Discover the basics of a marketplace
Being part of a marketplace means being on a digital platform that brings together different sellers with products from diverse sectors. Marketplaces act as intermediaries between buyer and seller: sellers offer their products on a centralised platform and buyers compare options and purchase in one place.
On a marketplace, sellers create their own online stores within the platform and list their products; buyers search and compare, read other buyers’ comments and reviews and complete the purchase directly on the platform.
They have become popular in recent years thanks to their convenience, wide product selection and the ability to compare prices and read opinions before buying.
Amazon, number one
There are many marketplaces today, but Amazon is undoubtedly the giant. The platform receives 5.69 billion visits a month (source: Webretailer) and is the most visited marketplace in the world. Being present on it is essential for e-commerce. In fact, Amazon already works like Google when it comes to search: users search directly on the platform as if they were using a search engine. It is the reference marketplace of online commerce.
It has reached the top by delivering on three well-defined pillars: product assortment, competitive pricing and consumer experience.
1. Product assortment
Amazon wants to have as many products as possible from every category so it can always meet users’ needs. It manages to carry the maximum number of items and, above all, from every sector, making itself indispensable when searching for or buying any product.
2. Competitive pricing
Amazon sellers compete for buyers’ attention, and price is a decisive factor in the purchase decision. That is why competition on the platform is fierce.
Amazon rewards the most competitive seller among a group offering the same product by giving them the chance to appear in the famous Buy Box, a bonus for the seller: it is visible on the product page and makes the whole process easier for the buyer thanks to the “Add to basket” and “Buy now” buttons. The customer gets the product in the blink of an eye.
Around 82% of sales generated on Amazon happen inside the Buy Box, a share that rises even higher on mobile, where the button sits right below the photo (Statista data). No wonder it is so sought after.
3. Consumer experience
Consumer experience is fundamental for Amazon: delivery times, customer satisfaction, the Prime service. Everything is focused on customer satisfaction and subsequent loyalty. It is one of the keys to its success, along with persistent innovation and operational efficiency.
How to understand Amazon’s dynamics
For all these reasons, as a company it is important to monitor the prices, stock and promotions your different distributors apply, and to keep an eye on unauthorised sellers of your products on the platform.
That, and much more, is what pricing intelligence is about. It is very beneficial when you have many products or sell on several platforms: it automates price adjustment and saves you time and effort.
Doing it easily, quickly and efficiently is possible with the Data Seekers digital intelligence platform. Whatever your sector, it lets you build a solid pricing strategy, position yourself ahead of competitors, create personalised offers, control your stock and identify unauthorised sellers. All with a view to maximising your profits.
With competition constantly rising on Amazon, the end consumer’s number one choice, having this data makes the difference for sellers and manufacturers, whether or not they sell directly on the marketplace. The former benefit from the cachet of selling on Amazon; the latter from the visibility resellers give their products, spotting counterfeit goods or unauthorised sellers along the way. Full control over your own products, leaving nothing to chance.
Discover our Marketplace Intelligence and pricing intelligence modules.