Choosing to sell online is not an obvious decision: starting a new site, or an e-commerce platform or a proprietary marketplace from scratch, can be economically expensive, thus discouraging companies that want to grow and expand.
Yet, Italian companies cannot miss a constantly increasing phenomenon: as we have reported in the previous weeks, Digital Export will be the dominant theme for the rest of 2021 and throughout 2022.
How to do then? The solution may be the implementation of an external marketplace. According to the Casaleggio Associati report of 2020, in 2019 in Europe well the 79% of people bought through online platforms.
The marketplace is indeed a valid one opportunity to grow your business rapidly, because it allows you to present your products or services to millions of users abroad, without worrying about excessive expenses. These platforms offer a number of undoubted advantages, which we present below.
Marketplaces allow companies to adopt a exploratory approach for those who want to sell abroad: before making large investments, it can be useful to see how potential customers respond to a new product and a new price.
In other words, Marketplaces show your business if products are eligible for online saleat what price and how.
Indeed, competing companies could sell at different conditions and at other prices, so it is first of all useful to understand the "feeling" with online demand: the same type of product can be more or less purchased based on the price, its characteristics or the reference target. Therefore, understanding from a marketplace how a potential buyer interfaces with your products will help your company present it in the best way in the future.
Not all countries are the same: purchasing habits and trends in Italy, especially online, could be very different from those in France or Germany, not to mention China or India. Indeed, you may find that what you offer is highly sought after in one country rather than another. Perhaps, you may also discover that Made in Italy is not appreciated everywhere.
Rely on one or more marketplaces ensures greater visibility, especially if you are at the first steps in selling on the internet. The products are positioned on search engines: the name of your company will therefore appear on the major online portals. Last but not least, this positioning also guarantees constant visibility over time.
This concept is even more important if the marketplace is supported by its own portal, to guarantee the maximum number of conversions towards the company's website or e-commerce platform. With this in mind, Marketplaces should also be seen as a lead generation and trust building tool.
Speaking of growth: major investments are needed to sell in another country. You need to create the Aizendale site in your language, set up promotion campaigns, think about positioning on the web from an SEO perspective and keywords, and many other activities that require time and resources. The marketplaces offer a shortcut, allowing you to enter the catalog even on foreign portals.
Furthermore, for companies that are already structured and have their own platform, the marketplaces represent gods valid additional channels to increase one's sales abroad, improving the positioning of the business on the internet and the visibility of one's business.
To rely on a marketplace there is no need to bear significant marketing costs or technical costs related to IT development. Payment takes place only after the product has been sold: if you do not sell, you do not pay any commission to the marketplace (even if a monthly subscription is required for some).
Furthermore, no IT skills are required: these are user-friendly platforms managed by specialized operators, who take care of retrieving and uploading the product catalog onto the platform.
Here are the top 5 global marketplaces in terms of GMV (Gross Merchandise Value o Gross Goods Value, i.e. the sum of sales generated by a specific marketplace both by direct resellers and by third-party resellers):
Alibaba dominates the global online market with two of its platforms: after an annual growth of 4%, its spin off Taobao generated GMV of $490.3 billion for No. 1;
Tmall, Alibaba's B2C marketplace is therefore in second place with a GMV of $463.5 billion in 2019;
Amazon ranks third, but already some distance away: it generated a GMV of $397.2 billion in 2019. With annual growth of 24%, however, Amazon grew faster than all of the top 5 marketplaces;
The Chinese JD.com is in fourth place, with a 2019 GMV of $301.9 billion;
It ranks fifth eBay, which although it experienced negative GMV growth between 2018 and 2019, still remains in the Top 5, albeit by a long way with a GMV of $75.6 billion.
Focusing on Europe and its market panorama, there are several players who dominate the field:
We have therefore seen what the marketplaces can offer and which ones are the most popular. Above all, we have seen how they are different by sector and by specific country: each of them has a favorite marketplace, and the selection of the most suitable one for your business must also consider these last two elements.
If you are thinking of expanding your business abroad and you don't know where to start, or you want to improve your internationalization strategies, then the marketplace can be a valid starting point. And in case you need assistance or a free consultation, then you need to know that Octagona has been operating on international markets for over 20 years, accompanying companies in their internationalization process, also through Digital Export strategies that involve the use of marketplaces.
Contact us and tell us about your internationalization project: we will study together the best solution for your needs.
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