Are you an e-tailer wondering how to boost your sales? The answer could lie in marketplaces! Discover our guide on how to increase your sales on marketplaces.
Did you know that marketplaces now account for 67% of all sales worldwide? And let’s not forget that no less than 63% of the French consider marketplaces to be the most convenient way to shop. These figures alone, gathered by Mirakl, demonstrate just how essential these platforms have become for consumers and e-tailers alike.
Nevertheless, a few questions remain: how can you take advantage of these opportunities and increase your sales on marketplaces? And how can you stand out in this ultra-competitive world?
Stay with us, and find out how to make the most of marketplaces to seize every opportunity and boost your sales!
Seize the opportunities offered by marketplaces
Marketplaces have become an essential part of e-commerce. They offer unique opportunities to diversify your sales channels, test new products and expand your international presence. Find out how to make the most of marketplaces to boost your sales and optimize your logistics.
Achieve omnichannel sales by diversifying your sales channels
The first great opportunity that marketplaces offer you is that of a first step towards omnichannelity, i.e. the possibility of diversifying your sales channels to reach a wider variety of consumers.
Each marketplace has its own clientele with specific buying behaviors, expectations and preferences, so by marketing your products or services on one of them you gain access to its customers, different from those who buy on your CMS. Even beyond a strategy developed on a single platform, you can increase your sales on marketplaces by multiplying them! By extending your presence to several marketplaces, you can reach new customer segments and boost your sales.
However, selling across multiple sales channels can make order and inventory management a complex task. This is where an OMS (Order Management System) becomes crucial. With OMS Shippingbo, you can centralize orders from all your sales channels in real time. Your e-commerce stock management will also be synchronized in real time, across all your sales platforms, enabling you to avoid out-of-stock sales and ensure constant product availability for your customers.
Expand at lower cost thanks to accessible marketplaces
Marketplaces are also a cost-effective way to grow your business. Indeed, although they charge a commission on your sales and may require a subscription, they offer visibility and reach that you might struggle to achieve on your own.
What’s more, you don ‘t need to invest as much in marketing and SEO as you would with a CMS, since it’s the platform that does the heavy lifting in attracting customers.
Marketplaces: ideal platforms for all your tests
Last but not least, marketplaces are a fantastic playground for testing your products and strategies before rolling them out on a larger scale. Do you have a new product that’s less consistent with the range you sell on your site? Test it on a marketplace to see how it’s received by the market.
Marketplaces also offer an opportunity for internationalization. In fact, they enable you to sell your products in several countries without having to deal with local specificities. This can be an excellent way to test foreign markets’ interest in your products before embarking on a more serious internationalization strategy.
In short, marketplaces in France can offer many advantages for increasing sales and visibility. However, it’s important to understand how to get around some of their limitations.
Bypassing limits to increase sales on marketplaces
Marketplaces offer many growth opportunities for e-tailers, but they also present specific challenges, the main one being to keep up with the demands of marketplaces, both in terms of logistics and customer service, or risk having your marketplace account closed. Find out how to overcome this challenge with the right strategies and optimized logistics management.
Your products don’t seem suited to this type of channel
You may find that some of your products, particularly custom-made or customizable ones, are not suitable for sale on marketplaces. These platforms are generally designed for the sale of standardized products, which can make the sale of customizable products more difficult.
To get around this limitation, various strategies can be considered. A first option is to sell returned products or cancelled orders on marketplaces, obviously at a lower cost. This destocking strategy avoids waste and can attract new customers. Of course, you can adopt this strategy if the level of personalization of your products is not too high – a product with a name on it, for example, may not have any impact, but a product with only the colors chosen might.
Another strategy could be to standardize some of your product references for specific sale on marketplaces. These “bait” products could then attract traffic to your website, where customers would then see your full range and customization options. For this, you’ll need to adopt a good branding strategy!
The mix of new and used products seems unsuitable for your image.
It’s true that the sale of new and used products on the same platform can be a source of reluctance for some e-tailers, who fear for their brand image.
