It’s no secret that the ecommerce industry is growing at an explosively fast rate. Case in point: In 2019 alone, online retail sales amounted to $3.53 trillion worldwide, and they’re projected to skyrocket to $6.54 trillion by 2022.
Shopping has now achieved what’s most likely a permanent spot as one of the most popular online activities worldwide, meaning retailers must seize their slice of the e-tail pie if they want to increase revenues and maintain long-term sustainability. The strategy that’s front and center for savvy entrepreneurs? Multichannel ecommerce.
If you’re ready to scale your ecommerce business to a multichannel operation—or further grow your existing multichannel store—keep reading. We’ll take a deep-dive into the pros and cons of both marketplaces and ecommerce platforms, and provide insights into the options available for sellers with growing enterprises.
When launching a new online sales channel, the first order of business is deciding where to sell your items: on a marketplace or your own online store using an ecommerce platform. Let’s kick things off by running down the pros and cons of both.
As two of the largest online marketplaces in the world, Amazon and Walmart are worth considering for sellers looking to maximize traffic. Here’s why.
As the top grossing marketplace in the United States, Amazon is the go-to site for millions of online shoppers. The impact on its sellers? Three out of five say their profits are rising, 85% are profitable, and 47% are self-employed and live off of their Amazon income.
If you’re looking to sell your product on Amazon, you’ll first need to choose between either FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant) or FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon). FBM sellers have to take care of everything from picking and packing to shipping, delivery, and returns on their own, but with FBA, Amazon manages the entire post-purchase experience.
Here’s a rough overview of how FBA works for those who are unfamiliar: Once you create your Amazon Seller account, you send your products to Amazon to store in their fulfillment centers. Amazon then ships your products to your customers whenever orders are placed and handles customer service and returns.
But sellers, beware: many merchants have gotten burned by Amazon due to its confusing web of fees and expenses, getting undercut on pricing by competitors, and even seeing their products replicated and sold directly by Amazon.
Walmart Marketplace, the third largest online marketplace in the United States, is another great option to consider if your products fit in with what Walmart sells in-store and online. The platform saw 79% growth in 2020 alone, and now thousands of sellers offer their products to 120 million unique shoppers. It’s a nearly guaranteed way to expand your reach, and you only pay for what you sell—no setup or monthly fees required.
There are a couple of steps to follow if you want to sell your product on Walmart Marketplace. All sellers must first be approved by Walmart and register with Payoneer for payment purposes. Sellers can then select pricing and shipping models, and you must complete the launch checklist before your store can go live.
With that, you’re all set to start selling on Walmart.
When it comes to ecommerce platforms, Shopify and BigCommerce are the market leaders you need to consider.
Shopify is a hosted ecommerce platform, so you don’t have to worry about web hosting or installing software. Instead, you’ll pay a monthly subscription that you can pick depending on your required features. Once you’ve selected your subscription, you need to create a username and password, and you’ll be able to manage your store no matter where you are.
Shopify has everything you need, whether it’s your first online sales channel or your tenth— templates for your website, a payment processor, email marketing, blogging tools, and more. You can also customize your store with several applications, and you’ll have access to all of your customers’ information along with other statistics and analytics. It’s no wonder why the platform powers more than 1.7 million businesses worldwide, and captured almost 20% of the market share, created 3.6 million jobs, and driven $307 billion in economic impact in 2020. It’s intuitive and affordable, facilitating entrepreneurship around the world.
BigCommerce is another leading ecommerce platform builder with excellent scalability. It boasts a plethora of built-in sales tools, as well as advanced SEO and multichannel integration. Serving more than 60,000 merchants in more than 150 countries, the ecommerce platform is well-suited to businesses of all sizes, from startups to to large enterprises. Like Shopify, BigCommerce requires a subscription fee, and allows you to also sell on other platforms such as Amazon, Instagram, and Etsy along with your store. Worried about outgrowing your current ecommerce platform? Then BigCommerce could be the right choice for your business.
When scaling your ecommerce operation, adding more sales channels is a surefire way to expand your reach and get your products in front of new shoppers. There are several factors to consider when choosing your next channel, and the final decision depends on your business’ unique needs. But regardless of how you expand, going (or growing) multichannel is a proven profit driver and a key strategy for long-term success.
Has your ecommerce business recently added a new sales channel? We’d love to hear from you! Drop us a note on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn — or email us at marketing@webgility.com
About the Author
Moritz Bauer is an online seller from Germany. He’s studying business management at a master’s level and writes articles about Fulfillment by Amazon. When he’s not at work, you can find him in an Italian restaurant with white wine and pasta 😉