Making use of online marketplaces

If you’d like to expand your business by selling to consumers overseas, but are worried this may be complicated, an online marketplace could be a good solution. Because simply listing your products on these sites could put them in front of shoppers worldwide, using the likes of eBay, Amazon, T-Mall or OnBuy to sell your wares may help you turn your small business into a global eCommerce operation with minimal effort and risk.

Here are a few of the benefits.

Reach a wider audience

Marketplaces tend to rank highly in search engines, so customers will be able to find the site – and potentially what you’re selling – more easily. Aside from the possible search benefits, they also have a vast number of users that you may be able to tap into. Amazon Marketplace alone, for example, has more than 130 million customers across the globe – all of whom can view your listings.

Minimise costs

While most online marketplaces charge a monthly subscription fee for listing unlimited items, this will most likely be considerably cheaper than setting up and running your own eCommerce site. This means it’s a great solution for those who are on a tight budget (or not interested in getting to grips with any of the technicalities of setting up their own eCommerce store).

Boost your credibility

Overseas audiences may be sceptical of a new, foreign business, but many online marketplaces are household names in a number of countries, so using those can help to give you credibility. Building up your profile with small purchases and sales will also show buyers that they can trust you. These marketplaces also tend to offer secure payment systems and fraud protection, which help to put buyers at ease.

Make things easy for shoppers

Customers return to online marketplaces because they are so simple to use. You can compare prices and check stock levels with a few clicks, and checkout processes are simple and secure, reducing the risk of abandoned carts.

Stay ahead

You can learn a lot from what other businesses are doing. Marketplaces are perfect for checking out the competition, and mean you can monitor what other businesses are selling, how much they’re charging and how they’re marketing themselves.