global Consumer Pulse Survey, at least 30 to 40% of consumers who used online channels more during the pandemic said they would continue to do so after lockdowns end. And so the demand for online shopping is still paramount.
One of the factors contributing to that growth is the online marketplace expansion.
Online marketplaces: the future of ecommerce
As Forbes predicts, B2C marketplaces will reach $3.5 trillion in sales by 2024.
Marketplaces have become increasingly popular in recent years and are growing faster than the overall industry. They’re expected to continue developing into a crucial part of the future of ecommerce.
Understanding the marketplace model
The online marketplace model involves selling to customers using a third-party digital platform that facilitates transactions between multiple vendors and buyers without holding any inventory. An online marketplace definition would classify this as a business-to-consumer (B2C) model.
It differs from B2B (business-to-business) and C2C (customer-to-customer) marketplace platforms, as well as from the D2C business model (direct-to-consumer) i.e., a company selling its products directly without intermediaries.
There are significant differences between the B2C and D2C approaches. Each online store owner needs to decide which channel is best for their business based on their specific needs and goals.
Your sales channel choice should reflect your overall strategy, or you can always choose to diversify and implement multiple channels. Selling on (more) marketplaces will provide you with more opportunities as well as options in the event of adversities.
If you’re not yet familiar with the online marketplace landscape, start by exploring the top online marketplaces for an ecommerce business in 2023.
Online Marketplace Strategies for Ecommerce Growth: our guide
One of the biggest benefits of selling on online marketplaces is the lower barrier to entry. Online marketplaces provide a ready-made platform for businesses to start selling immediately, with minimal setup costs.
Essentially, marketplaces offer sellers the opportunity to expand their reach and increase sales by leveraging the existing customer base of established platforms.
Our “Maximize Your Ecommerce Potential with Online Marketplaces” whitepaper explores the benefits of using online marketplaces to grow your ecommerce business, with a focus on international expansion.
In this ecommerce guide you’ll learn about:
- The scope of online marketplaces
- A detailed comparison between the B2C and D2C approaches
- The key marketplace players
- The trends, challenges, and opportunities in the marketplace space
However, not all online businesses know how to successfully leverage that into increasing their international sales.
Key Online Marketplace Strategies for Ecommerce Growth
How do you start selling on international marketplaces and set up your business for success from the beginning? You need to choose the right strategy first.
In our whitepaper, we further discuss two different approaches to selling on marketplaces:
- A top-down approach goes from general to specific,
- and a bottom-up approach starts with specific and continues to general.
Picking one or the other should depend on your situation, particular needs, and ultimate goals.
Online Marketplace Strategies for Ecommerce Growth: Cross-border context
The common bond between ecommerce and the internet as a phenomenon is their global reach and ability to connect people across borders.
Online shopping is no longer an activity limited to domestic markets only. Consumers worldwide are searching for both products that aren’t accessible in their domestic market or are available at a more affordable price, regardless of their origin.
As it happens, cross-border commerce shows much more potential for growth than domestic transactions. In fact, it is growing twice as fast. eBay alone has over 180 million active users on 190 markets worldwide.
71% of European shoppers declare that they purchase products from foreign retailers.
Online Marketplace Strategies for Ecommerce Growth: Main challenges
Do you know what are the key challenges when it comes to exploring cross-border ecommerce growth through online marketplaces?
Businesses may have to overcome various barriers while implementing a marketplace strategy, particularly when it comes to international expansion. These challenges include:
- navigating different tax and regulatory requirements,
- dealing with language and cultural barriers,
- and managing logistics across different geographies.
However, with the right strategies in place, these can be overcome, allowing businesses to unlock the full potential of ecommerce on a global scale. Businesses need to ensure that they have the infrastructure in place to handle all of it.
Interested in selling online in Central Eastern Europe? Explore the CEE marketplace opportunities with Webinterpret
The role of technology for marketplace growth: solutions to barriers
As the marketplace landscape continues to evolve, technology has become an increasingly critical component of success.
Innovative and AI-driven solutions can help provide a seamless shopping experience that caters to local markets. How?
Ecommerce localization is a term that describes modifying or adapting a product or service for a given language, culture or region. Product localization strategy involves much more than translation.
Localizing product listings and customer experience is crucial for expanding in foreign regions.
Ask yourself a question. Are you able to provide your customers with a fully localized shopping experience? One that is not just SEO optimized and features the right keywords, but includes size conversions, currency conversions, as well as international payment options, international shipping and returns, and is 100% compliant with local legal regulations and requirements?
Luckily, today product localization processes can be fully automated. However, it’s not about any automation, but one that takes place in the ecommerce context.
Delivery logistics can also pose challenges for sellers operating in multiple regions. Global shipping may involve complex customs requirements and additional costs.
Yet a smooth, dependable, and trackable shipment process is essential for maintaining customer satisfaction.
A 2022 Cross-Border Commerce Europe report ranked the most popular concerns when ordering something online across borders: delivery speed, incorrectly delivered goods, damaged items, and the return policy.
When it comes to international ecommerce returns, there’s the extra complexity of borders, time zones, foreign exchange rates, currencies, and international regulations. On top of this, your returns processes may vary from country to country.
Luckily, logistic challenges can be streamlined by AI-driven automation and special marketplace software as well.
Online Marketplace Strategies for Ecommerce Growth: Final notes
Are you looking to take your online business to the next level? The marketplace space offers a wealth of opportunities for growth and success.
A winning marketplace strategy will be a mix of the ability to stay ahead of the competition, adapt to changing market trends and conditions, stay compliant with all regulations, and leverage the latest technology in the industry.
This is all a time-consuming task to tackle on your own if you’re inventory is more than modest. It comes down to a question of capacity and return on investment: does it make sense business-wise to do it yourself? Or – is it better to outsource, automate, and thus maximize efficiency, ensuring the best return on investment for your marketplace store?
By leveraging the existing customer base and sophisticated technology of these platforms, businesses can increase sales and reach new customers, both locally and globally.
While there are certainly challenges to overcome, the benefits of selling on online marketplaces are clear, and businesses that take the time to develop the right strategies can unlock their full potential.
Webinterpret’s AI-powered automated solution for ecommerce
Webinterpret’s AI-based solution enables selling more effectively in international marketplaces with automated listing localization, marketing, and logistics (shipping and returns). Our solution is perfectly integrated with marketplace platforms, such as eBay or Amazon. By giving your international customers a full end-to-end local shopping experience, Webinterpret improves your conversion and helps establish your business on a global scale.
Don’t wait and start exploring international marketplaces to grow your sales instantly!
Learn how online marketplaces can help your ecommerce business succeed!
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