Top Multi-Channel Marketplaces for Selling internationally

Sep 17, 2023

eCommerce platforms provide you with the most complete control of your online store as well as marketing, product positioning, as well as other aspects of managing your business.

However, what can you do to expand your reach, and get in touch to new customers who might not have any other method to purchase your products? Selling on multiple marketplaces can help to boost the popularity of an e-commerce companyit gives you access to more customers in more places who probably never come across your online store.

There are a variety of top online marketplaces that have the potential to be internationally renowned. Depending on your business, it is important to think about each one before you decide the best one to assist you in reaching your expansion ambitions without hampering the freedom you enjoy.

What is the best way to select the most suitable market

The top online marketplaces that support multi-channel sales include the ones we are familiar with such as Amazon as well as eBay. There are many other marketplaces that have the same presence around the world, and even larger in certain instances. These include Alibaba, Walmart Marketplace, Etsy, and Newegg.

In this article this article, we'll dive on each of them so that you be aware of the benefits each online marketplace offers.

Which regions around the world interact with every online marketplace? What is the number of people who visit these platforms, and how loyal are they?

If you are looking to expand your reach into new markets through your product and you are confident that online marketplaces provide the best way of making this happen, then consider a variety of essential elements:

  • Each marketplace's approach to support sellers, ensures their autonomy and produces more revenues without difficulties
  • Cost: What do you need to pay for access to each online marketplace
  • Audience: Which types of people do they appeal to? the most attractive to?
  • Reach: What volume of potential customers from specific geographical regions that can be accessed by each market

We'll look into each of these six best multi-channel marketplaces.

Amazon homepage

1. Amazon

Amazon has come a long way from its beginnings as a bookseller online. Amazon is now the closest you could get to a complete-seller. The majority of the merchandise available on Amazon originates from different markets, including online retailers who wish to attract new customers.

Features

Amazon is doing this for a while, and is now figuring out the best way to make an eCommerce site perform, and so that the majority of e-commerce sites would like to use several of these strategies. There are numerous extensions that are available as well as the capability to use some of the features Amazon does in its online store.

Here are the best features that are available on Amazon Marketplace:

  • Global access: Open an account in virtually every nation situated on Earth
  • Support for phones in all countries as well as chat support. Email for the remaining
  • You can set your own price
  • An online platform lets you create your own offerings and promote these
  • Review collection that is simple using the same system which the majority of people are familiar with
  • Possibility to develop your own products, and later store them on the keywords you can find in search engines
  • Performance metrics tracking like order defect rate and cancellation rates fulfillment
  • Fulfillment via Amazon (FBA) It is an Amazon program that permits you to access Amazon's Prime Badge and offers better delivery choices
  • Pre-set product page layouts that eliminate the task of figuring out the layout

Fulfillment by Amazon is the practice of shipping your products to Amazon as well as they keep your items in Amazon's warehouses. The service comes at some costs however, you are able to offer two-day free shipping for Amazon Prime customers, and Amazon will print labels, packaging, and all the other shipping tasks that you might think of.

Amazon FBA landing page

The shoppers are able to sort their searches to are only able to find items from sellers that have earned the Prime Badge and provide buyers with the impression of exclusivity and exclusivity.

Pricing

Amazon is one of the most expensive marketplaces on the internet. There are a myriad of prices, not just one.

At first you must choose from two plans: the Individual Plan and the Professional Plan. With the Individual Plan, you pay 99 cents on each sale that you sell. This is a better option to those selling a lower amount of products online. This Professional Plan is priced at $39.99 per month. It also grants you unlimited sales.

Then, there's a referral cost. It's similar to commissions which every marketplace online costs. It is calculated in a percentage of the total amount you spend which includes the shipping costs. Prices vary according to product category. Most are between 8-15 percent, however they can go between 45% and as low as 3 percentage. Then, there's an additional fee for fulfillment based on the amount and weight of the product being delivered.

To access Amazon's warehouses, the storage fees are based also on the dimensions of your items. The fees for storage triple from October through Christmas holiday period.

