There is so much that you can benefit from taking advantage of the digital landscape, especially when there is a crisis like Covid that forces everyone to stay at home and disengage physical interaction. This article (Part 1) aims to discuss both the benefits and downsides of selling on e-marketplaces.
e-Marketplace's Benefits
1. Ready-made Traffic
There is no better option than a popular e-marketplace since they have built a name, their fans, and their highly reputable sites. In Singapore, Statista reported that during the fourth quarter of 2021 Shopee had an average of 16 million monthly visitors, Lazada had 5.2 million, and Qoo10 had 3.21 million. These e-marketplace advantages include active online customers who buy products on their sites with ease, whether they are shopping for products for the first time or just for retail therapy.
You can sell your products at these e-Marketplaces because they have a large user base and you can get access to these active customers who feel comfortable making purchases online. This allows you to capture new customers who are accustomed to buy from these e-Marketplaces.
2. Fewer Technical Hiccups
e-Marketplaces giants like Shopee and Lazada have highly skilled technical teams that manage their digital properties. They can handle both technical issues and large volumes of traffic allowing you to spend less money and time dealing with technical issues you might encounter on your own e-Commerce site. All other technical tasks, such as updates, security, and bugs, are handled by them, so you don't need to hire developers.
3. Easy to Set Up
The process of showcasing your products or services on your own e-Commerce website can take several weeks to prepare. You must plan how you want to upload pictures, pricing, information, and discounts. e-Marketplaces make it convenient for you to start selling quickly, so it is simple for you to put your product in front of potential and demand-driven customers. Likewise, you benefit from secure payment methods provided by the e-Marketplace. Moreover, because they have established a robust and extensive supply chain network, you don't have to worry about shipping issues.
e-Marketplace’s Downside
1. Sales Commissions
The user-friendly, worry-free, and advantage-filled aspects of e-Marketplace aren't really free. To sell products on these e-Marketplaces, you need to pay them commission fees. The charges are around 12% for Qoo10 and 2% for Shopee. Thus far, Lazada promote 0% commission fee for all e-Marketplace sellers.
2. Easily Get Unlisted
If you violate any e-marketplace rules (listing violations), you could be banned from selling. Your exposure is subject to change if you sell according to others' rules due to their system or implementation rules. When things are going well for you, that's great - but it's never guaranteed, just as Amazon banned thousands of sellers due to fake reviews created. In addition, if you didn't keep track of your inventory, once it reaches zero, it is taken off line and negatively impacts your search ranking.
2. Tough competition
Competitors on the same site as you to fight for customers’ attention. Study your competitors' successful products and learn what you need to include in your listings. Pay attention to your search ranking for the most popular keywords related to your products across all the e-Marketplaces you use, and add those keywords to the title or product attributes.
Final Thoughts
Lack of Brand Awareness.
An e-Marketplace's biggest weakness: lack of brand awareness. Typically, customers are simply looking for an item that meets their needs based on its price and characteristics, meaning they may not realise what brand they're purchasing since they trust the e-Marketplace. It can seriously harm your brand in the long run because you cannot expand outside these e-Marketplaces, and maintain your customer database, or do anything else since e-Marketplace customers are not your customers.
You will enjoy immense growth opportunities if you partner with the right service provider. Get a better start with Zooloo. Our team is happy to assist you with your journey towards digital transformation. Please contact us at sales@zooloo.asia.
- Find some tips on B2B Sales Strategies
- Looking closer at Marketing Strategies
- Read about The Digital Transformation Journey
- Learn more about our “Digital Backbones”
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