Imagine you are looking for a new coat for spring, you urgently need new tires for your car or a book to read on the plane to your vacation destination. No matter what buying process you are in, you are surely are going to search online at least once for the product you want. And where do you end up? Most likely on large platforms such as Amazon, Zalando, eBay or another digital marketplace.
The offering of products in the online world is increasingly focused on these highly customer-centric platforms, where a wide variety of brands and even different product categories can be purchased with just a few clicks. Digital distribution through such marketplaces or retailer platforms has revolutionized the way companies market their products as they offer an effective way to reach a wider audience and increase sales.
But what requirements need to be met in order to start selling on marketplaces or retail platforms? What adjustments do companies need to make to get customers excited about their products? And what is really necessary to succeed on these platforms, no matter if you are a manufacturer or a retailer?
In this article we provide 3 tips on how your company can successfully sell products on marketplaces and third-party platforms.
Tip 1: Take extra care when choosing an online sales channel
Identifying suitable sales platforms for specific product categories or target areas can be challenging at times. International online giants such as Amazon or eBay are not necessarily the best choice to sell successfully in every market or product segment. High fees, strong competition, limited brand control, dependency and limited design options can make these platforms less attractive. Above all, ask yourself which product categories are best suited to which platforms. Depending on the industry, niche marketplaces can be a promising alternative to Amazon and the like.
Research and analyze the online shopping preferences of your potential customers in detail to find out which platforms they visit regularly. It is also important to adapt your product offers to the respective marketplaces in order to sell successfully.
You found the right platforms for selling your products? Start placing and continuously updating your products.
Tip 2: Feed management helps with automation
Optimized data management is crucial to ensure the quality, timeliness and accuracy of your product information on external channels. The classification of data helps to transform product data into a form that is relevant for customers and to make it available on various channels. Different platforms sometimes require customized product information that is stored, for example, in documents such as CSV or XML files or in your software systems such as PIM, ERP or CMS.
Attributes such as title, product name, description, price, category, availability, quantity and other important features are examples of frequently requested information. However, managing these different data attributes and updating them regularly for a variety of products can be complex and time-consuming. Companies with a multi-platform presence need to optimize product information for each channel. If specific requirements and guidelines are not met, manual management of product information can lead to problems. Additionally, with the growth of e-commerce business and the connection of multiple platforms, manual product feed management quickly becomes a time trap.
The use of classification systems (feed management tools) to automate and update product information offers a time-saving alternative. The automation of the data displayed on the platforms ensures that changes to prices, stock levels and product features are always up-to-date and correct. In this way, companies can operate more efficiently and reduce the risk of data issues or product listing rejections, ensure seamless integration and optimize product visibility in each online marketplace.
Tip 3: Targeted optimization of product listings/assortments
Automation is helpful, no doubt, but how do you ensure that the information you provide online is really relevant?
The solution: The targeted optimization of product listings or the optimized management of product ranges is crucial for maximizing the performance and visibility of products in the digital space. Data standardization plays a fundamental role here. It ensures that all product data is available in a standardized format, including names, descriptions, prices and other relevant attributes.
In technical terms, data standardization means that the structure of the data is organized consistently to enable seamless processing and interpretation by digital systems. However, optimization goes further, as it opens up technical possibilities to visually highlight products and present potential buyers with relevant information at first glance.
Specifically, the optimization can include various attributes of the product information provided. Some examples of potential optimization are
- Formulate product titles in the optimal length and meaningfulness.
- Choose helpful product images in the correct format.
- Use highlights and bullet points for a quicker overview.
- Optimize your product descriptions depending on the platform.
Bonus tip: Test the use of AI to improve your product texts. Artificial intelligence (AI) such as ChatGPT can generate content based on predefined attributes. These product descriptions serve as input to generate corresponding detailed product texts that can be used for article detail pages, for example, and help to improve SEO visibility.
The strategic use of data standardization and structured (AI-generated) data in product listings is therefore a key element for companies that want to strengthen their presence in the digital space. The technologies not only enable improved visibility, but also a targeted customer approach through innovative and appealing formulations in the search results.
But there's more! Holistically organized data and data standardization offer a multitude of work simplifications - not only when it comes to connecting new sales channels.
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