Is that all there is to it? In reality, there could be extra charges in specific situations.

What is the reason someone would want to pay all these expenses to make a sale on Amazon?

There are a few benefits built in and have an extensive market. But, it's also real that when you own an online store of your own it is not necessary to pay most of these expenses. It is your responsibility to manage the inventory you have and the delivery.

Audience

Amazon is the most popular retail business in the United States, having achieved the goal of achieving market saturation. 150 million Americans are Prime Members, over 70% of all adults.

There were 197 million people using their app at as of the moment this article was written. Amazon is the main reason of 56.7 percent of all retail online sales in the U.S. Therefore, if your customers are located in America, US, Amazon can reach them.

Including including in the U.S., they have about 310 million active users across the globe. That means that you've got the potential to connect with the mobile audience, too.

The customer base of Amazon is varied all over North America, and in numerous other countries. 60% of people who buy online generally start searching through Amazon.

Reach

After purchasing Souq in 2017 and establishing the Middle Eastern ecommerce marketplace, Amazon became the largest online retailer on the planet. Its customers are primarily located in North America, Europe, Asia, and Asia and across the Middle East.

Amazon provides shipping to more than 130 countries as well as 2.7 billion users who have purchased items through Amazon. Amazon boasts 2.72 billion unique monthly visitors.

As for the dimensions the possibilities are that you'll be able to access the world's largest market with Amazon. With great scale is great competition. Amazon is also home to the largest quantity of online sellers. It's therefore not simple to make your product known.

eBay homepage

2. eBay

eBay was initially a platform to sell second-hand goods via bidding battles. While they still offer that service, only 12percent of items offered on their website are available for bidding, and the majority of items offered on eBay are completely new.

So it's become an online market with more avid buyers compared to Amazon. Many shoppers begin their shopping online with Amazon but many will end up on eBay.

Features

eBay is a real marketplace. It does not provide products of their own, so your only competition comes from sellers other than the marketplace itself. The additional features provided by eBay include:

  • Concierge services for larger ecommerce brands
  • Seller Hub is the marketplace where you manage your online business on eBay which allows you to build and manage listings, orders, manage promotions and sales, and more.
  • The ability to customize listings higher than Amazon
  • Uploading videos related to your products
  • Coupons, discounts and promotions capabilities, such as coupons
  • It is possible to offer discounted prices based on the volume
  • Subscriber options allow you to create marketing newsletters to customers, provide discounts for subscribers, as well as create better relationships with your customers. Amazon
  • Access to review for items.
  • Shipping label printing
  • It is possible to advertise your business via Google Ads as well as different shopping sites, as well in conjunction with eBay Ads
  • Advanced analytics
  • Weekly or daily pay schedules

Pricing

eBay's pricing model is simpler than Amazon's, however the charges are comparable in a few ways.

The first is the insertion fee that is 35 cents for each listing. The first 250 listings are completely free. When you start the eBay store, you'll get additional listings for free.

In the end, you are paid a portion of the price you pay, usually 10% for most types of products, although the range is between 2 and 12 percent. This includes all the costs for processing. If you're looking to cut down on the cost of insertion then you should consider the possibility of a subscription that is monthly. For higher volume sellers that wish to improve their revenue, this could be the best choice. There are three choices available and each coming with a higher profits from selling through the platform. All are less expensive when you pay each year, rather than monthly. Costs for monthly payments include:

  • Basic: $24.95 per month
  • Premium: $74.95 per month
  • Anchor: $349.95 per month

Audience

eBay is a popular choice among hobbyists and people who call themselves "enthusiast customers" and for people who are looking to get the best price. eBay is a great choice for electronic items. It is the number one online retailer, that sells 16.4 percent of the products offered on the site.

eBay also offers a wide selection of accessories and clothing (16 percent) and automotive (11%) in addition to beauty and health (9 percent) and outdoors and sports gear. The five categories listed above account for about 60% of what is offered on eBay. However, this leaves ample room for more categories.

