UPDATE: Frooition have updated their service offering for Multi-Channel Design. Video of how Multi-channel wins more business.
The higher number of customers that see your products, the higher the number of sales you make.
The simple science of e-commerce.
Only it’s not simple, is it? Cutting through the noise online and making shoppers aware of your products and offers is hard. Marketing is a never-ending task – social media, email, and other channels are of course all important. But one way to instantly guarantee exposure to an increased audience for your products is to showcase them on more marketplaces with a multi-channel sales approach.
Selling your products on online multi-channel marketplaces gives you access to customers who often start their shopping on these third-party platforms. For example; listing your items multi-channel on eBay, gives you access to another 171 million shoppers, and Amazon is home to over 310 million active accounts of its own.
55% of online shoppers start their product searches on Amazon
Different marketplaces work best for different businesses, and finding which marketplaces work best for your business is key to success here. That’s why we’ve put together this roundup to walk you through some of the marketplaces you can sell on with BigCommerce or Shopify and when to consider them.
Adding online Multi-channel marketplaces
Each marketplace has its own nuances, rules, and audience. Some will take a commission on every sale that they bring you. Others might charge you a listing fee. Either way, you’ll need to weigh the costs and benefits of getting access to a certain marketplace’s customers.
As tempting as it might be to list your products on all of these marketplaces, you should consider focusing only on the platforms that are a good fit for your products, and one at a time until you’re familiar with it.
To get started with a particular marketplace in Shopify, simply log into Shopify and click the plus (+) sign under Sales Channels to select the marketplace channel you’d like to add with additional details in the Shopify App Store.
To list products to an online marketplace from your BigCommerce dashboard, click Channel Manager in the left navigation and simply click get started next to the channel you want to use.
Amazon
UPDATE: Frooition can now offer multi-channel AMAZON brand store design for sellers on the Amazon Brand registry: https://www.frooition.com/amazon-store-design.html
Thanks to the trust consumers have in its powerful shipping and fulfillment abilities, and the consistency of its shopping experience, Amazon is one of the most well-known online marketplaces.
In fact, studies have shown that shoppers start research nearly 2x more often on Amazon than Google. So it might be worth having a presence where consumers flock to do much of their comparison shopping.
Amazon merchants can also use Amazon Pay on their Shopify or BigCommerce store. Amazon Pay lets customers check out with just a few taps on a phone or tablet. BigCommerce surveyed their merchants and 71% said that Amazon Pay increased their conversion. Enabling payments through Amazon’s trusted service increased conversion by up to 34%, and average order value by up to 30%.
Fees: 15% average referral fee on orders, but it can be anywhere between 8-20%, depending on the product category. You’ll also need an Amazon Professional Sellers account which costs $39.99/month. Check Amazon’s referral fees by category to see where your products fall.
Best for: Merchants who aren’t selling heavily commoditised low-margin products where you compete mostly on price. As long as there is a clear value-add to your products, and your margins are big enough, Amazon is one of the most versatile marketplaces on this list.
eBay
Ebay is one of the world’s most popular marketplaces, with over 169 million active shoppers, and excellent customer loyalty. Originally started as a consumer-to-consumer, auction-based service for used items, today 80% of all products sold on eBay are new.
Fees: Insertion fees for listing on eBay and/or commission on the total value of a sale (including shipping). You can find a breakdown of their fee structure in eBay’s help center or you can use their fee calculator.
If you have a BigCommerce store, it is worth noting that new eBay sellers who register through the BigCommerce integration get 3 months of eBay Premium Stores, worth $225.
Best for: Merchants who are interested in fixed price listings on eBay. You don’t need an eBay store to use the eBay sales channel, but can consider upgrading based on the additional features on offer. One of eBay’s strong points for multi-channel sellers is that stores can be designed to mirror your own website. Strong branding lets you make the experience less about the marketplace, and more about your individual brand for the customer. Check out our eBay portfolio for inspiration.
Pinterest may be social media, but its focus on curating and collecting good finds and ideas make it a natural marketplace for products, rather than a place to share pictures of your day.
You can add the Pinterest channel in your Shopify store to list your items in Pinterest’s “marketplace” of pinnable products. Special Buyable Pins let users discover and purchase products without leaving Pinterest.
Fees:None
Recommended for: Brands with products that sell on visual appeal. Especially those whose target audience is women with disposable income. According to a study by Pew Research Centre, 31% of all adults online in the U.S. use Pinterest, many of whom are women with disposable income. Fashion, food and children’s items sell particularly well here.
Etsy
Etsy is an online marketplace focused on handmade, vintage and unique items. Creatives are able to sell what they make and curate, and buyers are able to obtain items they can’t find anywhere else. Like Pinterest, Etsy is particularly popular with female customers. Etsy had 31.7 million active buyers in 2017.
Fees:It’s free to join Etsy and set up your shop, but there are fees when you start listing your items for sale. It costs £0.13 for each listing added to the marketplace, the transaction fee on a sale is 3.5% of the sale price, and if you choose to accept payments via Etsy’s Direct Payments system, there is a 4% + £0.20 payment processing fee for each item sold.
Best for: Sellers who create and sell unique items, or items which are rare or vintage.
