Top 3 online e-commerce marketplace sectors growing in 2018

Entrepreneurs, especially the ones aspiring to penetrate into online business are going through the big hustle of deciding whether to have a standalone E-commerce site or to go for already existing Marketplaces.

A marketplace is basically the mediator that connects buyers and sellers by providing an online platform to buy and sell whereas owner can also sell their product along with other vendors. It’s a multi-vendor marketplace where the customer can get a variety of products of different brands at a single place. The e-commerce site is dedicated to particular brand and products only and giving you the complete authority to manage and maintain your site.

Online Multi-Vendor Marketplace – Arising Star!

Looking at the statistics,

- On an average, Millennials now make 54% of purchases online versus 49% of non-Millennials.

- Multichannel shoppers spend 3 times more than single-channel shoppers

- 1 in 4 online shoppers expects to use marketplaces more to research and purchase in the coming year.

- 65% of online shoppers chose marketplaces over other retailers because of better prices.

- Channel Advisor estimates that marketplace sales account for approximately 25% of total online retail sales.

- 90% of U.S. independent online retailers sell through marketplaces.

(Data Source: www.nchannel.com)

Let’s do a detailed analysis of top three sectors that are rising as Marketplaces -

When the brands like Amazon, eBay are climbing new heights in online marketplaces with proven rates, it’s giving high alert to stand alone e-commerce stores to match the competition.

The Online Marketplaces are booming because it has given proven results to their customers by offering multiple, varied range of products from multiple brands on a single platform also at competitive prices. It allows customers to compare the products, brands, and prices altogether at one place.

“The industries where consumers nature to have a varied range of product alternatives, high brand comparison, and better price alternatives - Marketplaces are rising at all such places.”

1. Fashion and Apparels Sector

Fast-moving, dynamic nature of fashion industry dramatically shifts the consumer trends and thus consumer always asks for freshness, be it apparels, jewelry, foot wares or spectacles. Latest design trends, styles are the key motivating factor to buy products.

Stand-alone e-commerce website needs to have robust inventory that is matching the trends and provide abundant styles and variations to match ongoing competition. This is the reason why departmental stores are falling day by day due to the lack of inventory or low budget.

2. Electronics Sector

While looking for electronics items, consumers always look for reputed, established brand’s product having more features at good prices. They tend to compare products of every brand considering the features and prices. Product comparison is crucial in this sector. Surfing various e-commerce platforms to look for products, its specification and prices is a tedious task for consumers. And why they do so when the online marketplaces are solving the problem to a very great extent by displaying products from all the brands and also at better prices.

Read More: Why Choose Multi-Vendor solution over Ecommerce Store?

Marketplaces do provide satisfactory delivery system; varied payment options and easy return policies. It’s difficult for e-commerce store to provide everything at a rate marketplace offers because of a limited range of products, sales and budget.

3. Grocery and Food Sector

Unlike electronics sector, a brand comparison is very low. Customers from this sector very-well know what they want and of which brand. They only need a platform where they can buy a variety of different product with ease.

The marketplace has solved the purpose by showcasing everything at a single place and easy buying and ordering options. Thus, Marketplaces from this sector has got the high rise and past years and will break the records in coming years as well.

Conclusion

Consumer trends have shifted the way online businesses works with the rise of Marketplaces. To beat the competition, stand-alone specialties store has to struggle and invest more in terms of varied inventory and better prices. They need to go one step ahead of off-price sales to attract the customers! 

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