Welcome to the 76th edition of the “Ecommerce & Marketplaces” weekly newsletter. We start this week’s edition with the blog Must-Have Features: Modern Multi-Vendor Marketplace Platform.” It looks at the excellent set of features every online marketplace needs through the lens of key marketplace participants – buyer, seller, and marketplace operator. When looking at software technology platforms for your marketplace, it is vital to understand that the customer experience is at the heart of it. Having features and functionalities that provide a great user experience will help the marketplace attract and retain more users and allow the marketplace to scale faster. Computer Weekly report talks about how online marketplace momentum is ushering in a new era for retailers. It predicts that by 2025, spending through the leading online marketplaces will overtake the vast majority of e-commerce outlets in established retail and travel categories. Channelsight’s insightful blog discusses “Ten Great Ways to Improve Online Marketplace Strategy.” Some critical strategies covered include social commerce, using analytics to drive performance management, and adopting a hybrid approach for DTC and online marketplace. Flashbox blog talks about “Five Online Marketplace Challenges and How to Beat Them.” It looks at the most common challenges the sellers face, discussing fulfillment, customer loyalty, and cart abandonment, among others. It provides a set of recommendations for each area. Selling through online marketplaces needs simplified buying processes that are fast and easy for the customer. Retail Touchpoints story looks at whether online grocery delivery has plateaued. They study 1,000 shoppers to see the latest insights into online grocery shopping. It has some exciting insights for retailers. Overall online grocery purchases have declined this year. The pandemic has had a significant impact on things. Read the story to get more details. Six in ten retailers say online holiday sales will increase this year; that’s the sentiment DC360 story offers. Retailers are optimistic about the holiday season despite the economic downturn. Even though retailers face increasing costs and rising inflation, they are confident that things will bounce back. In the Forbes Technological Council post, Eugene Grigul, cofounder & VP of Virto Commerce, presents his point of view on “Why Are Multi-Vendor E-Commerce Components And Marketplaces Still Trendy”. Read this and more in this week’s edition.
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Notable news from the past week
Must-Have Features: Modern Multi-Vendor Marketplace Platform
Online marketplaces have been growing phenomenally over the past few years. COVID-19 has forever changed the way both consumers and businesses shop. As a result, there has been a significant shift from physical sales to online. Be STF forecasts that B2B online sales via marketplaces will reach USD 4.0 trillion mark in 2025. In other words, marketplaces will account for 14% of total B2B eCommerce sales by 2025. This is a perfect time to be in the business of online marketplace. So, if you are planning to start a marketplace or already have an established marketplace, this list of must-have features should help you immensely.
Online Marketplace Momentum Ushers in New Era for Retailers
Retail has hardly changed in more than 100 years, says JJ Van Oosten, chief customer and digital officer of B&Q owner Kingfisher. For the majority of that time, the industry has operated with a self-service model. The advent of e-commerce marked a gradual evolution, he notes, but the procurement and then supply of goods to stores or warehouses from which consumers make a purchase and the business makes a margin has been a long-established structure for the sector.
Ten Great Ways to Improve Your Online Marketplace Strategy
There is a constant need to refine and update your marketplace strategy due to its ever-developing nature. By finding ways to improve your marketplace strategy, your brand can gain a competitive advantage. Online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, Etsy and many more continue to become the top destinations for today’s online shopper. A report from Geodis Group shows 46% of US companies and 59% of European ones now use these marketplaces to sell their wares.
Five Online Marketplace Challenges and How to Beat Them
In 2023, Canada will have a total of 29.6 million digital buyers, more than any year so far. As shopping trends change, it becomes increasingly important to keep up with the times. Digital buying is quickly overcoming other typical shopping methods, and merchants have to keep up with a new suite of expectations. Online marketplace selling is becoming a popular method of expanding digital buying options.
Has Online Grocery Delivery Plateaued?
ChaseDesign just finished our annual study of 1,000 shoppers to see what the latest insights are around online grocery shopping, specifically focused on which delivery methods are winning out pre, during and now post-COVID times. For starters, we do see a trend that online grocery shopping has become an important part of a shopper’s repertoire. Its growth had been slow for a decade as so many other retail channels or categories continued to take off. In 2011, less than 1% of grocery shopping was done online. Even eight years later, in 2019, it was only 3% of all grocery shopping, according to LEK Consulting.
The Retailer Speaks: Holiday Optimism Prevails Despite The Economics
It’s easy to cover the holiday shopping aftermath but arguably more important to explore what retailers are thinking in advance of the holiday season. Seventy retailers weighed in via Digital Commerce 360’s pre-holiday survey (July to September) on what’s on the horizon for the holidays. The positive news is that six in 10 retailers expect their holiday revenue to increase relative to 2021.
Why Are Multi-Vendor E-Commerce Components And Marketplaces Still Trendy?
Digital marketplaces seem like old news. They were born more than 30 years ago, yet we keep on hearing about marketplaces as the new trend. So, why is that? Turns out, there is something happening in the market that has far-reaching consequences for both business and technology, and that keeps the marketplace fire burning. The extraordinary success of early entrants to the marketplace space has set the stage for the remarkable growth of hundreds of companies and the explosion of digital marketplaces.
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