Introduction to the world of marketplaces

Discover the basics of a marketplace

Being part of a marketplace means being on a digital platform where different vendors offering products from different sectors come together. Marketplaces act as intermediaries between a buyer and a digital seller, so sellers offer their products on a centralized platform, while buyers can compare different options and make purchases in one place.

In a marketplace, sellers can create their own online stores within the platform and list their products, while buyers can browse and compare different product options, read comments and reviews from other buyers, and conduct purchase transactions directly. on the platform.

They have become popular in recent years due to their convenience, wide selection of products, and the ability to compare prices and read reviews from other shoppers before making a purchase.

Amazon, #1

Today, there are several marketplaces, but Amazon is undoubtedly the giant of them, in fact the platform has 5.69 billion visits per month (source: webretailer ), being the most visited marketplace in the world. Being present in it is essential for the world of e-commerce , in fact, Amazon already acts like Google when it comes to searches. Thus, users search directly on the platform itself as if they were doing it in the Internet search engine. It is already evident that Amazon is the reference marketplace in the world of electronic commerce .

It has reached the top, fulfilling 3 well-defined pillars:

• product assortment
• Competitive price
• consumer experience

1. Assortment of products

Amazon wants to have as many products as possible from all categories , that way, it will always satisfy the user's needs. It manages to have as many items as possible and, above all, from all sectors, making it essential when looking to buy any product.

2. Competitive price

On the other hand, Amazon sellers compete for the much-desired attention of buyers and price is a decisive factor in the purchase decision. For this reason, the competition on the platform is fierce.

Thus, Amazon rewards the most competitive of a group of sellers of the same product, giving them the option of appearing with the famous Buy Box , which is a plus for the seller, since it will be visible on the product page and makes it easier for buyers throughout the purchase process thanks to the "Add to cart" and "Buy now" button. The customer will acquire the product in the blink of an eye!

Taking into account that around 82% of the sales generated on Amazon occur within the Buy Box, that number increases in the mobile version, since the button is just below the photo (according to Statista data), it is not of no wonder it is so in demand.

3. Consumer experience

The consumer experience is essential for Amazon: delivery times, customer satisfaction, the exclusive Prime service... Everything is focused on customer satisfaction and subsequent loyalty. One of its strengths is its great success along with perseverance in innovation and operational efficiency.

How to understand Amazon dynamics

Due to all this, it is important as a company to monitor the prices, stock and promotions that your different distributors may apply. In addition to also controlling those sellers of your unauthorized products on the platform.

A price intelligence tool is about that and much more, which is very beneficial when you have a large number of products and/or sell on various platforms, automating the price adjustment process, which can save time and effort.

Doing it easily, quickly and efficiently is possible thanks to our DIP Insights tool. Regardless of the sector or industry to which you belong, DIP Insights is the definitive digital intelligence platform for those who move in the world of e-commerce .

With it you will be able to build a solid pricing strategy , always stay ahead of your competitors, create personalized offers, control your stock and those unauthorized sellers and, thus, maximize your profits . All at the click of a button.

With ever-increasing levels of competition on Amazon, the #1 choice of end-users, DIP Insights can make a world of difference for sellers and manufacturers. The latter, whether or not they sell directly through this marketplace. The former, taking advantage of the importance and cachet that the mere fact of selling through Amazon gives them. The latter, benefiting from the visibility that resellers give their products , identifying fake products or unauthorized sellers on the way.

DIP Insights offers full control over its own products, leaving nothing to chance.

Less than a week away from the celebration of E-SHOW Barcelona, the largest event in Europe for eCommerce, Digital Marketing, Martech, Big Data and AI, Data Seekers prepares a new appearance as an exhibitor at the fair, which will take place the next March 7 and 8, 2023, in Hall 1 of Fira Barcelona.

After the good results obtained in previous editions, Data Seekers, specialized in the development of technological business intelligence solutions, based on the extraction, monitoring and organization of data, with the aim of offering insights with which to favor the success in making of strategic decisions, will return to Barcelona next week as an exhibiting company for E-SHOW Barcelona.

A must event for eCommerce professionals, to which the Data Seekers team returns with the intention of presenting the latest news and released features from DIP Insights, its 360º digital intelligence platform, from which brands such as Puig, Brita, Lego, El Corte Inglés, Goldcar and Unicomer already benefit.

Aimed at manufacturers, retailers or marketplaces, regardless of the industry in which they operate and with no limit to sites, markets or users, the different DIP Insights modules are intended to guarantee the maximum degree of control in terms of prices, distribution and catalog, stock, assortment, product pages and search results (theirs and those of their competitors), through comparative analysis based on a detailed filter mechanism, the generation of parity reports and an advanced automated alert system.

Agile, adaptable, scalable and 100% in-house technology, with which to obtain a complete overview of the market in terms of pricing intelligence , catalog intelligence and digital shelf optimization, capable of reaching even information that is not accessible to the naked eye, and organized in customized dashboards with which to focus only on the really relevant data.

