Online marketplaces dominate the ecommerce scene but quite a few online stores have surfaced and made a name for themselves as well. As a result most online retailers are torn about whether or not they should join the market force or go solo. Being a seller on an online marketplace is difficult these days. The number of sellers online keeps increasing and marketplaces are looking to gather more sellers. Despite the intense competition, marketplaces don’t seem to be saturated given the thousands of sellers they already have on board.
So making a name for yourself on an online marketplace seems far stretched. However, that’s the thing about business in online retail. It involves uniqueness and determination to achieve.
What do you have to gain when selling on a marketplace?
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Setting up is easy
As an online marketplace seller you don’t need to worry about technical development and designs. A platform is already available for you to sell on. You only need to have your products and documents ready.
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Ready customer base
You do not need to struggle to build a customer base. Marketplaces already have swarms of consumers clicking through their site. This means you won’t have to go in search of shoppers nor will you need to spend as much to draw attention your way.
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Limited logistics trouble
Most marketplaces provide logistics services so your products reach consumers in time and unharmed. A couple of marketplaces also cover reverse logistics. That is when the product is returned by consumers.
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People trust marketplaces
Online marketplaces have been in the game for almost a decade. So consumers trust them and their sellers. Building this kind of trust is very difficult because it takes a lot time, money and other resources that you may not possess at the start.
How to build your brand on marketplaces?
Now that we’ve refreshed you memory about online marketplace benefits, here are a couple of ways to get the most out of your marketplace.
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Promotion material
You know how business people make contacts and network with customers by giving them their business cards? You can do something along those same lines if you have an online store of your own and sell on marketplaces too. Flipkart and Snapdeal are not so keen about their traffic shifting somewhere else. So, they do not support this. However, Amazon does not mind if you provide the address to our web store on your product packaging. If not, you could try sending your consumers a thank you note, text or email which bares your store address. You could mention it just below your signature.
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Acquire good ratings
People choose marketplace sellers based on the reviews and ratings visible to them. If you get no love from the public, it’s probably because you haven’t received any substantial feedback to support your claims of authenticity and quality. Whenever possible leave your buyers a message or email thanking them for buying from you and request them to leave their feedback against your product. The more reviews your product has the more online shoppers will trust in you.
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Keywords provide organic and direct traffic
We cannot stress enough on how important keywords are in online retail! When a customer wants to buy a “Poncho Raincoat”, he may go to each and every online marketplace and type in “Poncho Raincoat”. In other cases, some consumers may type “Poncho Raincoat” into their search engine. This makes is easier to find which online marketplace and which online seller has this product available. Keywords can be included in your product tiles and descriptions. Also when you include keywords like this, the marketplace search will ensure your product is made visible every time someone types your keywords.
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Sell something unique
In a crowd, uniqueness stands out. Being unique is the easiest way to differentiate yourself from others and make your brand popular. Uniqueness on an online marketplace can include selling a brand new kind of product or an existing product with added features. Marketplaces look forward to selling unique goods exclusive to online retail. For example, Jabong has in-house fashion week for emerging designers. Which means they promote your fresh and unique brand!
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Promote your marketplace brand
Marketplaces provide their sellers with tools to advertise and promote themselves within the marketplace. Display ads, brand story ads and sponsored ads on Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal and other online marketplaces allow sellers to flash their brand and products on prime spots. As a result you advertise on the marketplace itself where your ideal customers will see it. At Browntape we assist online sellers with marketplace promotion campaigns. So you don’t need to worry about the technical aspects.
Browntape specialize in ecommerce and online marketplace brand building. Over time we have experimented with ecommerce and managed to derive significant results. If you’d like to try out our services for yourself, get in touch with a Browntape expert today! We are India’s leading ecommerce solutions experts and we are always happy to help online sellers.
