The average consumer now shops on three marketplaces when purchasing online, according to new research from global e-commerce company, Rithum, encompassing CommerceHub and ChannelAdvisor. While shoppers are open to expanding their options, brands own websites are the most trusted, with almost half (47%) saying they trust them versus 21% for Amazon and 29% for other private marketplaces like eBay.    

Fear of missing out on a deal has also been found to influence purchase decisions, with half (50%) of respondents admitting to abandoning a purchase if they suspect the price could be better elsewhere or decrease in the future. The research highlighted the power of marketplaces with 46% of shoppers using them to discover products and 37% clicking on a sponsored product while on a marketplace. 

Rithum managing director of APAC, Gordana Redzovski said, “The path to purchase is becoming increasingly fragmented as consumers visit multiple sites before completing a transaction. Consumers are consistently shopping around to find the best product and prices and customer experience — and they’re willing to jump ship at the first sign of a better experience.” 

In the survey, businesses that reported performing worse than expected in 2023 cited the highly competitive marketplace and lower consumer spending as the biggest factors. Of those that performed better than expected, more than one-third (36%) cited marketplace diversification and expanding sales channels as the main drivers behind the stronger results. 

When asked about marketplace strategy for 2024, Amazon and eBay came out on top followed by Temu and SHEIN. When asked about barriers, price pressure from competitors, meeting consumer sustainability expectations and bringing in new customers were the main issues highlighted. 

“Brands and retailers need to join consumers in their multichannel approach. This doesn’t necessarily mean extending your presence to hundreds of marketplaces. Instead, use a diverse set of tactics including retail media and social media marketing to simply remind shoppers of your brand, where they are shopping,” Redzovski added.

“Consumers look to marketplaces for the wide selection of products, safe, secure transactions, familiar, comfortable experience and fast, reliable shipping. Marketplaces have set a standard that many major retailers are now looking to replicate. As an e-commerce seller, your strategy must be finding the best environments for selling products across multiple marketplaces.”