The results from OnBuy’s recent Consumer Survey show that consumers are untrusting of how marketplaces compete with retailers, but OnBuy wants to change that.
According to the recent survey nearly two-thirds (64%) of consumers expressed a desire to support independent retailers in 2022, yet 90% of them believe the only way to do so is to buy from them directly. This has caused some issues in how they see marketplaces and it shows with 75% of respondents thinking that marketplaces compete with retailers.
Online marketplaces became home to many retailers during the pandemic and this helped them increase their presence and reach a larger base of customers. Consumers are already aware of the challenges faced by small retailers trying to compete against larger brands and now the aggressive growth tactics of those straddling the line between a marketplace and retailer has led to a misconception that all marketplaces are working against them.
OnBuy wants to change this misconception by shifting the consumer perception of online marketplaces. The company who were recently named on the FT1000 list has vowed never to compete with its retailers and prioritises treating them fairly as equal partners instead. This was further demonstrated by a recent Black Friday event, where OnBuy cut its own commission sitewide to ensure retailers could offer the best prices on products.
The results of this survey are very telling in terms of how consumers view marketplaces. Many of the marketplaces today also operate as retailers, giving consumers the idea that they all compete directly with high street and independent retailers, but that shouldn’t be the case. The eCommerce landscape is flawed and needs an overhaul. In its purest form, a marketplace is there to facilitate the buying and selling of goods, and that’s what we’ve built here at OnBuy. We are different. Fairness and transparency are core tenets of our organisation, and that allows us to provide the best environment for retailers to grow.
– Cas Paton, CEO & Founder of OnBuy
