Opportunities, Obstacles and Overcoming Challenges: How to Win at Digital Marketplaces

Marketplaces provide the ultimate one-stop retail experience, presenting an exceptional, seamless shopper journey. In most cases, they offer everything an online shopper could want in a purchase experience; convenience, value, support, returns – all condensed into a short, frictionless journey. Not to be confused with an advertising channel which directs traffic back to a retailer’s website for the actual purchase, a shopper checks out directly on the marketplace and the order is sent to the retailer for fulfillment.

Why Retailers Need Embrace Marketplaces

Consumers have spoken. 64% of global shoppers are excited about the prospect of buying everything through the one retailer – if your products aren’t there, you’re missing out.

Marketplaces accounted for 62% of global web sales in 2020, and $2.67 trillion was spent globally on the top 100 online marketplaces.

[ Digital Commerce 360 ]

+34% TRAFFIC INCREASE

Retailers with marketplaces saw a 34% increase in traffic to their core eCommerce website.

[ Mirakl ]

Opportunities, Obstacles and Overcoming Challenges: How to win at digital marketplaces

OPPORTUNITY:

Access a new customer base and growth opportunities.

OBSTACLE:

A customer may discover your brand via a marketplace, but you don’t have full control of their shopping experience.

Overcoming the Challenge and Winning at Digital Marketplaces

Control what you can in the marketplace experience, such as:

Product information: Make it descriptive, relevant and optimised for that particular channel. Include imagery, reviews, FAQs, delivery & returns information. Keep all your product information in a PIM, ensuring it’s consistent across all sales channels.
Delivery and communications: Over communicate and be upfront about delivery expectations. Offer delivery options (check out an OMS solution) and give the customer the opportunity to pay for expedited shipping.
After sales support: Ensure your new customer’s experience was everything they hoped for, and welcome them into your brand domain. Be sure you don’t miss the opportunity to ask for a review!

Ensure you have the right tools and processes in place to draw a new customer into your ecosystem, and give them an amazing brand experience wherever they continue to touch your brand.

OPPORTUNITY:

Scale quickly and keep inventory turning over.

OBSTACLE:

With products listed across multiple sales channels, the threat of stock outs is real.

Overcoming the Challenge and Winning at Digital Marketplaces

Unifying your inventory is key to preventing stock outs and ensuring all stock is available to be sold across all sales channels. Allocating a certain amount of stock per channel is a quick fix, however you will very likely be missing sales! If your allocation is exhausted for the channel that’s performing, you’re missing out.

A Distributed OMS holds live inventory and is one single source of inventory truth for all your sales and marketing channels. Connect this to your commerce ecosystem to expand your available to sell inventory across your online and offline sales channels, keep stock turning over and provide an exceptional customer experience. Stock can be sold no matter where it’s located, whether it’s sitting on a shelf in a store, in a warehouse or with a drop shipper.

OPPORTUNITY:

Offload distressed stock.

OBSTACLE:

Sending this stock to a specialised, discount marketplace may lower a customer’s perception of the quality of your brand.

Overcoming the Challenge and Winning at Digital Marketplaces

Distressed, out of season stock impacts your bottom line. Mass discounting of this range on your own website isn’t great for your brand – you’ll train your customers to wait for the big sales instead of purchasing full price.

Publishing your excess stock to a specialised discount marketplace can be effective, as long as you keep in mind that this customer may not be your ideal customer. They may be a dedicated “bargain shopper”, and no amount of nurturing will convert them to a full-price paying customer. But that’s ok – as long as you haven’t lowered your top customer’s perfection of your brand, you’re still moving the stock.

Why not be creative? Consider publishing distressed stock to marketplaces in a different market; they’re just coming into your current season on the other side of the equator… If all overseas orders can be consolidated for shipping and repacked for the last mile delivery, you’re winning.