If you sell products online, it’s almost certain that you have your own e-store, perhaps built on a platform like BigCommerce or Shopify.
If you can generate traffic to your website and make sales, that’s great. But even if this is the case, you could still be missing out on opportunities to sell more products by selling via online marketplaces.
Here’s a guide to what you need to know about multichannel selling so you can boost your profits.
Why Use Different Online Marketplaces?
While selling via your own store is recommended, online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay have a number of benefits.
Firstly, with multichannel selling, you will simply be able to get your products in front of more potential customers. People search these marketplaces directly because they are familiar with them and know how they work, so they feel more comfortable using them.
These same shoppers might never find your website when searching online, meaning any sales that you make via online marketplaces are extra sales that you would otherwise have missed out on.
In addition, shoppers on these websites are ready to buy. They will mostly already have an account with the marketplaces so they do not need to enter their credit card details again, which they may be less likely to do on your site.
What Are the Downsides?
There are not many downsides to selling via online marketplaces, but the most important one is that you will usually end up making less money per sale after you take the fees into account.
Marketplaces like eBay charge their sellers fees in order to make a profit, and these fees will cut into your profits.
However, when you think that you might not have made these sales in the first place without selling via a particular marketplace, this is often not much of a concern.
How to Choose the Right Online Marketplaces
There are many, many marketplaces online that you could potentially use to sell your products and services. Large websites like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Jet sell a huge range of products, so you’re likely to find the things here that you need.
However, there are probably much smaller and more niche marketplaces that might be more suitable for the types of products you are selling, including Etsy, ArtFire, Wanelo, and Houzz, along with many others.
If you sell a product that is suitable for a large site like Amazon, then this is always a good place to start. However, research the more niche marketplaces because you may find that you will have more success on these.
Shoppers tend to visit the niche sites with a clearer idea of what they are looking for, and this could work in your favor.
Strategies to Maximize Your Sales
There are many ways that you can get more from selling on these marketplaces to grow your business. To start with, it’s a good idea to stick to a handful of marketplaces until you get the hang of them
So find out as much as you can about each platform and how to optimize your products to get them more visibility. For example, on Amazon, one of your goals should be to win the “buy box.” This is the box where Amazon recommends a seller when there are multiple sellers of the same product.
You will want to learn tactics to win the buy box. For example, you can win the Amazon buy box with Feedvisor by using the repricing tool that automatically changes the price of your product, and this will increase your chance of winning the buy box.
Over time, add more platforms that are relevant to your products. Keep researching marketplaces and add them slowly without trying to get a presence on them all at the same time.
You should also learn more about general online selling tips to maximize your sales no matter which platform you are using.
You will also want to focus on creating amazing listings with persuasive copy, high-quality original images, and carefully chosen keywords to improve your chances of ranking in the search engines.
Also make sure you encourage reviews. Many online marketplaces use customer reviews, so encourage these because they will help you to get more sales.
Sell More Online
E-commerce is huge and growing. If you sell products online, it’s time to move beyond your web-store. While you should definitely have your own store, you will find that many people prefer to search for and buy products on websites like Amazon that they trust and already have accounts with.
So don’t miss out on the opportunity to increase the visibility of your products and make more sales. Start researching online marketplaces and get a presence on some so that you can reach new customers and grow your business.
