Online Marketplaces: Future Bets
Online marketplaces are a considerable accelerator of e-commerce adoption around the world. Marketplaces make it easy to buy online by offering a variety of products and deals, storing payment and shipping information, providing easy mobile access via apps, and allowing buyers to read and compare product reviews for multiple retailers.
Marketplaces are one of the safest and quickest ways for retailers to scale their businesses and expand to new audiences, both domestic and international. By taking advantage of the built-in customer base and infrastructure each marketplace already has in place, retailers can focus on other priorities such as sourcing, pricing, promotion and fulfillment.
The first two marketplaces that U.S. retailers automatically think of are Amazon.com and eBay. These two behemoths take up a large share of the market, but they're far from the only options. There's money to be made on several marketplaces that have been growing in popularity in the recent years, from niche marketplaces to international marketplaces.
As retailers entertain thoughts of expansion, here's an overview of five marketplaces that can offer new opportunities for online sellers looking to take their e-commerce to the next level:
1. Newegg
Newegg started as a destination site for consumer electronics and IT products. Since then, it's expanded to become a destination for all kinds of products, including office supplies, sporting goods, automotive and industrial products, that appeal to its core demographic, which is mostly affluent, tech-savvy males between the ages of 18 and 35.
Automotive products in particular are getting a lot of attention from Newegg. The marketplace is making the best effort out of all "next generation" marketplaces to establish this category. Sellers with products that appeal to this growing demographic should consider listing on Newegg. Although most Newegg shoppers are male (a rarity for online marketplaces), its female demographic has grown remarkably since the site opened up to third-party sellers.
