5 tips to increase sales in ecommerce marketplace

The ecommerce segment is becoming hyper competitive and customer demands are getting more complex and sophisticated. Retailers selling on the marketplace have to work hard to stand out from the competition and grow their business.

Retailers are using their multichannel presence to increase their exposure through advertising. And, while we all know that advertising is key to commerce, not all retailers investing in this strategy are successful.

Here are 5 tips that would help you to stand out & grow your business via marketplaces:

1. Be noticeable by creating your unique offer

One of the critical interest for being present on marketplaces is the visibility they provide. By putting your offer on Amazon or eBay, you will benefit from the marketing power and increased exposure for your products. Being able to propose your offer on marketplaces is one thing, being visible inside the market is another.

If you are a reseller, your offer will most likely be associated with your competitors. Sometimes you are competing with a lot of them for the identical products. In this kind of situation, your visibility depends mostly on pricing and service metrics.

Marketplaces will promote the merchants who give the customer the best experience for

the money spent. The only way to put you above others is to propose an attractive price with the best quality of service.

If you are the first merchant proposing your product and if you are the only seller, you will have the opportunity and the responsibility to create the product sheet on the marketplace. It will allow you to control the overall aspect of the offer.

Remember that each marketplace has its internal research algorithm. Apply the same strategy when optimising your products, use Google research carefully.

Create your product offer, and you have the opportunity to make it visible, likable, and saleable.

2. Meet marketplace requirements

As you will soon realise, marketplaces have many requirements which are often specific to each one. However, some are common to all. Here are the common ones:

• EIN code: When the product arrives in the market, it has a unique identification code that which must remain the same whether it is selling in a physical shop or marketplace. Use the code to organise the catalogue. When you place your product in a marketplace they must have EIN code, if they don't, they will be rejected for sale. The only exception applies for craft products or exclusive manufacturers so check that you have this information before you start out. If you don't have it, request from your supplier or contact the organisation's authorised team to issue it.

• The second requirement has to do with the product images. Marketplaces have increased the standards regarding quality of picture and format. Always check that criterion before starting.

• Finally, make sure that your logistics are capable of providing the minimum level of service required in terms of returns. Reference the returns time and minimum response time. Some marketplaces do not wait for long before banning a merchant who has cancelled sales, so be prepared.

3. Choose your marketplaces carefully

When you start out, Your first question will probably be which marketplaces you should choose, and what criteria should I base my choice on.

There are many marketplaces, and it is tempting to want to sell everywhere. But, be careful there is a necessary agreement you have to get into and arrange logistics, which you must not take lightly.

Therefore, start by deploying your firm to three marketplaces maximum and maybe give priority to those with lower requirements regarding responsiveness and customer service. This will allow you to prepare appropriately to succeed in the largest marketplaces.

All marketplaces do not have equal visibility. Some will have better SEO than others for your type of product. Do a simple Google search for your flagship items to identify the platform which will give you more visibility. Also, remember to include a specialised marketplace in your top choices, where they have less favourable SEO in comparison to the general marketplaces but have the advantage of offering qualified traffic and more awesome content adapted to specific product types.

Finally, don't forget most marketplaces are remunerated via commissions on sales and a fixed monthly subscription. Therefore, anticipate the impact of this cost on your profit margin when making your choice.

4. Deploy and centralize speed management

Once you have made your choice and your catalogue is in place on the marketplaces, you must optimise the order management process. You must be responsive and always keep your catalogue up to date to avoid issues.

You can consult others as much as possible for any technical assistance may be necessary depending on your business sector and specific criteria to help you. Many solutions have emerged in recent years like inventory management and tracking software which can be integrated to your ecommerce website.

The system updates your catalogue and order feeds between your site and marketplaces. It will simplify daily management as well as listing process. Many other tools exist which enable you to automate it and manage various aspects of your marketplace strategy, the purpose is to help you focus.

Investing in tools, systems & processes help business in the long-term. You will free up time for strategic activities that will propel your business growth.

5. Scale up for global markets

Now that your marketplace strategy is in place, you can envisage international sales. You can extend your target and offer your products in regions where your competition is less intense. However, before doing this, you must check that your logistics are in perfect running order and ready to deliver higher quantities at a greater distance for reasonable time and costs. Ensure that you can manage after-sales service at least in English.

Finally, study the different laws and regulations especially in terms of taxes. You can then adapt your catalog to the target markets. In some cases, you will be able to distribute a good part of your catalogue automatically via your EIN code. But if not, you most translate it. You must choose the most favorable marketplaces for international developments. Do a comparison of the offers proposed by each marketplace to determine your choice and don't forget to use the criteria already defined above.

Finally, start out gradually prioritising country where you can smoothly facilitate delivery management and communication. Always remember that for selling internationally you should improve your quality of packaging and service.