Marketplaces are a new page in the business world. Due to the constant development of the Internet industry, the worsening epidemiological situation, people are more actively using online shopping platforms. So, in 2020, the number of online orders in Russia, according to the TADVISER publication, exceeded the same indicator in 2019 by 78%, and gross sales worldwide increased by 29% – Digital Commerce 360. This trend forces entrepreneurs to adjust to the trend and sell goods through the Internet. The e-commerce service has also become useful to those who are interested in scaling and promoting a product in foreign markets. In this article, we will look at the main trading platforms in the USA, Europe and Asia and tell you how to sell your goods abroad.
Top 5 marketplaces in the world
The most important factor when choosing a trading platform is its attendance, but the determining factor is the willingness of people to spend money, which depends on a number of features of the platform itself: on the number of points for issuing orders, special loyalty programs, a convenient informative interface, and so on.
In 2020, 62% of global Internet sales came from Alibaba, Amazon, eBay – Digital Commerce 360, which speaks of the undoubted leadership of these three pillars in the world of e-commerce. Figure 1 shows the top 5 global marketplaces in terms of turnover for 2020 – Digital Commerce 360.
Thus, TAOBAO, one of the members of the Alibaba Group, occupies the leading position in the list of the most popular trading platforms. The service is configured to sell goods to the end consumer and acts as an intermediary between the buyer and the seller.
Amazon operates in two formats – B2C and C2C. During its development, the company has made an impressive geographical expansion – today it owns trading floors in 15 countries and ranks third in terms of turnover in the world.
EBay was founded by US programmer Pierre Omidyar in 1995. Initially, the marketplace was an online auction, and not an independent one, but “attached” to Pierre’s personal website; eBay, which in those years was called AuctionWeb, was a C2C marketplace, but within a few years it has become a B2C marketplace. Today, both individuals and companies, including importers and exporters from Russia, trade on eBay. EBay’s geographic expansion looks even more impressive than Amazon: the company operates electronic marketplaces in 24 countries around the world and is ranked 5th in the top ranking of online stores.
Strategy for the exit and promotion of goods on foreign marketplaces
The presence of huge cash flows passing through well-known online trading platforms mesmerizes with the bright prospect of increasing profits by entering foreign markets. However, any business requires a thorough analysis and calculation of all risks at the stage of project launch, and working with marketplaces is no exception. I will give a working case for the launch and promotion of goods on foreign Internet sites.
Step 1
Product preparation, its adaptation to the needs of the target audience, certification, market research, preparation and optimization of a profile on the marketplace, registration of a trademark – all these are the necessary steps without which it will be simply unrealistic to start selling and making money on the Internet, therefore we advise with all seriousness treat the question and when implementing this step, work only with the best experts, since it is at this stage that the basis for your future sales and profits is laid.
Step 2
Launching sales and selling the first batch of goods – for a start, you should not try to sell a lot. Your first batch is a springboard for assessing the correctness of the research carried out in Step 1, adjusting the developed strategy, analyzing the demand, working with reviews and improving the quality of the product, if necessary.
Step 3
Scale sales based on trial batch results. It is necessary to make a decision to increase or decrease the number of units sold, as well as to improve the promotion strategy. At the last stage, an agreement is concluded with the trading platform, and the seller begins to be considered a full-fledged player in a new market for him.
So, online platforms are the future of modern commerce, which today’s entrepreneurs need to adapt to. At the moment, there is a huge gap between the major players of online commerce and other sites, but this is not a reason to refuse cooperation with other marketplaces, since their sales volumes are also constantly growing, and the lack of such a large scale is often compensated by a lower commission on sales and others. useful bonuses that can help new market players to take a stronger position.