According to Edesk report, 61% of the audience on eBay is aged between 35 to 64, 60 percent are males, in contrast with Amazon's 50/50 ratio. This means that your customers include Baby Boomers that are the tail end Gen-Xers, in addition to Gen-Xers and Millennials. eBay hasn't been able to attract as many customers from the Gen-Z.

Reach

While researching the word "reach," it's important to differentiate between people who visit the website as well as buyers. The majority of sites that report on the reach of established multi-channel marketplaces is a decent job clarifying this issue, which is why you'll notice wildly various numbers from different sites.

Furthermore, the purchasing numbers have drastically changed following the year 2020. Thus, information up to the date of 2020 is quite outdated.

eBay currently has a total of 885 million users who use the site each month. In the year, approximately 135 million of these buyers actually purchase products via eBay.

eBay is the third-most downloaded online shopping application in the US after Walmart and Amazon and 60% of eBay's buyers are in the UK and U.S., with Germany making up 15 15%. It means around 34% of the audience on eBay is located in these three areas.

In the case of sellers the situation is slightly different story. The majority of eBay sellers are within the U.S., and 25% are situated in the UK. 17% of them are of China and 16% come from Germany and three percent of them from Australia. So, it is possible to sell your products via eBay almost anywhere as that you are aware to the countries where the bulk of buyers reside.

Alibaba homepage

3. Alibaba

Many marketers in outside of the West aren't acquainted with the e-commerce company situated in China founded by Jack Ma. But it owns more than 60 percent of the market share of Chinese marketplace for e-commerce, which signifies that any business that is seeking to expand to China or other Asian markets should consider becoming a part of Alibaba or one of its subsidiary platforms such as AliExpress, Taobao, Lazada, or Tokopedia. Each of these platforms serves a range of countries in the region.

Features

The presentation of capabilities of Alibaba is a challenge because there has a variety of platforms within its broad scope that each have distinct features. For simplicity it is suggested to concentrate solely on Alibaba and AliExpress. However, if you're hoping to broaden your reach within specific Asian countries, to look into their other platforms which will be covered later.

Alibaba is among the most popular B2B marketplaces. Alibaba allows you to purchase wholesale items to other businesses and also from these companies. With Alibaba it's possible to:

  • The data of your customers is yours and not on Amazon
  • Make use of the tools for communication to communicate directly with buyers
  • Access analytics and CRM tools.
  • Translate in the more than 18 languages
  • Customize your application using an API integration
  • Coordination of international logistics to facilitate transport
  • Support for onboarding is offered to new sellers.
  • Monitoring and inspection of access products

Alibaba uses an RFP (Request for Quote) procedure that allows customers to make orders because businesses utilize Alibaba for bulk purchases from suppliers and manufacturers. So prices are not fixed. The amount depends on the amount of items ordered, as well as the transportation costs, among other factors.

Sellers have the choice of earning three different ratings: Verified, Gold, and Trade Assurance, which assure customers that they're buying from reliable suppliers.

AliExpress homepage

AliExpress    
    AliExpress is just one of many B2C E-commerce platforms which Alibaba is able to offer in its global marketplace. Like Amazon, sellers can sell certain products, and then direct ship these items to the consumer. You can also use AliExpress to drop-ship. As with Alibaba this service, AliExpress can be translated into more than 18 languages.

Other characteristics comprise:

  • Promotion to boost exposure of products
  • Convert and accept 51 of the currencies.
  • 38 local payment networks to make secure transactions
  • Storefronts that can be customized on-line
  • AliExpress University, an onboarding service designed to assist newly-established sellers.
  • A variety of shipping options for shipping
  • Protection policy for buyers in the event of defective, damaged or non-deliverable goods

Pricing

Alibaba deals in much higher volumes when compared with B2C ecommerce marketplaces, so their prices are more expensive as well. There's no fee on transactions made by the site and there is no annual charge The cheapest is called"Gold Supplier" Basic price of $1899 per the year.

AliExpress follows a similar model as other B2C E-commerce platforms. AliExpress does not charge a fee each year, but it takes between 5-8 percent commissions per purchase.

