How to Choose an Online Marketplace to Sell Your Products

Are you a seller looking for the best way to sell your products online? If so, you're in luck! There are a number of great online marketplaces where you can list and sell your items. 

In this post, we'll explore how to choose the right one for you. We'll look at factors such as audience reach, fees, and selling options. 

So, whether you're just getting started or are looking for a new marketplace to try out, read on for tips on how to find the perfect home for your products.

What’s the first step in establishing an online selling business?

Finding an appropriate online marketplace is the first step to establishing your online store and starting selling online. The E Commerce industry has been expanding exponentially in recent years. This has had a great impact on businesses as everyone is looking towards expanding their reach online. 

When looking at the online selling marketplaces, you need to consider how selling your product online will help your business. It is obvious that people’s buying behaviour is affected by what they are looking at online. With swift online payment gateways and fast delivery process, there is no wonder that people are shifting towards online buying. 

Markaz has recognized another goldmine when it comes to online shopping and that is social commerce. Online marketplaces or ecommerce stores are not where customers are completing their purchase. Social media has become an important part of the customer journey as well. 

The phenomena of social commerce is how Markaz has reconciled resellers with their database of wholesalers to sell their products online. With a fast delivery system and quick payouts, more and more resellers are using Markaz instead of shipping products in bulk and then selling them through social media after investing heavily.

But before you gauge your options for the best online marketplace in Pakistan, you need to identify what makes them the best online marketplace. Considering the growing e-commerce industry in Pakistan expected to grow up to $7.666 billion, it is high time to consider an online selling marketplace. 

6 Factors to consider when choosing an online selling marketplace

The growth of ecommerce is no surprise around the world. People want to choose what they want from the comfort of their home. They also want to pay for their services online. 

This clearly explains what an online marketplace should offer. When businesses are going to choose an ideal online selling marketplace, we want them to have a complete checklist of what makes an ideal marketplace whether you are running your business in Pakistan or anywhere in the world. 

In order to choose an ideal online marketplace, we’ve listed the six most important factors you need to look for in an ideal online marketplace. 

These factors will help you choose the right online marketplace whether you're looking to expand in Pakistan or anywhere else in the world. 

1. Best user experience 

Any user’s or prospective customer’s first interaction is not with the sales person but your user interface. This is why an ideal online selling marketplace should have an easy to understand and interactive ecommerce interface. This should include easy to navigate pages of products list, customer journey from adding products to your carts to finishing a purchase, etc. 

Every page should also have a clear description for each product including price details etc. Also, your payment options for online selling marketplace should also be versatile. Depending on your target market, your online marketplace should support different payment options whether it is through payment gateways, wire transfer or cash on delivery.

Other than that, once the customer has completed a purchase, your work is only half done. Your customer management should also manage logistics and provide live details via email on when and where their package is. 

2. Agile payments gateways 

Like said before, paying online and easily purchasing products from your phone is one of the biggest plus of shopping online. Whether you are looking at your favourite influencer showing off their seasonal haul, reviewing a new game, or you wish to buy a new pair of Nike’s, paying online within minutes completes purchases. 

This is why your online stores should have multiple payment solutions for quick payout. From Paypal, Stripe to Braintree, there are ways to secure online payments for you and your customers. 

3. Easy social media sharing 

An interesting phenomena which has become more popular in recent years is social commerce. This adds the concept of socialising online and ecommerce both for users. Markaz is one of those applications and online selling marketplaces which have cashed on this concept. The best part businesses are looking for is customers interacting with their products online. 

What if you want to purchase the product you are seeing on social media? Or if you are a business then you must wonder why you are facing abandoned carts where customers lose interest following a link from social media to your store. The answer to these ecommerce pains is apps like Markaz where you can offer products from wholesalers, have it shipped directly to your customers and receive payment within minutes. 

Another important aspect is building brand reputation online. People are constantly sharing their likes and dislikes as well as interests online. This puts businesses at an advantage when a new customer searches for their online store. Customers leaving comments, reviews and testimonials are a common practice which allows you to build your reputation online. Opinions are the best online currency and investment your businesses can receive online. When your online selling marketplace is performing well, your online persona and branding will be shaped around positive indicators of customer satisfaction. 

4. Data analytics

Online selling marketplace offers knowledgeable data analytics insights into customer behaviour through your ecommerce website or your customised marketplace. These valuable insights include abandoned carts, most liked products, most visited pages, time rate of each visit, etc. 

For example, you can see insights into how many customers are abandoning their carts after adding products to it. This insight can help you pinpoint reasons why customers are not  completing their purchase. Understanding patterns of your customer’s interaction with your online store will help you improve leads to customers pipeline. 

5. Better customer service 

Customer service is the pinnacle of any online business. Many online selling marketplace like Markaz offer chatbots. Usually chatbots are designed to offer automated answers in multiple languages and of course, round the clock assistance. With the help of built-in templates linking to articles or FAQs which can easily help customers, you can create a simple stream of communication between you and your customer base. 

6. Understand what drives high sales growth 

It is no surprise that online selling marketplaces have helped businesses increase profit and excel in their markets. There are online marketplaces like Markaz which do not require any prior investment from their resellers in order to start their business. Reaching your target market is easy online. 

You can easily make the most of the power of social media. SEO and website optimization to improve your target reach. And brands care about their online persona due to the heavy shift of buyers making their buying decisions online. But how does it translate to high sales growth? Social media is a free tool for advertising. Simply making use of your social media campaigns to market to your target audience has made social commerce possible. 

For physical stores, brands have to purchase property and even warehouses for storing goods. With online selling marketplaces like Markaz, resellers can access product catalogues of thousands of goods and directly send them to their customers. Now, even micro entrepreneurs and small businesses are considering using online platforms to sell their goods. The best part is that you do not need huge startup capital to start earning!

Research conducted by Market Science has shown that companies who are using online marketplaces to sell their products are making 38% more sales than those who are only using their websites or physical stores. 

The possibilities are endless when it comes to online marketplace. You just have to choose what aligns the previously mentioned points with your business goals. If we were to pinpoint options for the best online marketplace in Pakistan then it would include sites like Daraz, Amazon, Alibaba, Goto, Homeshopping, Jomo, etc. 

Making a choice can be daunting but as long as you follow a list of features and analyse how it will serve your growth forecasts, you're good to go. Making the right choice with the help of points mentioned above can be easy. 

What makes Markaz the ideal online marketplace for resellers?

For resellers, Markaz has proven to be an ideal online selling marketplace. Why? Well, for exactly the reasons we have mentioned above. 

If you're looking for an online marketplace with a built in product catalogue from thousands of wholesalers, then this is the place for you. 

Also, we have seen the rise of social commerce. This allows businesses to smoothen their customer’s journey without them having to navigate online sites to complete the purchase. It's simple, agile and also, free.

You do not need to invest any money whereas independent business owners are making PKR 45k within the first month of using Markaz. 

The shift to any online marketplace whether it is internationally acclaimed Amazon or Markaz can be challenging. 

To beat this challenge, make sure you know what you want to achieve via online marketplaces. Whether it is more ROI, better customer experience, product cataloguing or swift delivery process, there are many options to choose from. 

Making the right choice for your business will help you tap into the potential of your growth. So, make that choice wisely or just contact us now for some professional assistance.

Conclusion:

 It can be hard to know where to start when choosing an online marketplace to sell your products. Hopefully, this article has given you a good starting point and some things to think about as you make your decision. 

Do your research, ask around for advice, and most importantly, trust your gut. When it comes down to it, the best marketplace for you is the one that feels right. 

Thanks for reading!

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