With all the marketplaces out there, the decision which one to onboard is not that easy. Of course, there are the big names like Amazon and eBay, which come with huge customer bases, and the opportunity to sell practically any product. There are also niche players like ManoMano, which focus on a specific category. There are also local players who focus on 1-2 countries and entrench themselves against competition.
So which factors do you need to consider when making a choice?
The most important, primary factors are: Popularity, Competition, Category Match.
Among secondary factors are: Complexity, Available Tools, Connectivity, Commissions, Services for Sellers, and a few less important ones.
Let’s take a look at each of them.
Popularity
A bigger and more popular platform is always an appealing opportunity. If you want to compare a few marketplaces in popularity, you can use SimilarWeb to check their estimated monthly traffic. Nothing too fancy – the more traffic, the better.
Competition
The biggest marketplaces are not only popular among buyers – they also attract a lot of sellers. Some marketplaces have public information about the number of sellers active on the platform. But you can also go into a category on their site and see how many brands are selling in it (they are usually visible in the navigation filters). This will give you an idea how much competition you would be facing.
Category Match
Is it a generalist allowing any product, or a niche marketplace focusing on a single product group? If you are selling Home & Living products, for example, there are specialized marketplaces for you (as the abovementioned ManoMano). Even though they might be smaller compared to the generalist platforms, they might work better for you if you are specializing in their category.
To see which categories are important for a marketplace, just take a look at their home page category menu. Their most important categories will be listed there. Don’t see yours? Is it shown in “Others”? Then this platform is not suitable for you.
Secondary factors
Complexity: How challenging is the marketplace? Do you need to check the Account Health several times per day? Are you required to provide phone support? Is there a lot of manual work required to run your activities?
Available Tools: Are there Traffic & Conversion rate reports? Can you advertise? Do they support enhanced content? Are there analytical tools for keyword research?
Connectivity: Is the marketplace connected to integrators? Do they provide tools for automation?
Commissions: How high is the commission and other fees compared to the competition?
Services for Sellers: Is there an order fulfilment service? Will you get a dedicated Account Manager? Do they offer translation of product information?
Need help picking a marketplace to onboard? Contact Marketplace Agents.
Make sure to check out our Marketplace Onboarding Guide.