Audience

If you're looking to sell on the internet in bulk to companies of other kinds, Alibaba is one of the biggest online marketplaces available to you. Over 10 million users from more than 200 nations have bought wholesale goods through Alibaba. It is possible to deal directly with manufacturers, but you can also deal with traders, exporters, and agents. Businesses, as well as wholesalers.

They could be other manufacturer and wholesalers who are making use of your product to make of different items. They could also be sourcing agents, or B2C retailers. Alibaba is a good platform to use Alibaba to build private labels.

AliExpress

AliExpress is targeted at consumers of all ages, just like Amazon which sells nearly anything, from clothing to equipment to products for home improvement from electronics to cosmetics.

In the countries where AliExpress and other Alibaba B2C E-commerce platforms function the target market is all those who shop online. A few buyers might also have re-sellers establishing dropshipping firms.

AliExpress sellers must reside in China, Russia, Spain, Italy, France, or Turkey.

Reach

Alibaba reaches dozens of countries and almost a billion people.

AliExpress and the other B2C platforms are used by millions of customers who are from two20 countries. They're the most popular in Asian nations. In China there's a platform named Taobao. Lazada is the platform that operates in Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Tokopedia will serve as the principal platform in Indonesia.

Walmart Marketplace landing page

4. Walmart Marketplace

Walmart was initially a brick and mortar department store, it was not an online marketplace. In 2010, the company launched online sales using the enormous amount of capital that they had accumulated by their stores, Walmart has been successful in expanding its sales online platform, to the point where it has the ability to compete with most prominent brands like Amazon.

However, Walmart Marketplace has fewer sellers and, at the moment, this means that you'll have less competition for getting your product noticed. Therefore, you'll likely to get greater exposure for your products in Walmart Marketplace than Amazon.

Features

The e-commerce platform of Walmart has several similarities with Amazon However, the differences are substantial. Its main differences include:

  • There are stricter requirements for sellers - not everyone can open the shop.
  • The ability to offer complimentary two-day delivery
  • Analytics tools and Advanced Listings
  • Secure payment
  • Market study
  • Review options available to customers
  • Walmart ads which provide greater brand visibility
  • A supply chain management system has been created
  • Walmart Fulfillment Services, which will store, package and deliver your items

Walmart Fulfillment Services works very similar to Fulfillment through Amazon. Your items are delivered into Walmart's stores. Once orders are received They package and then deliver your items for the convenience of.

Walmart fulfillment services

The stricter process for obtaining certifications is a strong reason to consider Walmart. They will only consider sellers who can demonstrate past success with ecommerce. This ensures that all their sellers are trustworthy and supply high-quality products.

Pricing

Contrary with Amazon, Walmart charges no costs for setting up, listing and subscriptions. They charge a fee per sale. This, like similar to other sites, differs according to the product category. It ranges from 6 to percent. However, the cost can be 8% or 15 percent.

Audience

Walmart is a great retailer since they've got an large number of customers in their stores Also, they offer an online market, in addition to the rest of them. Walmart offers everything in-store, while their online store provides more. Walmart caters to shoppers online.

Reach

Walmart Marketplace gets about 410 million monthly unique customers according to estimates, and it engages shoppers of Africa, Canada, Central America, Mexico, India, China, and Chile and also some parts of the U.S. and parts of Europe.

The loyalty program at Walmart has over ten million users. They get a special incentive to buy from Walmart online.

Etsy homepage

5. Etsy

Etsy was founded as a marketplace which allowed people to sell their unique and handcrafted items, it was not a platform for mass production. The company continues to fulfill its mission to this day. For ecommerce sellers, Etsy is the place for selling unique items as well as particular things.

If you sell several products and you want to draw customers to your ecommerce store using Etsy utilize this site to advertise products that are unique, and then following-up that will bring them to your primary store, which is built on .

