We’ve seen a dash by businesses to set up e-marketplaces in recent periods and that’s no surprise given that a new study shows that “online marketplaces dominate almost every stage of UK shoppers’ purchase journey”.
Photo: Akeneo
That’s according to product experience specialist and product information management solutions provider Akeneo. It said its data shows marketplaces are key from “discovery and comparison through to purchase, reviews and even returns”.
For “high-value purchases” (over £90) UK shoppers “lean more heavily on marketplaces than any other digital or physical touchpoint”.
For instance, 24% most regularly use marketplaces for search and discovery; 26% for price and promotions comparisons; and 28% to compare or validate products.
Also, 26% use them most often to leave reviews while 21% get advice from other users via marketplaces (interestingly, they seek that advice via marketplaces more than they do social media).
And of course’s marketplaces are key for the actual purchase process. Some 30% of consumers most regularly use marketplaces to buy the product – ahead of stores and retailer sites — while 21% use marketplaces to initiate returns, second only to other routes (22%).
It’s particularly interesting that across the whole journey, “30% of UK consumers say they most often buy from online marketplaces, while just 6% most often buy from a brand’s own website”.
Amazon is perhaps the ‘ultimate’ marketplace with its business model having been founded on that concept. But other retailers have also cottoned on to their importance with big names such as Next, M&S and John Lewis having dived deep into marketplaces recently.
Boohoo/Debenhams Group is also embracing marketplaces for its basket of brands and the impressive recovery of the Debenhams business since Boohoo acquired it has been driven by a marketplace makeover.
“This peak season has confirmed what our research already shows; for UK shoppers, marketplaces are the default shop window, comparison engine, review hub and checkout,” said Romain Fouache, CEO at Akeneo. “If your product information and brand story do not show up clearly and consistently on marketplaces, you are invisible for a big share of high-value purchases. And in a world where AI agents and LLMs will increasingly replace search in guiding shoppers to the right products, being invisible on marketplaces means you may not exist at all for these new discovery engines.”