Franz Matheis and Ana Lara ( alara@dataseekers.com ), CEO and Business Development Manager of the company respectively, will travel to Barcelona, where they will be delighted to attend to all possible interested parties at Stand C15 in Hall 1 of Fira Barcelona .

WHAT WE EXPECTED

With the worst of the Pandemic behind us, in 2022 we faced a new Black Friday with uncertainty and low expectations, despite the need to recover the sales lost over the last two years. The current context certainly did not bode well for the campaign: the war in Ukraine, inflation, the economic recession, the loss of purchasing power....

In this respect, the forecasts were not very encouraging, even if the purchase intention in our country was around 72% (only below that of Italy in Europe):

• 80% of consumers worried about price rises
• 75% of consumers fearful of a prolonged economic downturn
• Consumption down by up to 18%
• Average consumer spending in Spain estimated to be 13% lower than in 2021

We were therefore faced with a buyer profile determined to avoid unnecessary purchases, eager for discounts as never before, and even willing to give up their preferred brands in exchange for more attractive offers.

In addition to these data, there was another, also negative, but from which, paradoxically, a somewhat more optimistic conclusion could be drawn, since it signified the existence of ample room for improvement:

• Only 32% of consumers were satisfied with Black Friday in 2021

Beyond the figure itself, it is the causes of this dissatisfaction that we had to learn from and work on:

• Lack of stock
• Slow loading of web pages
• Poorly optimized purchasing processes
• Poorly identified products
• Delays in deliveries

WHAT HAS HAPPENED

We could go on and on about the different points of view provided by countless experts, but with the first results coming to light, we can see once again that reality is always capable of surpassing any forecast. The truth is that the Black Friday / Cyber Monday 2022 campaign has been very positive, even record-breaking in certain countries, such as the United States, where there has been a 2.3% increase in sales (9.12 billion dollars).

In Spain, the data has also been good and very revealing:

• Almost 3 out of 4 Spanish consumers have made purchases during the Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend.
• 20% increase in traffic / number of users (11% if we talk about the whole week)
• 35% increase in average spending (slightly below the increase in other European countries such as Germany, UK, France or Italy).

WHAT CHRISTMAS HAS IN STORE FOR US

In 2022 Black Friday and Cyber Monday have definitely established themselves as major sales peaks, but there is life after these popular dates. And although 95% of consumers have taken advantage of them to start buying their Christmas gifts, we have the opportunity to make the most of what is left of the Christmas campaign, which is not little, and we must do so by applying what we have learned during their commercial prequel.

Most wanted

According to the giant Shopify, beyond the segment, the BBB (Good, Nice, Cheap), loses strength. 76% of its consumers claim to be committed to quality and look for durable products that won't break. Likewise, 84% say they will compare before buying. And they will do so preferably via mobile (75% mobile vs. 27% desktop).

As for the most sought-after products, the popularity of products related to animal care and the increase in sales recorded by certain fashion websites is striking (Zara, for example, reported a 230% increase on Black Friday compared to the previous week). In any case, let's look at the detail by segment:

• Toys (+285%)
• Smart home (+271%)
• Audio (+230%)
• Electronics (+221%)
• Exercise (+218%)

Where people shop the most

In absolute terms, Amazon remains the leader. On Black Friday, its number of users increased by 30% compared to the previous Friday. However, if we analyze in percentage terms, there are other retailers that have grown even more:

• Carrefour (+40%)
• MediaMarket (+70%)
• PC Componentes (+60%)

RECOMMENDATIONS

The importance of being competitive

The market is an increasingly complicated environment, especially considering the delicate economic context in which we find ourselves. Consumers are clear about what they want and will search tirelessly until they get it. We have to be competitive, yes or yes. And to do so, we cannot afford to neglect our competitors, to not have visibility on the prices of our products on the different sites, to miss out on the advantages of our catalog or to suffer too much from its shortcomings. Relying on a tool that allows us to control both aspects, prices and catalog (our own and others') is essential.

Real-time monitoring of commercial peaks

Commercial peaks are here to stay and now comes another one, and a strong one. Every day, even every hour, changes occur and we cannot ignore them. Coinciding with these periods of high intensity, we must reinforce monitoring. Data Seekers' DIP Insights platform, with its Real Time Monitoring, allows you to track your prices and those of your competitors on an hourly basis, in addition to configuring the automated alert system to notify you of any relevant change or to establish business rules to nurture dynamic repricing. In this way, if a change is detected that matches the criteria of your business rule, prices will be automatically modified.

Keep an eye on marketplaces

Amazon, Ebay, Rakuten, Aliexpress, Walmart... We have already seen it. They are the lords and masters of the market and all the information they contain is worth its weight in gold. It is essential that we carry out an intensive tracking of their catalog, their prices, their product availability, their sellers... Not only will you be able to fine-tune your pricing strategy, but you will also identify gaps or competitive advantages in your catalog, locate unauthorized sellers and counterfeit products, etc.