Features

Etsy has options like those of other platforms including safe payments, apps, email and some phone help, and the ability to customize the look of your Etsy shop. Additionally, Etsy includes:

  • Automated deposits directly to your account
  • Postage discounts are available.
  • An Etsy advertising platform on which advertisers can buy ads that improve the visibility of your ads.
  • The Seller App permits direct contact with buyers via the Seller App
  • Seller protections
  • An affiliate program you can make use of to convince others to market your product
  • A newsletter for sellers via email and a book
  • A connection to a group of sellers

Etsy is well-known as a place that is not as prominent when looking for particular items, and this motivates some to buy Etsy ads. Be extremely careful when creating page for your product, which includes the words and keywords used to describe your products.

Pricing

Etsy provides a simple pricing structure. It costs 20 cents for each listing and is available for a minimum of 4 months. In each sale the buyer is charged an 9.5 percent transaction fee and a processing fee which includes all charges.

In addition, Etsy runs ads for the items you sell all over the internet most often through ads which display pictures of your products. There is no control you have over the ads, and there's absolutely no cost to you except if your advertisement results in a sale. If any advertisements that produce sales produce a sale there is an additional cost for every sale.

Audience

Etsy's customers are different from other marketplaces online. Customers on Etsy want products that they cannot find else. They want stuff no one else will ever have. It's like treasure hunter.

This is the best place to offer unique products that will make you famous for being a creator, an artist and creator of products who invests the time and effort into every item.

grid of product types that do well on Etsy

The vast majority of shoppers on Etsy are women, usually in the age range of 18 to 40.

The most popular categories of their products are those of furniture and household tools, jewelry-making supplies along with tools. They offer a variety of merchandise for weddings and bridal parties.

Reach

Etsy has a lower reach in comparison to other online marketplaces. Though they're able to reach more than 200 countries and boast more than 86 million users, about half the sales they make online direct to the U.S., and almost all of the remainder go directly to UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, and France.

Etsy is also home to a number of customers that are loyal, and with 81% of all purchases that are made by people who have bought regularly from them. Therefore, if the Etsy audience is in alignment to your product, you can win regular customers faster by utilizing the marketplace than with some of the other, less generic options on this list.

Newegg homepage

6. Newegg

Newegg was initially a technology-focused ecommerce marketplace, and it remains a leader in that segment. It has expanded to different areas, and has been ranked as one of the top options for companies using the internet to sell their products.

Features

Newegg offers real advantages to its top sellersusers who subscribe to the monthly membership. The benefits of this market are contingent on the membership you pick from three options of Professional, Free or Enterprise.

As with Walmart, Newegg requires sellers to be approved prior to when they are allowed to utilize their marketplace. This ensures an excellent quality level for the products they offer. A few of the key features include:

  • A well-informed and focused bunch of people
  • Possibility of selling previously used and refurbished items
  • Ability to advertise the products they sell on their site, including Sponsored Video Ads
  • Affirmed support
  • API integration
  • Advanced product descriptions that include images and videos to assist customers in making the right choice
  • You have the ability to connect Newegg Studios -- they'll produce videos and photos of your merchandise
  • Listings of products are unlimited for the Enterprise membership
  • Automation of purchase emails for Enterprise membership Enterprise membership
  • Discounts are available for customers using Newegg Fulfillment and using the Newegg Shipping Label service
  • Reward for sellers who price competitively
  • The Premier Seller Program that grants access to the largest consumers
  • The option to advertise on the Newegg social media accounts as well as the option to send out email marketing campaigns

Like Amazon as well as Walmart, Newegg has a shipping and fulfillment service in addition, and should you have a stock of the item, this can be a good choice since it could lower costs.

Newegg shipping service

Pricing

The trial version is free but the Professional version is costs $29.95 per month. Enterprise membership for $99.95 per month will give you access to all the options you need.

Audience

Newegg's customers are primarily technologically focused and knowledgeable. The number of users who are early adopters than other stores and it generally has an affluent clientele. In contrast to Amazon, Walmart, and Alibaba those who buy on Newegg generally earn around more than $75k per year. Their customer base is 72% males and mostly aged between 18 to 44.

