Cymbio, a leading marketplace orchestration platform, today released a study revealing that marketplaces fueled over 40% of all ecommerce growth in 2024, outpacing channels such as direct-to-consumer (D2C) and solidifying their role as the leading driver of online retail expansion.
Drawing on proprietary Cymbio data and benchmarks from Capital One and eMarketer, the report signals a decisive shift: marketplaces have become the leading source of growth in ecommerce while D2C saw their share of ecommerce growth decline for the first time in years. As D2C growth plateaus and customer acquisition costs (CAC) rise, brands leveraging marketplaces consistently outperformed those relying on traditional channels.
Brands selling on marketplaces using Cymbio’s platform averaged 40% year-over-year growth in 2024, with some surpassing 200% or even 300% across top marketplaces like Macy’s, Amazon, TikTok Shop, and Saks.
Our latest research makes it clear that marketplaces are where the momentum lies right now in digital commerce. At Cymbio, we’re proud to help brands accelerate their growth on marketplaces by automating the day-to-day operations and offering the strategic support they need to scale and compete.
– Roy Avidor, CEO, Cymbio
The study also revealed that nearly 30% of brands that onboarded to Cymbio in 2024 had never sold on a marketplace before, demonstrating the untapped growth potential in this channel. This lag in adoption suggests that some brands still perceive marketplaces as low-margin or brand-diluting, despite data showing they now play a central role in overall ecommerce growth.
Looking ahead, Cymbio projects that marketplaces will account for more than 53% of all ecommerce growth by 2030. For many brands, the challenge will no longer be whether to sell on marketplaces, but how to do so efficiently and at scale.