Optimize your points of sale at all levels

When we say at all levels, we mean at all levels. On the one hand, we must ensure that retailers' websites are properly optimized in terms of load and user experience. Both in its desktop version and in its mobile version. It is striking to have to remember this, but if we look at the reasons that caused consumer dissatisfaction in 2021, it may not be so obvious.

Let's take care of the catalog and stock. Our solutions allow us to know the state of demand and, based on this data, to build our catalog and increase stock if necessary. We cannot afford to run out of a product that is in high demand. We guarantee consistency between points of sale. The same product cannot be displayed differently depending on the site. Digital Shelf control solutions, such as DIP Insights, help ensure that the names, descriptions, images and, in general, any material associated with a given product is consistent, regardless of where we are trying to purchase it. In addition, you will also be able to see the degree of prominence they enjoy, and their positioning in search results, within a given site.

Reviews provide us with extra data

Monitoring what consumers think about our product, both quantitatively (ratings) and qualitatively (reviews), is an efficient way to collect consumer data without having to resort to complex market research.


CONCLUSIONS

In short, we expected little from this Black Friday due to the current global situation, but, once again, the reality has exceeded all forecasts. As we have already mentioned, the Black Friday / Cyber Monday 2022 campaign has been very positive, breaking records in some countries. We still have a week left of the Christmas campaign and we must apply what we have learned:

• Be competitive
• Real-time monitoring
• Track marketplaces
• Maintain consistency between our points of sale
• Monitoring through reviews

Looking ahead to 2023, a year that will pose many challenges, we must take these points into account, and Data Seekers, through our DIP Insights tool, will be happy to help you.

Download our whitepaper and discover how a company, which sells its fashion and beauty products in more than 150 countries around the world, has been able to take control of its distribution and support the correct application of its pricing policy through our pricing and catalog intelligence solutions.

Download Use Case (Spanish)

Seat Cormosa becomes a pioneer by being one of the first to choose to incorporate a price intelligence tool to increase control over its catalog of second-hand vehicles. Specifically, they have opted for Cars Seeker, a solution developed by Data Seekers, a leading company in multi-industry data extraction and monitoring, recently nominated as a finalist for Best Global Technology Provider for Rent a Car, at the World Travel tech Awards.

The ecosystem of the sale of second-hand vehicles, increasingly, tends to move almost exclusively in the online environment. It is also a field in which there are permanent price variations and constant changes in stock, which makes it very difficult to monitor the competition, including managing one's own catalogue.

That is why it is especially paradoxical, as José Rueda, Business Development Manager and head of Cars Seeker comments, that it is a sector in which the culture of price intelligence is not too internalized, and in which the implementation of tools such as this It is almost anecdotal. Circumstance that gives a clear competitive advantage to those companies that have made this qualitative leap. All in all, from his point of view, this situation is changing very quickly and it is a matter of (little) time for all dealers, official and multi-brand, to rely on technology to optimize their resources and boost their online sales.

Seat Cormosa is the official Seat dealer in the province of Malaga, and is a good example of how data can solve problems associated with the activity they carry out in their business area for the sale of second-hand vehicles, and have a direct impact on the income statement. In this sense, according to Ildefonso Díaz Molina, its Sales Manager, the arduous task of comparing the prices of the vehicles for sale in the different portals and web pages of the dealerships, until now was a practically manual process that robbed him of many hours of your precious time:

"I did not have a tool as such to do it and, although some comparator platforms did emerge, none were reliable, nor did they provide the degree of detail really necessary to understand the differences between some vehicles and others.
Ildefonso Díaz Molina, Head of Sales, Seat Cormosa

Cars Seeker, he continues, "carries out searches and comparisons in a more agile way, allows you to focus on specific details, such as a certain dealer, car or even an exact model, consult the different sales or price variations of the competition, and configure an alert system in charge of notifying you if there are alterations in the market that match previously established interests”.

José is also very happy with this collaboration and with the degree of satisfaction expressed by the dealer, aware of the possibilities and versatility that they can offer with Cars Seeker, and convinced that Seat Cormosa has set an important precedent that, without room for Doubtless, it will lead many others to follow in its footsteps: “now they can analyze all the competition in their area, in addition to detecting the models with the greatest sales potential, which are also the most prone to modifications and price changes. It is information of great value, and its competitors will soon realize the nonsense of not relying on a tool like ours”.

Thanks to Cars Seeker, concludes Ildefonso, "I have notably increased sales, since, from the first moment, I know the price changes that are made in any dealership, I can anticipate any modification that occurs in the market, have access to the sales that occur from each model and, ultimately, to know if I am properly positioned for a specific model”.

Learn more

We leave you with some recommendations to make Black Friday 2021 profitable without dying trying.

Be careful, Amazon advances the starting gun... Our motto on this important date for e-commerce is «More than ever, price intelligence». And information is power. Data is what allows you to act on time, what leads you to get it right, when it's time to decide. Without data, you are lost, wandering aimlessly. With Data Seekers you have them all, and to measure.

Download your BF '21 Guide (Spanish)