In the year 2020, we all have witnessed the acceleration of eCommerce & online marketplaces at a pace never seen before. Customers are keener to adopt online shopping nowadays and the growth doesn’t seem to be fading anytime soon. The pandemic has pushed more and more consumers to shop online for every minor to major product/service. The growth and advancements in digital payments along with online shopping have provided the flexibility to make any type of transaction. The rapid shift of the online shopping marketplace has a direct input on consumer behavior. Now, online visitors are looking for more convenience, personalization, and variety when shopping online.
Since customer behavior is diversely changing, eCommerce retailers had to shift the approaches accordingly. The online eCommerce marketplace is looking forward to meeting the new customer expectations related to convenience & ample options. It won’t be wrong if we say that we’re in the midst of a shift from traditional eCommerce selling to a powerful marketplace model. That doesn’t mean that retailers are sticking to the traditional approaches, instead, the majority of eCommerce online marketplace retailers are opting for an omnichannel business model. The marketplaces can be the expansion strategy to reach out to more users and grow business at a pacing rate.
Factors driving the expansion & adoption of the marketplace model
1. Digital-First Consumerism
Long before the pandemic hit our lives, online shoppers were switching to the best online marketplace because of nature. Apart from convenience, intuitive experiences, fast deliveries, expectations, they have been able to serve with the best coupons and vouchers. Ease of purchase and quick doorstep, deliveries are what has revolutionized the online shopping ecosystem and tend to do so in the coming future as well. The personalized shopping experiences and best market deals are what drive more sales via a marketplace.
2. Shifting Omnichannel Priorities
Modern-day consumers want everything with their fingerprints and the online wholesale marketplace is able to deliver the same. The unparalleled access to the stock motivates the customer to rely on every sort of requirement under one roof. The retailers are going to exactly where the customers are waiting for you. The retailers are expanding to new opportunities in 2022 and marketplaces are surefire one of the worthy suggestions. Get your business products or services among a plethora of customers and grow appeal with enhanced reach. It even offers a certain range of tools to look into customer data and plan your marketing campaigns accordingly.
Success factors of online marketplaces
The marketplace profits and turnover is on the huge rise, specifically double-digit boost every year. The eCommerce and marketplace online shopping is witnessing one of the biggest revolutions and growth that other industries are only dreaming of. But, what are some basic factors that motivate users to purchase from the internet to help marketplaces in achieving success?
1. Product variety
Customers are allowed to choose from millions of products online rather than struggling with the scarcity of offline stock. Online marketplaces can bring an overwhelming variety of products and that’s one of the crucial factors behind the success of the marketplaces.
2. User ratings
A lot of online buyers would appreciate the fact that they are able to browse through the detailed information along with reviews. With both positive and negative experiences, the local online marketplace is achieving more recognition than ever before.
3. No dependence on time and place
In this age of online eCommerce & digitization, there is nothing that seems impossible. The users are able to browse a huge variety of products on the online marketplace from the comfort of the home. No need to wait for a specific time or visit a place to shop for products anymore.
4. Price comparisons
The online marketplace sells the same products from many different merchants. This creates a real price war in the tough digital world and that turns out to be a great benefit for the customers. They get to purchase at the actual price or similar to that instead of facing the problem of strict pricing from single vendors.
Future of online marketplaces with enhanced benefits
The multiple advantages of digital channels have led to the growth of the marketplaces in becoming an integral part of the eCommerce domain. But, while the future of the eCommerce online marketplace is yet to expand, some are even predicting there can be a certain replacement to the same. Let’s explore some of the worthy alternative forms of online shopping having the capability to replace the marketplace.
1. Social commerce
The online marketplaces remain at a distance from the customer because of the minimal interactions. On the other hand, social commerce has a deeper personal connection with the customers & maximum interactions. This is exactly where social commerce enters into the gap between the shopping platform and customers. It has the potential to bring the potential leads into the shopping journey. The online shopping marketplace is lacking a social community where information can be easily exchanged about products and services.
2. No-Line Commerce
This is another major emerging trend in digital commerce. The marketplaces to sell online products can be merely a sales channel, while no-line commerce can be a lot more than that. It connects the offline world with the online space and allows the customers to choose from where he seeks service. For instance, the customer can return the online purchased product at the store itself.
Conclusion: Online marketplaces are in constant change
Hence, in the end, we can say that competition is on the rise for the online eCommerce marketplace. It puts pressure on the retailers and manufacturers to keep reinventing themselves for offering a better shopping experience to customers. Even the market giants are somewhere looking forward to new approaches to sustain in the market. If we believe the experts, the online marketplace sales are going to rise strongly in the coming time. Business owners and retailers must welcome the growing trends with open arms and try to comply with modern practices.
The traditional retail strategy prioritizes stocking fast-moving items, but the economics of e-commerce allows for the inclusion of slow-moving and even obsolete items in the catalog.