If you want to expand your e-commerce business and increase your sales, online marketplaces are a must. You can increase retail sales as much as 200% — simply by listing on new channels like Sears, Newegg, and Best Buy.

You need to first identify the best online marketplaces for your brand. Here are the best platforms to increase your sales.

Every online marketplace has its unique requirements, product categories, listing fees, and audiences. So if you want to be sure you’re making the right decision, research is necessary.

You’ll want to understand the different strategies for selling on marketplaces, which ones hold the most promise for your products, and what you need to do to succeed.

What Is an Online Marketplace?

An online marketplace is an e-commerce site that offers many different products from many different sellers. Some of the most well-known marketplaces include:

Amazon,
eBay,
Walmart,
Etsy,
Alibaba.com, and
Google Express.

There are also niche online marketplaces like Bonanza, Fruugo and Hollar, fashion-focused marketplaces such as Zalando and Fullbeauty, bargain-focused marketplaces such as Tophatter and Tanga, and the list goes on.

There are now over 100 online marketplaces you could potentially leverage to reach customers doing their online shopping — both within the United States and overseas like Japan and Europe, with trillions of dollars in revenue potential just waiting to be tapped.

But remember: you don’t need to go after them all at once. You just need to determine which channels are the best fit for your brand.

The Biggest Benefits of Selling on Online Marketplaces

With the ever-increasing popularity of e-commerce marketplaces and online sales, these channels are constantly coming up with new ways to keep customers happy. That’s great news for your business.

It means most marketplaces will go to great lengths to make it as easy as possible for brands and retailers to market, sell, and fulfill. Why? Because the easier it is for you to use the platform, the better the experience will be for shoppers — and the more likely they’ll be to keep coming back for more.

There are 3 advantages you need to know.

1. Fast launch times.

If you’re new to selling online, marketplaces can be an excellent way to generate revenue and build your brand as you work to drive traffic to a new e-commerce website. Once approved as a third-party seller on marketplaces, you simply upload your product feed and start selling.

Do you already have an established online store? Here’s another trick: Some brands use “where to buy” widgets to send visitors from their websites directly to marketplace product pages, where consumers can add items to shopping carts without being immediately exposed to competitors.

2. Established programs.

All of the biggest and most established online marketplaces have programs in place to help you easily navigate the waters of marketing, selling and fulfilling.

For example, sellers on Amazon, eBay, and Google have access to Amazon Advertising, eBay Promotions Manager, and Google Shopping Actions. Each of these digital marketing programs is packed with tools to help you get products in front of all the right customers, at just the right times.

Similar options are available to help sellers meet consumer expectations for fast, free deliveries. With programs such as Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and eBay Global Shipping, for instance, you can opt to have the marketplace warehouse, pick, pack and ship inventory on your behalf.

3. Large customer bases.

As you may have guessed, many online marketplaces have enormous built-in audiences of consumers who regularly shop these sites. Just think: between Amazon, eBay, and Walmart alone, you’re looking at close to 500 million active monthly visitors.

Also, many of those consumers start with marketplaces when they want to purchase products. They don’t even bother with Google or retail websites. 56% of all product searches now begin (and often end) on Amazon.

Business Strategies for Selling on Marketplaces

Contrary to popular belief, selling on marketplaces doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing proposition. Sure, there are ways to deeply embed your business within the world of marketplaces. But if you’d rather take your time and test out different options, there are equally effective ways to do that, too.

Here are two different approaches to consider:

1. Starting a new business on marketplaces.

If your small business is looking for a fast, easy way to get products in front of shoppers, selling on e-commerce marketplaces is an excellent place to start.

While your choices may be slightly more limited compared to those of established brands and retailers, plenty of options are available to consider.

For example, invite-only marketplaces such as Walmart and Target + will want to see a history of on-time deliveries and positive feedback before accepting you as a third-party seller.

But others will let you set up a seller account right away, including Amazon and eBay. Once you begin to build up positive reviews and ratings on those platforms, you can apply to sell on additional marketplaces as well.

2. Expanding your online store to marketplaces.

Even if you already have a thriving online store, uploading your products to select e-commerce marketplaces is an excellent way to expand your reach.

Also, consumers expect multiple options for buying the same product.

This is especially notable with Amazon. An estimated 44% of Amazon shoppers say they always check prices on Amazon before purchasing on another site. More than half goes to the marketplace to read full product descriptions, and 60% visit it specifically to look at product reviews.

And that’s just on Amazon. Many consumers will also consult with other marketplaces to compare prices and buying options. By expanding your online store to these platforms, you can help shoppers find the information and offer they need to buy where, when and how they want to.

Source https://www.bigcommerce.com

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