Welcome to the first edition of Tamebay’s Retailers and Brands fortnightly newsletters. Tamebay has garnered a reputation as the expert source for inside information for those wishing to sell on marketplaces. Now, our Retailers and Brands channel aims to take that expertise out to the world of larger, mainstream retailers and brands to help them exploit the marketplace channel.
With some 41% of all consumer visits to retail sites currently going to Amazon and eBay, not to mention there being more than 400 marketplaces operating across Europe, all retailers should very much be looking at marketplaces as part of their omni-channel strategy.
In fact, marketplaces allow any retailer, or any size, to become omni-channel, but for big players they are increasingly an essential route to market, both domestically and internationally.
For consumers, marketplaces are an ideal way to shop: they bring together all the goods supplied by competing retailers in one place that is easy to search, easy to price-compare, easy to customise delivery and all under a brand name that people trust. This can force retailers to be competitive on price – though increasingly this isn’t where they compete, as we shall see – and makes economic sense to shoppers.
They are also an easy place to search for goods, often acting as de facto search engines for shopping.
In light of this, it is easy to see why consumers are opting to use marketplaces in increasing numbers and this sheer volume of shoppers turning to marketplaces is the number one reason why any retailer should be looking to have a presence on some or all of the major marketplace sites.
But the advantages for the retailer don’t end there. Adding marketplace trading to your existing portfolio of websites and stores not only increases your customer base – putting you where, increasingly, the shoppers are – but it can also expand you into new territories with minimal risk and cost, as well as taking much of the pain from warehousing and logistics.
Aside from that, marketplaces offer an ongoing way to support your business through their ability to help you add new stock and ranges, as well as helping to create an endless aisle for your business should you so wish.
The marketplace idea can also be used to transform your business, making you a marketplace for other third-party suppliers to sell to your audience, giving you new revenue streams, opening up your site to new shoppers and creating an image for your business as a ‘one-stop-shop’ in your market sector.
In this section of Tamebay.com we will be looking at how Top Flight retailers and brands are using marketplaces, how marketplaces are responding and what it means for the overall ecommerce world.
We shall be posting news, views, case studies, analysis and more as this important channel to market becomes key for many sellers. This week we outline how voice-shopping on devices such as Amazon’s Echo is driving more shoppers than ever to use marketplaces to buy a wider range of good; how China’s leading retailer and marketplace JD.com is upping the ante in selling top makeup brands by using AI and VR; we look at what the collapse of Maplin and Toys R Us means for their eBay stores; how 3D body modelling could make Amazon a leading fashion sales site for brands; and we take a look at how mobile and marketplaces together are the future of ecommerce – according to key speakers at IRX 2018 later this month.
There is much, much more already on the Retail and brands channel on Tamebay, so take a look, and stay tuned to start to get deep insights into how to make the most of marketplaces as part of you retail or brand omni-channel strategy.
