A couple of decades ago, selling on UK marketplaces was a relatively simple operation – there was eBay and Amazon and that just about covered the bases. If you sold collectibles, motor parts, used or refurbished it was eBay only, and if you sold new products you also sold on Amazon.
Fast forward to 2024 and the landscape is much more nuanced with many more channels worthy of your attention and it’s going to get even more complex as the year progresses.
eBay
eBay is the granddaddy of all marketplaces and will continue to double down on their core differentiators of refurbished, preloved and second hand. Motors is a surprisingly large category for parts dealers that is often over looked as so specialist.
Amazon
Amazon have traditionally focused on new product and fast delivery, but they are starting to encroach on eBay’s strengths with a UK/EU second chance business worth over £1billion. Expect to see these offers appear more prominently on their platform.
OnBuy
OnBuy are the only upstart marketplace we’ve seen gain significant traction in almost two decades of covering the sector. We’re still waiting for their next explosive growth which will come as they expand internationally and expect to see this take place in 2024. This should significantly increase sales for UK retailers on the platform so watch this space!
Wish
Wish’s biggest challenge is Temu, but they have one big advantage and that is that in recent years they have less of a focus on low cost Chinese goods and have been adding UK and European brands to their marketplace. This is the single biggest weapon they have to compete with Temu, who in just about every other way have done everything Wish ever wanted to become.
Retailer Marketplaces
From B&Q to Debenhams, retailer marketplaces have seen explosive growth with no signs of slowing down and will play an increasingly important part of the marketplace mix in the UK over the course of 2024. They attract a different consumer sector to traditional marketplaces and there are more to come… the biggest of which will be Tesco when their marketplace fully launches.
TikTok Shop
Moving away from traditional marketplaces, TikTok Shop came from no where a year and a half ago to become the fastest growing channel for retailers. However it’s still in it’s infancy with a relatively few categories currently launched so the room for growth is phenomenal.
The downside with TikTok is that it’s a totally different selling proposition to marketplace but for those that get to grips with entertaining content, working with influencers, and going LIVE, it can quickly become their largest retail channel selling more product faster than the traditional marketplaces.
Temu & Shein
While these two marketplaces aren’t currently a viable opportunity for UK brands and retailers, they do represent a real danger to the likes of eBay and Amazon. With the lure of low prices in exchanges for slower delivery, they are swallowing up huge chunks of traffic (Temu already sees 5.4 million daily app users in comparison to Amazon’s 9.1 million!).
The danger we see here is that if shoppers are on Temu or similar platforms then they’re not on eBay or Amazon. If consumers continue to buy cheaper products direct from the factory on these new platforms, they’re simply going to visit eBay and Amazon less frequently and if they’re not on the marketplace they’ll consider them less and less frequently when they start their shopping journeys. This is a problem, not just for the marketplaces but for the retailers on those marketplaces as well – the more fragmented channel retailing becomes the more essential it becomes to be present anywhere and everywhere consumers are shopping.
Resources
To help you understand the opportunities available across UK marketplaces and channels we have a raft of reports well worth reading:
ChannelX Marketplace Guide
The ChannelX Marketplaces Guide 2023 will help short cut your route to selecting the marketplaces that fit with your product set and includes 50 new channels to help you expand your business
UK Amazon Sellers Report
A deep dive into the profile of some of the top UK Amazon sellers – what a top seller’s business looks like and what strategies online retailers should have in place to succeed plus six top seller profiles
Diversify to Thrive
In this white paper, we explore the key domestic and international marketplaces for sellers wanting to expand their sales channels, covering France, Germany, The Netherlands, The USA and Turkey, in addition to the UK
Taking the Fear Out of Multi-Channel
Looking at key UK channels such as ManoMano, B&Q, Etsy, OnBuy and Wish, to help you fully understand the different requirements and rules demanded by these channels so you can start selling across multiple platforms
One Response
I would add that Fruugo are of note also.
I would add that ebay really disgusts me with their back handed fee increases via promoted adverts. Ignore their adverts and be prepared to get no viability. It’s made me not think of ebay a first choice destination to sell. I’m sure other sellers feel the same. I predict that over the next 5 years eBay with lose market share and just be part of a wider mix. Just my thoughts.