Online marketplaces dominate almost every stage of the UK purchase journey, from discovery and comparison through to purchase, reviews and even returns, according to recent research from Akeneo.
For high-value purchases over £90, UK shoppers lean more heavily on marketplaces than any other digital or physical touchpoint. For instance:
- 24% most regularly use marketplaces for search and discovery
- 26% use them for price and promotions comparisons
- 28% use them to compare or validate products, both top-ranked channels.
- 26% use marketplaces most often to leave reviews
- 21% turn to marketplaces for advice from other users, more than social media.
- 30% most regularly use marketplaces to buy the product – ahead of stores and retailer sites
- 21% use marketplaces to initiate returns, second only to other routes (22%).
- Across the whole journey, 30% of UK consumers say they most often buy from online marketplaces
- Just 6% most often buy from a brand’s own website.
This peak season has confirmed what our research already shows; for UK shoppers, marketplaces are the default shop window, comparison engine, review hub and checkout. If your product information and brand story do not show up clearly and consistently on marketplaces, you are invisible for a big share of high-value purchases. And in a world where AI agents and LLMs will increasingly replace search in guiding shoppers to the right products, being invisible on marketplaces means you may not exist at all for these new discovery engines.
– Romain Fouache, CEO, Akeneo
This dominance by marketplaces is underpinned by shoppers’ perception of content quality. Over half of UK consumers (52%) rate the quality of product information on marketplaces as very good, higher than retailer websites (40%) and outlet or discount stores (39%).
For big ticket purchases, marketplaces are where shoppers go to stress test their decisions. They’re comparing alternatives, checking specs and dimensions, weighing up delivery promises and reading real user feedback. If your marketplace presence is weak, inconsistent or incomplete, you’re effectively handing those customers to competitors.
– Romain Fouache, CEO, Akeneo
The survey contains one sting for retailers; peak revenue suffers due to a persistent product information gap across channels. 63% of UK consumers have abandoned a significant purchase in the last 12 months because information was missing or inaccurate. 70% would switch to a different product than they originally intended due to a lack of product information while 68% would stop buying from a brand after a bad product information experience.
Although 66% of UK shoppers say the information they received for their last significant purchase was comprehensive or fairly comprehensive, a sizeable 14% say it isn’t.
Peak can never be won on discounts alone but on confidence. That confidence is built on rich, accurate, channel-specific product content based on clear pricing and promotions, precise size and fit, transparent delivery timelines and authentic social proof. Brands that simply copy and paste product data to marketplaces will lose out to those who actively curate and optimise it for each platform.
– Romain Fouache, CEO, Akeneo