However, it is important to note that buying behavior is changing. Today, over 80% of online shoppers have already purchased refurbished or second-hand products. This second-hand trend is booming and should not be overlooked when looking to increase sales on marketplaces.
You don’t own your customers
One of the notable limitations of selling on marketplaces is the impossibility of recontacting customers. Unlike on your own website, where you can collect customers’ contact details and get back to them later, on a marketplace it’s the platform that holds this information.
To get around this limitation, you need to stand out from the crowd and make a lasting impression. You can, for example, create a store on the marketplace, with your logo and visual identity. Make sure you also provide impeccable customer service, so that customers remember you and look to buy from you again.
So, despite certain limitations, it is entirely possible to increase your sales on marketplaces by adapting your strategy. The key is to understand these limits and find ways of getting around them to stand out on marketplaces. How about using your logistics!
Using logistics as a sales lever on marketplaces
Logistics play a crucial role in the success of sales on marketplaces. By optimizing order management, delivery and customer communication, e-tailers can not only improve their positioning to secure the Buy Box, but also increase customer satisfaction, and consequently, sales.
To obtain the Buy Box
The BuyBox is the place on a product page where customers can begin the purchasing process by clicking on the “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now” button. On marketplaces, several sellers may offer the same product, but only one of them will be chosen to appear in the Buy Box.
The criteria for inclusion in the Buy Box are not based solely on selling price. Marketplaces also take into account the seller’s ability to provide the best possible customer service. Among the most commonly used criteria are :
- optimal delivery times,
- the lowest possible order cancellation rate,
- a low lateness rate,
- short response times to customers,
- good customer reviews, etc.
Amazon, the best-known marketplace, is a good example of the importance of these criteria. Amazon gives each seller a score called Perfect Order Percentage (POP). If this score is higher than 95%, Amazon puts the seller forward in the Buy Box, which can considerably increase sales. On the other hand, a score that is too low may even prevent the seller from selling on the Amazon marketplace.
Want to know more about the Buy Box? Discover our dedicated white paper : Buy Box Marketplace: How to get it?
To improve customer satisfaction
Good logistics management is the key to customer satisfaction. Thanks to a WMS (Warehouse Management System), you can optimize order preparation time, thus improving order dispatch speed. How can you do this?
The Shippingbo WMS manages your stocks and optimizes your order preparation, by automating and industrializing picking sessions, to enable you to dispatch your orders as quickly as possible.
The TMS (Transport Management System) is another essential tool for improving customer satisfaction. It enables you to choose the best mode of transport for each order, according to various criteria such as weight, size or destination of the parcel. With Shippingbo’s solution, you can connect to over 40 carriers to offer the best possible delivery to your customers on marketplaces.
OMS (Order Management System) is a tool that enables you to communicate quickly and efficiently with your customers, providing them with clear, up-to-date information on the status of their order. With Shippingbo, you can simply automate the sharing of order status notifications.
By combining this trio of software solutions, you can optimize your logistics management and directly contribute to customer satisfaction on marketplaces. A satisfied customer is not only likely to recommend your products on the marketplace, but is also more inclined to visit your website and become a regular customer.
In conclusion, logistics is an essential lever for increasing sales on marketplaces. By combining good Buy Box management with optimized logistics management, you can improve your customer service and, consequently, your sales.
Conclusion
As you can see, increasing your sales on marketplaces is a challenge that, if met properly, offers significant growth potential. These platforms offer a wide range of opportunities, and although challenges remain, with a well thought-out strategy, these obstacles can be overcome.
The key to success lies in your ability to get around these limitations and use your logistics as a sales lever. Mastering the Buy Box, optimizing your customer service and implementing an efficient logistics strategy, with the right tools, are crucial factors for success on marketplaces.
Nevertheless, it’s essential to remember that entering the marketplaces must be a gradual and well-prepared process.
In this webinar, you’ll learn how to sell on marketplaces, and the key steps involved!
