A few months ago, Cresco Data wrote an article advising companies on how to drive their online sales. A few areas considered were: creating an online calendar, performance based advertising, affiliate marketing, daily deal sites (think Groupon!), marketplaces and social media. As we draw to the end of the year, those of you operating online will be thinking about the path forward for 2016 and the best Return on Investment (ROI) for you. 

If you’ve not done so already, listing your products on marketing platforms can be a good way to test your market both in Singapore and Internationally. Examples of marketing platforms include companies like eBay, Lazada, Amazon, and Zalora.

Marketplaces offer a communal retail space for sellers to list their products online without the need to worry about overall operations – which remain in the control of the marketplace. In countries like the US and the UK, marketplaces are one of the most popular shopping destinations with 44% of the Americans turning first to Amazon for their goods.

Whilst the US and other Western countries have been shopping online for almost 20 years, Singapore and South East Asia are relatively new to the eCommerce environment. However, they are catching up very quickly – assisted by the spread of WiFi and smartphones. In the past few years, Singapore and South East Asia has seen the start-up of marketplaces like Lazada, Zalora, Qoo10, Rakuten, and Red Mart. These companies have worked hard to provide a consistent shopping experience for their customers and invested heavily in their infrastructure. Whilst things are still developing, they have helped drive consumer spending more and more online. Online sales in Singapore are estimated to be $1.1 billion which will rise to $4.4 billion this year (PayPal survey).

So for companies wanting to test their eCommerce capabilities, there are clear reasons why choosing a marketplace, or multiple marketplaces may work for you.

• Listing products on a marketplace provider gives you immediate access to millions of potential new customers.
• Each company enters into an agreement with the marketplace whereby they will take an agreed percentage of your sales that will allow you to list your products.
• Part of this fee is used for advertising and marketing by the marketplace to drive customers to your products – taking away a lot of the hard work involved.
• Purchases are made on the marketplace.

Increased Sales

Most marketplaces offer a good channel to generate more sales for your business as you leverage their existing traffic, subscribers and customers. Amazon alone draws an estimated 175 million unique visitors which correlates directly to increased sales.

Convenience

As payments take place on the marketing platforms, companies don't need to worry about facilitating this. Also, the marketplaces invest heavily in marketing so that you can do less.

Global Reach

Market Places are an easy, low-cost way of entering overseas markets. Listing your products here allows retailers with little online experience or small marketing budgets the chance to test their products at a low cost in a new territory with success.

How To Place Your Products In Online Markets

1. Research the market places on offer in the territory you would like to retail in and choose one or two that look promising.
2. Contact them and organise to set up an account with agreed commission of sales. A contract will need to be signed agreeing on these details. Please note that some marketplaces and some countries require you to have a local bank account and address so do check the full requirements before you sign up.
3. List your products. Each marketplace will have clear guidelines as to how your product images should be displayed, descriptions and other details. These guidelines vary between the marketplaces so do make sure you are aware of each one.
4. Monitor your account for sales and stock levels.
5. Whilst payment will occur on the platform, most marketplaces will push back to you for fulfilment. Some marketplaces, such as Zalora, have strict deadlines by which your customer must receive their goods. Others are more flexible. Again - know the rules so that you can make fulfilment within the expected times.

Give it a try!
If you are thinking of bringing your products to the marketplace, Cresco Data will be happy to share their knowledge and experience with you as to which marketplaces will work best for your company as well as give you tips to improve your success. We have close relations with the major marketplaces in Singapore as well as global contacts for eBay and Amazon.

Written by Tamsin Bradberry

Visit the Cresco Data page to find out more about Anna's work.