DIGITAL INTERACTIVE SERVICES

The importance of eCommerce marketplace for businesses

With more than 47% of customers choosing to purchase goods and services online, the way businesses market their products has changed — they are going online with their e-commerce stores. However, owning an e-commerce store is easier than running it successfully. End customers may not be aware of a new online business unless it advertises its platform online. A marketplace plays a crucial role in providing the required visibility.

What is an eCommerce marketplace?

An e-commerce marketplace is an online aggregator of businesses and provides the targeted market with the necessary segmentation and visibility. The top e-commerce marketplaces that work in the global B2C space are eBay and Amazon. In India, Flipkart and Myntra are some of the prominent marketplaces. An e-commerce marketplace facilitates multi-channel sales by establishing connections with and promoting several e-commerce stores. To grow their business further, e-commerce marketplaces are integrating with multiple marketplaces.

The benefits of eCommerce marketplace integration

Integration with an e-commerce marketplace brings in a framework to generate sales. Research shows that businesses make 38% higher ROI by selling on one and 120% higher ROI by selling on two marketplaces.

• No more manual selling: An e-commerce marketplace streamlines the workflow, which includes uploading products and services, order management and updates, tracking and returns, and refunds. Automation eliminates manual errors by executing a predetermined task on a server. This eliminates the need to perform repeated tasks manually.
• API-based data transfer: Businesses get an API connection for fast and secure data upload and download. This reduces friction between the seller and the marketplace and eliminates errors. Manage and upload products in bulk with a single click. This helps you manage the product catalogue better.
• Single dashboard: A business does not need to switch between different platforms to manage its activities. They save time by managing everything from a single e-commerce dashboard. You can monitor top-performing products and marketing campaigns and take the necessary actions. Get a centralised order management system where you can accept, reject, ship, or delete requests on time.
• End-to-end visibility: Businesses can centralise all the data spread across multiple channels and stocking points. This provides them with the freedom to change product deliveries, shipping, and invoicing in real time.
• Better demand forecasting: With an e-commerce marketplace, businesses can avoid overstocking and understocking. Intelligent data insights help them plan the demand smartly, thus lowering cash burn.

Businesses are now looking for systems that can help them connect with multiple marketplaces and manage all activities from a single interface.

Challenges of integrating with multiple eCommerce marketplaces

While integrating with multiple marketplaces sounds fascinating, managing them is a challenge unless you have the necessary technology. Some of the challenges are:

• Processing data on multiple marketplace dashboards: Businesses upload and manage data on multiple marketplaces through different channels, which increases the chances of errors. Each marketplace could have a different product description, photos, delivery policy, cancellation and returns policy, and prices.
• Inefficient order management: One must monitor the dashboards of multiple marketplaces to track the orders. This includes receiving and acknowledging the orders, as well as packaging, delivery, payments, and more, which result in delays and missed SLAs.
• Time-consuming product updates: Let us look at it with an example. An e-commerce company sells over a thousand products through three marketplaces — eBay, Amazon, and Walmart. Each time there is a change in pricing or product description, they must update it manually on all marketplaces one by one. This adds to the manual labour and increases the chances of errors.

To grow multi-channel marketplace selling, e-commerce businesses must upgrade their technology and capabilities.
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How can Infosys BPM help?

With the Infosys BPM capabilities, you can expand your business to multiple marketplaces in a short period, with value-driven marketplace management services such as:

• Brand governance
• Catalogue management
• Marketing operations
• Customer/back-office support
• Reporting and analytics

Read more about the eCommerce Marketplace Management Services at Infosys BPM.