6 Benefits Of Ecommerce Marketplace Management For Your Business

Take advantage of the latest ecommerce management solutions available

As the online advertising market grows more competitive, it’s important for businesses to find new and innovative ways to advertise their products. One way in which they can do this is by taking advantage of ecommerce marketplaces, an increasingly popular online shopping platform for modern consumers.

With 97% of all online shoppers purchasing from online marketplaces in the last year and over 50% of ecommerce sales being made through online marketplaces in 2019, making the decision to go global with your products is a wise move for businesses in 2021.

In this article, we explain exactly what ecommerce marketplaces are, the advantages and disadvantages, what’s involved in running one and why you need ecommerce marketplace management for your business.

What is an Ecommerce Marketplace?

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, ecommerce marketplaces are websites that connect sellers with buyers. Popular examples of ecommerce marketplaces include Amazon and eBay, however, more marketplaces are emerging and rising in popularity such as Etsy, ASOS Marketplace, AliExpress and Wayfair.

There are two major factors that define an online marketplace:

There are many sellers and buyers trading through the same website
Buyers can purchase products without leaving the site (or app)

Please note that this excludes price comparison sites as you cannot make a purchase without having to leave the site. These types of website are advertising channels as opposed to online marketplaces.

While most of these marketplaces sell general merchandise, some are dedicated to a specific product category, such as handmade and craft items, creating a strong niche target audience.

Advantages of Ecommerce Marketplaces

There is a range of benefits of ecommerce marketplaces for businesses wishing to increase reach and sales. For example:

They provide an additional channel to market and sell your products, thus increasing your brand awareness.

The platform offers reduced marketing costs compared to other sales channels.
They allow for new opportunities for domestic and overseas sales.

They are growing increasingly popular with customers and offer a convenient way to compare prices and products from a single source.
These platforms create a level of trust between you and the buyer, especially if you are established on your chosen platform.
Reviews of your products and service may give new customers the confidence to buy.
They provide greater transparency – availability, prices and stock levels are accessible in an open environment.

Disadvantages of Ecommerce Marketplaces

There are also some drawbacks of ecommerce marketplaces that you should consider before applying for an account and listing your products on their platform, for example:

Marketplaces can charge commission on every sale and fees can vary from site to site. Before selling your products on a marketplace, make sure you understand the marketplace’s pricing structure.
The online stores may impose restrictive terms and conditions in terms of how you can communicate with customers.
There may be marketplace limitations as to how your business can brand its online presence.
Platforms such as Amazon can be difficult to gain traction on without pay per click advertising and related marketing spend on their platform in addition to product commissions.

What are the Benefits of Ecommerce Marketplace Management?

The idea of expanding your business offering and products into a new market can be a daunting and even overwhelming process. There are various things to consider when branching out into ecommerce marketplaces, each one just as important as the last for ensuring business success.

From establishing a global ecommerce supply chain to facilitating returns, this profitable and emerging market can take up a lot of time. Therefore, it can be beneficial to employ the services of a professional, helping you to save business resources such as your valuable time.

Below are 6 of the top reasons why you should utilise ecommerce marketplace management and the benefits it can have for your business:

Strategy development – it is vital to have a solid strategy in place when choosing to list your products in ecommerce marketplaces. Enlisting some ecommerce marketplace management support could make all the difference when it comes to devising a strategy that will take your business to the next level.
Product optimisation – some products are better suited to ecommerce marketplaces than others. An ecommerce marketplace management consultant can help you to prioritise which products to list.
SEO – many businesses tend to forget about SEO when listing their products on ecommerce marketplaces. However, SEO is a crucial aspect of your strategy to ensure your products are found amongst the sheer volume of other items.

Continued testing and optimisation – when you’re busy uploading all your products to your chosen marketplaces, it can be easy to forget about optimising existing listings. Ecommerce marketplace management can keep on top of this for you.
Feedback monitoring – many, if not all, ecommerce marketplaces offer users the option to give feedback to the merchant. If you become established and successful on your chosen platforms, it can become difficult to keep track of feedback, but an ecommerce marketplace management system can make this simple and easy to keep track of.
Multiple marketplaces – if you want to expand your business to multiple ecommerce marketplaces, each one with their own sets of rules and regulations, you may need some help managing this as it can quickly become overwhelming. This is where ecommerce marketplace management makes complete sense for your business!

Are you Ready to Take Advantage of the Future of Ecommerce Marketplaces?

If you’re interested in branching out your business’s services and products to ecommerce marketplaces, we’re here to help. Our experts have a vast range of experience with ecommerce marketplace management and can work closely with your business to deliver fantastic results. For more information, please get in touch with our team today.