Last year, Amazon was recognised as the most valuable brand in the world, with a brand value of £115 billion. 2018 was also the year in which eBay experienced its biggest commercial growth in the UK since 2015, with 36,000 businesses joining their marketplace and commencing selling activity. Meanwhile, Wish, Etsy and Alibaba, along with other online marketplaces, have reported impressive year-on-year success.
The simple truth is that shopping habits are rapidly changing: while high-street shopping is in evident decline, online shopping continues to flourish at an incredible rate. How should online retailers capitalise on this?
Attract new customers with online marketplaces
The first thing to consider is the idea of presenting your company to new customers through an online marketplace. In addition to their own channels, some of the biggest brands in the world sell their products through third-party marketplaces like Amazon, from Apple to Coca-Cola and Chanel to Manchester United. It makes clear business sense to open up your company’s potential by expanding your presence to these marketplaces.
With more and more online marketplaces popping up each day, e-tailers have more options than ever before in deciding which selling platforms are right for them. Most online retailers realise that one channel isn’t enough; as one leading online marketplace financier advises: ‘Because some people are loyal to certain marketplaces, having a presence on multiple marketplaces increases the potential pool of buyers for a product.’
However, adding marketplaces to your e-commerce strategy can be complex. Different marketplaces have different criteria for account management and product data, along with different processes and systems to integrate with. For multichannel success, you need unified inventory, order, SKU and listings management, not to mention coordinated customer care across all platforms.
If you can find a solution that deals with all the complicated integration, the rewards could be spectacular. As marketplace design specialists Frooition reports: ‘Listing your items multi-channel on eBay, gives you access to another 171 million shoppers, and Amazon is home to over 310 million active accounts of its own.’
Choose the right brand partners
The easiest way to connect to multiple online marketplaces is to bring a partner on board. We Are Pentagon, for example, can give you access to online marketplaces worldwide and take care of all the complexities for you. Companies like Pentagon can help you launch your store, drive online sales, expand globally and handle the regulations involved in cross-border selling.
A crucial thing to look out for when choosing a global marketplace partner is whether they have strong local knowledge of the countries you want to expand into. As Pentagon’s founder, Laurence Guy, states: ‘You cannot support a global business without having a global presence. Having staff who understand the local language and culture can build relations with marketplaces – that is critical.’
The simple advice here is to choose your partners wisely. The right company, with effective solutions, deep resources and vast expertise, can guarantee the continued growth that your brand deserves.
The benefits of outsourcing fulfilment and logistics
With online marketplace integration comes expanded fulfilment and logistics. You’re now selling on multiple marketplaces; the picking, packing and delivery of products has just been made much trickier. Partner with a trusted, well-established organisation who can help you with this so you can focus on growing your business.
Outsourcing your fulfilment and logistics will save you great expense as you wouldn’t have to build your own warehouse. An expert fulfilment company will also be able to do things much more efficiently and to a higher standard; this will result in higher sales and increased customer satisfaction.
A world-class company like Sprint Logistics will give you access to a flexible global network, providing you with the very best supply chain solutions. And if you’re thinking that outsourcing sounds like hard work, a top fulfilment partner should be able to take over the operation efficiently and handle the transition with ease. So, relax and leave the complicated, time-consuming processes in the hands of logistics experts.
Sprint Logistics is a global logistics company providing worldwide fulfilment services, distribution, storage, mass mailing and supply chain management. We believe in providing bespoke solutions to our invaluable clients and being available to them around the clock – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Contact Sprint Logistics today to discuss your fulfilment needs and see how we can help you expand globally.
