Amazon, Alibaba, Flipkart, Ebay, etc., are all marketplaces, also known as “Rented Platforms”, and people look to endorse their products on these platforms, usually because of their large online presence and big database. These marketplaces not only offer big user base, but they also offer convenience. Companies who are relatively new to the online world tend to use these marketplaces to establish their presence and generate revenues.
However, if you’ve been in the business for a while now, then the next big step should be having your own website, or your “owned asset”, to understand this in detail, let’s dive in further:
No more Commission.
A seller on marketplace like amazon has to pay a certain amount of commission while making sale, as quoted by Junglescout. Whereas, owning an ecommerce website for retail business offers an ultimate opportunity to make greater profits through cross selling and upselling.
Building your own brand.
A typical Rental platform, hosts millions of products, and offers a slim chance to gain visibility. There is no opportunity of telling your business story. Moreover, there are already so many sellers and limited space to show your products and services that even though your product is unique, it gets lost in the minds of consumer. In the online era, customer support must biggest concern of any business, having your own website for retail buyers, means you can solve any query and communicate your brand to the end user, enhancing their experience.
Having your Own payment gateway
Having payment gateway offers a single integrated point of sale and payment processing between buyers and seller and is an important step for any business. This point of sale system offers faster solutions to customer grievances and can help in analyzing where business is going and how to improve upon it. Also, having a payment gateway with own specifications offers better customer support.
Differentiation Factor.
Having eCommerce website for retail selling makes customization an option for the users, this helps in standing out from the crowd. There are 12 million products on Amazon; this means that might be similar product offerings from your competitor and this may confuse your customer further. Your site gives you a chance to get the exposure needed. Marketplace also does not let businesses make customer acquisition, with your own network you can make a lead generation list through email addresses and transaction history, being one step ahead of your competition.
Better Digital Promotion.
With your own virtual property, you can experiment as much as you want. Many tools are available for promotion of the business; this includes Google ads, social media, and many other promotion campaigns. These options are restricted on platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. Having your own network is a futuristic approach which gives businesses more professional look which has greater visual touch points and provides greater freedom to the advertiser. With better promotion, you can also know what your customers want and what works for them. With proper insights, you can know who your customer is and make your targeting more focused.
Ecommerce Platforms offering better flexibility.
Programs such as Shopify and Magento offer users easy to use templates that offers appropriate security measures. Shopify announced in 2017, that more than 600000 merchants were using its online store.
Also, Woocommerce is another WordPress plugin that merchants use for their retail eCommerce store because of its simplicity and customization feature. Trends suggest that in 2015, WooCommerce was run by almost 30% online stores.
Another option businesses can use is Prestashop which has a freemium model to help companies build their virtual network. Prestashop is currently used by 300000 shops worldwide and is open source.
Conclusion:
Marketplaces have their own rules and regulations to be followed on product posting and promotions. Though they provide opportunity to display your products to broad spectrum viewers, they have many limitations. You will not find the flexibility in a long run to promote unlimited. Whatever benefits you can see are for duration till you are on that platform. But once you stop paying the marketplace, your all investments till that point to be in vein. So no doubt marketplace is a good option to gain for a short duration. but if you are thinking to build your brand to be in online market for long term, your own Ecommerce website development only can be last to bring up your business in limelight.
if you are a new start-up, it is good to take benefits of all opportunities available online including marketplaces which gives you benefits instant, but simultaneously you need to start working on your full fledge ecomm website for retail business that only gives you reorganization but also will be cost-effective in future.
