If you’re a retailer, or etailer, chances are you’re already selling on a marketplace online. Marketplaces lend to an “easier” way to enter the market when it comes to e-commerce if you don’t have a website or the resources to build an e-commerce business which as you may or may not know by now, it takes a lot of resources to get going. However, that shouldn’t stop you.
Let’s explore the top 8 marketplaces by traffic to sell on which gives a good gauge where consumers are and where you should mostly focus on based on traffic to get the most exposure possible. If you can have exposure in all these channels, even better.
*this data is sourced from similarweb
Will start with the TOP 5 general e-commerce platforms to sell on.
#1 AMAZON.COM
Amazon is by far the largest player in e-commerce so this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. There are still incredible opportunities to grow and scale a business on Amazon.com. The e-commerce giant is still growing.
#2 EBAY.COM
eBay.com is still a monster when it comes to traffic and a marketplace to sell on. In my opinion, eBay really fell asleep at the wheel in competing to Amazon but they remained relevant throughout all these years which tells me they aren’t going anywhere any time soon. It’s definitely a marketplace to get exposure even though many brands, larger brands, prefer to stay off this platform for brand value which gives smaller etailers a good opportunity.
#3 WALMART.COM
Walmart.com may be the one to put a bit more focus on in 2020. Trying to stay as competitive as possible to Amazon by buying Jet.com and really focusing on e-commerce, Walmart.com will become a larger platform over the next few years although you can see it lags eBay by a few hundred million visitors.
#4 ETSY.COM
This one might be the surprise for many but Etsy is a larger platform than you think. Look at that traffic! WOW, Esty…I’m impressed. This platform isn’t for just any retailer to go and sell, this is more for independent brands and creators to go sell and introduce your brand to the marketplace. Definitely a great marketplace for smaller brands to launch.
#5 TARGET.COM
Target.com can be a very good marketplace for you to sell in. It is not easy to apply and get into at all as the others listed above but it’s worth a shot and there are plenty of smaller vendors on Target.com.
*more niche marketplaces for certain industries and space
#6 BESTBUY.COM
BestBuy.com of course is a go-to electronics platform. It is not a marketplace where you can just go and sell product, however, you can apply to become a seller and can be an incredible platform to advertise your brand or product if in the space.
#7 WISH.COM
“The signup process is pretty simple and your products get very good exposure very quickly. This is my third year selling on WISH. I have a mixed opinion about it. It’s such a great user friendly app for both buyers and sellers. But it is only for sellers who want to sell products between $1-$5 in a very large quantity.” – from a seller on Wish.com.
#8 OVERSTOCK.COM
Overstock.com has seen some really nice growth over the last few months. Like other most restricted marketplaces, you do have to apply to become an authorized vendor.
I always encourage etailers to put the most focus on their own web properties and content as that’s what really builds a long-term business. However, third party marketplaces are incredible additions as sales channels and one channel alone can help you grow and scale much faster.
