The Hustler's Digest StaffWhat is an e-commerce marketplace?
To begin, let’s take a look at the concept of the marketplace. This term designates a platform, owned by a large e-commerce company, which connects sellers and buyers. A market place allows the site that hosts it to expand its offer, attract new customers and develop its turnover.
For a monthly subscription and, sometimes, a commission, you can reference your products on these platforms, in order to diversify your visibility. The marketplace acts as an intermediary between you and thousands of potential customers.
Among the best-known marketplaces, we can cite Amazon, Cdiscount, eBay or even Fnac.
Why sell in a marketplace?
If you have an online store or if you plan to open one soon, marketplaces represent a real business opportunity. You take advantage of the visibility of a large brand to expand your market, which has many advantages, including:
Increased visibility
Amazon is more than 200 million monthly visits. Fnac? Over 30 million visitors each month. What about eBay? 5 million active monthly buyers. Figures that make you dream, right?
By integrating these platforms, you will take advantage of their exponential traffic to increase your visibility, as well as those of your products.
Boosted turnover
Who says more visibility, says more sales! Your articles are exposed to millions of potential buyers, which multiplies your chances of conversion. Of course, you will have to stand out in the crowd and reference your products perfectly on customer requests.
As on your own online store, you will have to work on the titles and descriptions of your goods. You will also have to study the competition to offer preferential rates or play on delivery costs.
The provision of marketing tools
Most marketplaces offer you marketing tools to improve your e-commerce. In a few clicks, you will be able to search for your main competitors, find out their offers, and align yourself.
The platforms also offer their own advertising network: you will be able to boost the visibility of your ads, appear at the top of certain searches or benefit from a more advantageous presentation.
A better e-reputation
Marketplaces encourage customers to leave reviews after purchase. These testimonials allow your business to go up in results while boosting your sales. A consumer will be more inclined to buy from a brand whose opinions are mostly positive.
In addition, you can reuse these comments on your e-commerce site, your social networks, your product sheets, etc. This strategy enhances your store and can lead the undecided to give in to purchase.
Diversified acquisition channels
Your e-commerce is subject to the goodwill of Google. The slightest change in the algorithm can make you lose places in the result pages. The Google Ads budget can also explode if your competitors bid on certain keywords. Your online store is therefore entirely dependent on these parameters to ensure its success… However, this is not acceptable for its sustainability.
Diversifying your customer acquisition channels avoids putting all your eggs in one basket. If Google changes its policy, you can always count on sales in marketplaces, the time to bring your SEO strategy to new standards!
Choose the right marketplace
There are around ten market places in France. However, it is useless to register everywhere!
Our advice: Choose marketplaces where your customers are located and which offer prices in line with your budget.
Good sales practices on a marketplace
Selling products on a marketplace requires prior preparation. It is not enough to duplicate your catalogue on all marketplaces to obtain success. Let’s see together, the best practices for selling on Amazon, Fnac, La Redoute and Cie. !
Choosing the right products to sell
Note that there is no obligation on the number of products to sell. The only condition is that they fall into the categories offered by the chosen market place.
Several strategies are open to you:
- Sell only your best products: those that sell on your e-commerce site will also sell on marketplaces.
- Offer products that sell less well on your site: with the millions of visitors generated by marketplaces, you will more easily find takers for specific objects.
- Sell your entire catalogue: you can then sort between the products that work and those that must be abandoned.
- Selling products that have no competition: a successful technique consists of selecting only the items that are not very competitive, in order to increase your chances of a sale.
Adopt a consistent pricing policy
Market places are very competitive … Unless you are located in a niche.
A consumer will necessarily compare prices before buying. If you want to sell, you will need to adjust your prices regularly.
- If you are starting your adventure and you do not yet have customer reviews, be the cheapest. As soon as you receive positive ratings, you can increase the price.
- If you have very good reviews and your competitors have little or none at all, you can offer a slightly higher price.
- If you and your competitors have positive comments, offer the same price as them. However, try to make a move on the delivery to tip the scales.
Tip: There are e-commerce tools that continuously survey the market and recalculate prices, to help you be efficient: Spy Commerce, Sellermania, Price Observatory, PriceJet … Don’t hesitate to use them to save time and sales!
Caring for customer service
When a customer is dissatisfied with a seller, the marketplace suffers the consequences. Amazon, Fnac, La Redoute, Zalando, Rakuten… They all have performance requirements that they know how to reward.
Badges, notes, response time display… These platforms highlight sellers who get positive opinions, who are reactive and who have a low litigation rate.
Quality customer service is the key to the success of these online retailers!
Work on the SEO of your product sheets
The marketplaces are so large that internet users often use them as a search engine. Instead of navigating from categories to subcategories, they type their needs directly in the search bar.
Your mission (if you accept it!) Is to position your products on these requests. First, use the SEO work you have done for your own site. Also, visit the files of your competitors to identify the keywords used.
Use this research to write attractive descriptions, which highlight the benefit of your products, as well as all the services offered (fast delivery, free shipping, responsive customer service, satisfaction or your money back…).
