Sellers and suppliers optimize for growth
Pairing fast onboarding with a curated, customized approach
A simple onboarding process is key to operating an efficient multi-channel business. According to the analysis, businesses selling on a Mirakl-powered marketplace or dropship platform on average achieve their first sale just 23 days after beginning the onboarding process, with technical integration completed in as little as one day. For the fastest 25% of sellers, the average was just 4 days.
This rapid onboarding means that businesses operating platforms can connect suppliers with buyers faster. Snappy Gifts onboards dropship suppliers to its Mirakl-powered gifting platform in a matter of days, and has expanded its supplier base by 300% as a result. “On average, we’ve been able to reduce the onboarding time by 3X, getting partners live and accepting orders within two weeks; previously it was upwards of 1+ months,” shared Dvir Cohen, co-founder and CTO.
Just selling through marketplace and dropship platforms isn’t enough. Sellers have different strategies to grow, from the types of sites they sell on, the product assortment they list and how they market.
Roughly half of companies sell their full product assortment from their website on marketplaces, but others take a more nuanced approach. A quarter of sellers only sell a subset of their full product catalog on marketplaces, and 8% of sellers have no overlap at all between their marketplace and owned channels, according to the survey.
When we look at the 65,000+ experienced retailers, brands and marketplace-native sellers on Mirakl-powered marketplace and dropship platforms, 70% curate customized catalogs for each channel.
Merchants are selective about which marketplaces they choose to sell on, with 57% preferring generalist marketplaces (marketplaces that sell a wide range of products and categories) and 43% preferring curated marketplaces (marketplaces that specialize in specific categories).
Jade Hansen, Director of Operations at marketplace seller ClickHere2Shop, says that diversifying their channels has helped them grow. “Selling on the big digital-native marketplaces like Amazon is getting to be so competitive, it’s a breath of fresh air to have other channels available. While other marketplaces may not have as much traffic, we see sales almost instantaneously. Our margins are often better, and profitability is better as a result. We typically see anywhere from 2-5% higher profit in these cases."
While commission rates differ for each product category, the average commission fee on enterprise marketplaces was 14.1% in 2022.
Regardless of their preference, sellers prioritize website traffic, product categories, commission rates and the seller interface/ease of use as the most important factors when selecting new marketplace channels, according to Mirakl’s survey of 1,500 sellers.
U.S.-based multi-brand seller Resultco boosted growth by expanding beyond generalist marketplaces, adding 10+ curated marketplace channels in the U.S. and abroad through Mirakl Connect. As a result, the business has already achieved a 15% lift for its already-mature marketplace business, according to Brian Binno, Resultco vice president.
When asked about how they will grow their marketplace businesses over the next year, sellers plan to strengthen brand awareness through marketing, add new products to their existing marketplace channels, and sell on more marketplaces.