Apart from a vast range of electronic products, Newegg also does well when it comes to home cookware and appliances. It is also expanding to include sports goods.

The Newegg customers enjoy looking through specifications for products, which is the reason why it isn't the platform to be a light touch on details. You want to include lots of detail on the website. Consider adding videos. Three-quarters of buyers return customers.

Reach

Newegg boasts more than 4 million customers present throughout Europe, South and North America as well as the Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

It's also a smaller market but it is spending more and is searching for certain types of goods. As with Etsy you have the chance to create a larger and more committed fan base here than in the large, broad markets.

What are the reasons to sell it as part of your overall strategy?

Marketplaces online are excellent ways to start selling your products online. They also provide a fantastic opportunity for you to communicate with your clients regardless of where they're located and the places where they're shopping.

When it comes down to the issue and it's obvious that the best option for expanding the reach of your enterprise and still maintain full control is to start an online store that you control . Let's look at some arguments to back this:

1. Marketplaces promote competitor products

Third-party marketplaces want all of their clients to be successful which means that your company isn't their primary focus. If potential buyers are browsing or searching for products that they can find items of competitors that are in the same class as yours. There may be ads for these items.

When you have a marketplace and a website, it's easier for shoppers to choose an alternative business to that you offer. With tools such  the ones mentioned above, you can build websites that help shoppers find what they're looking for and then make purchases seamlessly with no distractions from different stores.

2. The marketplaces may be a little limited in terms of the appearance and functionality

Marketplaces on the internet must be able to alter your listings for products to satisfy the specifications for format, images, design classification, the duration of the descriptions. That means that you may not be able to provide all the details you'd like.

If you're working with the template of a design it's possible that you won't be able to change the design to match your brand. What you design are likely to look similar to the previous products.

DVO suspension product page
Custom product page from https://dvosuspension.com/


    However, with this software, you can create the kind of merchandise and listing of stores that you'd like to see. You can add lots of pictures and videos along with dimensions charts and list of ingredients, along with modifying the general look and feel of the brand you're trying to promote.

3. Marketplaces form a component of the sale

Third party marketplaces get a percentage of your sales online to use their services. If you increase your business, the amount you earn increasing. However, it doesn't charge fees for selling on the internet.

father's day card listing on the Offerman Woodshop website
Product page from https://offermanwoodshop.com/

4. Marketplaces limit your control

Selling on a marketplace which is a not a third party, it is subject to the regulations and rules of the marketplace. If they determine that you're in violation of those regulations, they may take your store offline at times without warning. That means you'll not be able to make a profit, as well as your content.

With Jetpack, you'll enjoy complete control and oversight over your website. Additionally, you can make backups which will save every single detail of your website including customer and sales details. In the event that something goes out of the ordinary, you'll be able quickly get your site back functioning again.

5. Marketing can be made more complicated

Some third-party marketplaces offer integrated marketing tools, they can be a bit limiting for expanding. There may be no way to integrate the tools you prefer to use in terms of advertising, email marketing, customer relationship management and SEO, and much additional. Also, it could be more difficult to compile customer data as well as effectively communicate with customers.

 extensions

6. Markets can make it difficult to adjust

As you grow the size of your organization and company, you'll need to implement significant changes to accommodate more sales. For example, you might have to alter your delivery or marketing strategies and strategies, adopt a range of currencies, create content in several languages, or integrate it into software for inventory and fulfillment.

Third-party marketplaces limit your capability to make these modifications. They might not be compatible with the software you wish to make use of. Or perhaps they won't allow you to alter the product that you require to create in order to market globally.

It is possible to take a variety of currencies, set up shipping options in many methods, integrate with a variety of tools, and customize the store however you'd like when you begin to expand. You can also choose a hosting provider necessary to provide the necessary tools as well as the resources to handle growth of traffic.

In the end, when it comes to it, this is the best way to begin and develop a profitable online store. Benefits include a platform that's easy to manage (no code required! ) and with unbeatable flexibility, high-end support and complete control.

Amazon FBA extension

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