Are you starting your own e-commerce business? If you already have your own e-commerce store, you may be wondering how to increase sales. An e-commerce marketplace could be the right option for you in both cases. However, there is a lot to learn when it comes to e-commerce marketplace management.
E-commerce marketplaces are among the fastest-growing retail spaces globally. Amazon is the world leader, with 59% of people saying that they always begin their online shopping with a trip to Amazon’s website. E-commerce sales reached $4.8 billion at the start of 2021 and are expected to grow to $6.3 billion by 2024. By 2040, 95% of all sales are expected to happen via e-commerce. That’s why it is not enough to have your e-commerce website. You cannot undermine the importance of e-commerce marketplaces if you want to scale your business.
By following a few e-commerce marketplace management best practices, you would develop a robust strategy to boost sales and reach a wider audience.
Top tips for e-commerce marketplace management
Invest in targeted marketplace advertising
The Amazon e-commerce business has 9.7 million sellers globally, with 1.9 million actively selling in the online marketplace. The eBay e-commerce marketplace has more than 1.7 billion listings. Standing out in these marketplaces can be an uphill task, not possible without a solid marketing strategy. You need suitable ads to increase the visibility of your ads, which eventually will lead to more sales. If your listings do not rise to the top spots in the search results, customers may never see them.
Thankfully, marketplaces like Amazon and eBay offer a range of advertising opportunities that you can take advantage of. For instance, Amazon’s sponsored products help you promote individual product listings. These targeted ads help you get clicks from high-quality shoppers looking for specific keywords. You get a much higher ROI on these ads than several other pay-per-click programs. eBay’s promoted listings and Promotions Manager could significantly boost both exposure and sales for sellers who use them regularly.
Optimize your product listings
There are countless product listings available on e-commerce marketplaces. Not all of them sell. Why? Because not all product listings are optimized.
Creating product content is not enough. You must also focus on the way you structure the listings. Consumers look at several things, such as product image, title, keywords, descriptions, and more, before they buy something. The more engaging and convincing your content is, the more likely it will rise to the top of search results. The easier it is to discover your products, the more likely it is to drive sales.
Having said that, investing in product discovery is yet another e-commerce marketplace management best practice. When researching a product or service online, 85% of buyers turn to Google and 72% to Amazon. Optimizing your product content and improving product discovery ensures that your products are more visible to customers, leading to better conversions. You can also leverage product discovery to boost sales for good but not very popular products.
Create a high-quality catalog
30% of products bought online are returned. A majority of these are returned because they were either broken or defective. However, it is surprising that 22% of the products are returned because they look different from what they appear on the website. It is essential to create a high-quality catalog that attracts customers and highlights the USP of your products.
If you want to create a high-performing catalog, remove all duplicate content. Doing so will make it easier for your customers to find the right products quickly. Duplicate content could also negatively impact your search engine ranking, something that you want to avoid at all costs.
There is a very famous saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Nothing could be more apt for e-commerce marketplaces. Although a large number of customers prefer shopping online, they would still want to take a good look at the product before making a purchase. Grainy, low-quality images could affect the customer’s perception of your products. If they don’t like your products, they are not likely to buy them. Instead, use high-quality images for your products taken from various angles. The more your customers are attracted to your products, the more likely they will hit the “Buy now” button.
Adding keywords to your content can also help your products improve search engine results. A detailed product description that answers various questions that crop up in a buyer’s mind is also essential. You should include all relevant information, product USP, and any other important information in the product description.
Engage with customers
How you engage with your customers can directly impact your sales and customer loyalty. 73% of all customers agree that customer experience is a significant factor that drives their purchase decisions. Businesses that improve their customer experience witness an 80% increase in revenue. 56% of people have stopped purchasing from a company because of poor customer experience.
On e-commerce marketplaces, customer experience could take on different forms, such as ratings and reviews, response times, and returns. Regardless of the marketplace you sell in; your focus should always be on garnering positive ratings and reviews.
Positive reviews influence 90% of customers when buying a product. So, how you address your customer’s needs could have a significant impact on hundreds of prospective customers. The trust you build can also go a long way when selling on multiple marketplaces. Say a customer trusts a particular seller on Amazon. If they see the same seller on Walmart or eBay, they are more likely to buy from that seller.
Social media and live chats have become prevalent all over the world. The modern customer doesn’t want to wait, with most of them expecting their issues to be resolved in the first interaction itself. It is essential to respond to inquiries and complaints in e-commerce marketplaces. If your contact response time is poor, it could lead to account suspension in some online marketplaces. Amazon says that orders with messages that receive a response in less than 24 hours get 50% lesser negative reviews.
The way you handle the returns process can also significantly impact customer loyalty. Most online shoppers prefer not to buy from sellers who have strict return policies. Statistics say that 95% of shoppers would buy from a seller again if they had a satisfactory return experience.
Follow a structured pricing strategy
Multiple sellers in online marketplaces sell the same products. That is why e-commerce marketplace management gets tricky. How do you ensure that customers buy products from you and not other sellers? Attractive imagery and a detailed product description could help you attract customers’ attention. However, the price also plays a significant role.
One of the critical best practices of e-commerce marketplace management is having a structured pricing strategy. There are two main areas to include:
Performance-based pricing
Performance-based pricing refers to a dynamic pricing structure that you can automatically adjust depending on your sales performance. If the sales are not that great, the price is lowered. When sales pick up, the cost of the product also rises.
Automated repricing
Following an algorithmic pricing structure is also vital if you compete in any e-commerce marketplace. You may want to adjust your product prices based on the prices offered by the competitors. You may also like to feature on top-selling positions by adjusting your price. Whatever be the reason, repricing tools can ensure that the changes are done whenever you desire. However, you must ensure that your costs align with competitive prices across channels, preventing the risk of breaching marketplace policies.
Although other factors such as delivery speed, location, and customer reviews matter, pricing is the ultimate factor that influences buying decisions. Pricing your products right is important to e-commerce marketplace management.
Understand the seller management portal
E-commerce marketplace management also involves setting up a seller management portal to handle seller issues. Sellers are the lifeblood of online marketplaces, and by offering adequate seller support, marketplaces can ensure that they run smoothly throughout the year.
One of the prime examples is Amazon Seller Central. It helps sellers with amazon seller account management and product listing management. Sellers can also update pricing and manage their inventory through Seller Central. They can also get support, such as marketplace listing services, sponsored ads, and more.
Leveraging the seller management portal helps in Amazon account management and in minimizing issues that most sellers face when selling on e-commerce marketplaces.
Invest in a sound inventory system
Investing in inventory management software becomes important, mainly selling on multiple e-commerce marketplaces. Things can quickly get out of hand if you do not keep an eye on your inventory. Online marketplaces operate 24/7, unlike physical stores, which presents a whole new level of challenges.
Do you sell finished goods or manage the entire manufacturing process? These factors also influence your requirement for an inventory management system. You will need a system that syncs your inventory across different e-commerce marketplaces. Say you get an order on eBay. Your inventory system would know the amount of stock available and adjust the same for other channels, such as Amazon or Walmart.
Inventory management systems also offer other features such as managing purchase orders, forecasting demands, managing vendors, and more. Investing in an inventory management system is needed for e-commerce success.
ECARTIZE: Your best choice for e-commerce marketplace management
Ecartize offers comprehensive e-commerce marketplace management services to help you list, optimize products, and boost sales in no time. Our services are designed to be your one-stop solution for all your e-commerce marketplace management needs.