Global marketplaces: the key to crossborder ecommerce success?

This week the Ecommerce Foundation released a report titled the Rise of the Global Market Places.

The report, which is sponsored by Lengow, addresses different issues relating to the global marketplaces such as their influence on retail, the best strategies to adopt and critical factors for success.

“The purpose of this study is to help companies define their strategy for successful competing, and growing, in a world where online market places are a dominant new force”, Ecommerce Foundation press release.

Download full report

According to the report, retailers expect global marketplaces to own nearly 40% of online retail market in 2020. Therefore, taking into account the rise and increasing importance of global marketplaces, here are some additional tips for standing out from the crowd and increasing sales on this essential channel!

Correctly categorise your products

First and foremost, it is crucial that you correctly categorise your products when selling on marketplaces. Be aware that the classification system will be different to your own organisation and vary depending on the marketplace. Failure to correctly categorise your products will result in reduced visibility and consequently lower sales. If you are selling very niche products, it may be tricky to find the perfect category, so be careful choose the most logical and relevant category.

Gather customer reviews

Reviews are one of the most important types of user generated content. They help bridge the gap between the real and digital world, and facilitate trust and credibility. Many studies have shown a strong positive correlation between reviews and conversion. For example, products with reviews have a 12.5% higher conversion rate than those without. Therefore, encourage customers to leave reviews for your products on the marketplaces you are selling on.

How can you get reviews?

• Ask for them: Empower the customer and let them customer know that their opinion is important to you. A simple follow up email asking them about their purchase and inviting them to leave a public review is a great way to start.
• Make it easy: Make the process for leaving a review as simple as possible. If you invite users to review via email include a clear link to the review section on your website. You could even offer tips on what makes a great review.

Use informative product description and inspiring images

When writing your product descriptions you need to not only describe your products, but to sell them. The description will allow the visitor to decide if the product meets their expectations. Generally you should avoid being too wordy and keep it reader friendly, consider using bullet points, headings and subheadings if appropriate. However, the ideal description length and style depends on the country you are selling in, in China for example, shoppers want highly detailed product pages and lots of images. Therefore, be sure to research the shopping habits of each country you are selling in and adapt your descriptions appropriately. Irrelevant of the length let the visitor know what the product can do for them: how it will make their life easier, what problem it will solve, etc. Copy can also optimise your ranking in search engines. By putting yourself into the shoes of the potential customer and using the terminology that they would use when searching your product, you will be displayed higher in search results. You could also do some A/B testing to see what wording works best.

Make sure to use high quality images. Unlike in offline shopping, online shoppers cannot hold and feel the item, therefore your need images that accurately represent your products and that reassure customers of their quality. Include several photos from several angles.

Centrally manage inventory

Managing stock on multiple channels can be a demanding challenge. Displaying products which are not in stock can be a costly mistake and lead to sanctions on some marketplaces. By using a feed management tool such as Lengow, you can distribute your products on marketplaces worldwide and manage products on all channels from one central dashboard. In addition to automatically deactivating product ads for products which are not in stock, Lengow also enables you to monitor the profitability of each product and each channel, so that you can adapt your strategy accordingly.

Contact Lengow any time for a free demo. For further information using global marketplaces to increase your sales, download the full report here.