Half of all eCommerce sales globally occur in marketplaces. The sheer volume of market participants challenges independent brands to also participate.
About $2 trillion is spent on the top 100 marketplaces and little by little, our top retailers are joining in. Target has launched its own marketplace. Google is trying to lure merchants away from Amazon. Even Walmart is trying to measure its current market.
One of the reasons marketplaces are popular with sellers is because it makes it easy for them to scale globally. The marketplace is also very helpful for small businesses because it allows them to fill orders more easily and more efficiently.
But many big brands refuse to sell in the market. This is because while the market drives sales, it also tends to put pressure on margins.
Here are some other issues that certain brands fear in the market
Despite the flaws in the market system, the market still helps new brands and merchants a lot as it is the gateway for brand discovery. However, when consumers come to a market to make a purchase, they usually don’t do it looking for a brand. Instead, they come because they are trying to find a solution to a problem.
According to analysts, search has database become brand new. So if you have good search rankings, you have a much better chance of converting your viewers into customers. With that, the brand will have a lot of competition.
We can see examples of this complexity on Amazon. 70% of Amazon searches don’t include a brand name. And 90% of product views in this marketplace result from searches and not from branded merchandise or ads.
PostScript’s Alicia Thomas believes that this sense of disconnect will entice people to have higher expectations from brands when it comes to customer experience.
In terms of omnichannel marketing brands will
try to build a sense of community. One possibility is to inspire people to participate in campaigns that encourage charity or make donations to specific groups.
One example of a brand that utilizes this kind of marketing strategy is Purpose Jewelry. Purpose Jewelry employs human trafficking survivors and artisans. And in the email campaign, they include the SparkofHope SGB Directory hashtag along with direct quotes from the artisans they work with. With that, customers will see the impact they are making on these artisans for every purchase which is sure to give them a sense of community.
