Marketplace is offering an ecosystem of tech enablement that integrates sellers and customers. This system helps customers to feel more secure and smooth to shop online.  Whilst for brands, marketplace can become a channel for distribution and acquire new customers. Yet many brands still struggle how to find success in marketplace channel.

Learning from the experience, here, our shop manager, Irwan Kuswadi has compiled our best practices to activate brands in marketplace channel:

Thinking in a digital mindset

Digital transformation not only refers to IT infrastructure or technologies, beyond that it also transforms people and the way they approach business initiatives.

As Gartner research analyst, Aashish Gupta said, “The cultural aspect and the technology demand equal attention, because culture will form the backbone of all change initiatives for their digital business transformation. Staff trapped in a ‘fixed’ mindset may slow down or derail the digital business transformation initiatives of the company.”

In Jet Commerce, we have 3 pillars of best practices to help us embrace and shape the digital mindset. Those pillars are as below:

Mastering the essentials

When a brand decided to open a store in marketplace, they tend to focus on building store with advance features or throwing discount to attract customers. This is not wrong, but it is not entirely useful.

If a brand wants to be sustainable in the marketplace, we tell them to prioritize the basics. Basic ties the essential aspects that support online business to be more effective. These essential aspects are including but not limited to manpower, order fulfillment process, warehousing, third party logistics, payment system and stocks management. Synchronizing these aspects can build a solid background for brands to step up their level in the marketplace.

Understanding stages of e-commerce

As an e-commerce enabler company that has operated numerous brands’ official stores, we have been through countless business growth in the marketplace. From our experience, there are 3 stages of e-commerce that a brand needs to understand before opening their official store in the marketplace. These stages cover the brand’s journey in early, mature, and up to a sustainable level.

The first one is introduction stage. This is where a brand must prepare its basic elements to run an official store in marketplace with digital infrastructure, manpower and similar goals. The second stage is maturity, this stage is aiming for brand’s visibility in e-commerce platform through promotions, communications, and Unique Selling Point (USP). Whereas the last stage consists of tools mix and match, customer service and appreciation to form sustainability of a brand in marketplace.

Understanding these stages will help brand to identify the best approach and strategy to use at each stage.

When a brand puts all the keys together, the door to tools and methods to thrive in marketplace channels are being opened. Gaining success in marketplace channel is more than just boosting sales for now, the success of e-commerce business spurs in lasting growth that can be grown over a long-term strategy.

Also read:

#Part1, Persiapan Menyambut HARBOLNAS: Belajar dari Pemain e-Commerce Raksasa di China