Pandemic or no pandemic, the popularity of ecommerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart has become so widespread, it has permeated all corners and regions of the country. In fact, for many Indian consumers today, these online marketplaces have become their go-to destination for retail. And as they get more comfortable with the process, they expect more.
Streamlined and personalized customer experiences are the norm today. Needless to say, this rapid adoption of ecommerce means that your business should work even harder to beat the competition and capture more market share. Perhaps one of the most important steps you should take now is revisit and refresh your online marketplace management strategies.
To the layman, an ecommerce marketplace looks like a neatly arranged virtual storefront with an endless array of products, but the reality is very different. For a marketplace to provide outstanding user experience, you have to understand and utilize the unimaginably intricate network of elements and algorithms it is built on. This endeavor becomes all the more complicated if you’re taking on omnichannel marketplace management, which is the more probable case for your business.
That’s why we’ve put together a few strategies and management practices to help you make the best of these ecommerce platforms and push your business to the next level. But first, let’s explore some common challenges in marketplace management that you may have faced.
Challenges
- Customizing online marketplace listing and rankings
Different marketplaces have unique ways to categorize, organize, and rank products. So it is vital that you tweak your content based on where you’re selling and not limit yourself to a hyper focused understanding of a marketplace. What works on Amazon may not work on Flipkart or another platform.
- Inefficient and redundant activities
A common challenge businesses listed on multiple marketplaces face is the tedious job of keying in and editing product information over and over again. If you sell multiple products across multiple platforms, this job is not only tedious and time consuming, but also increases chances of human error and burnout.
- Inventory mismanagement
It’s quite difficult to have a perfect grasp over inventory. Many businesses are prone to overstocking, overselling, incorrect demand forecasting, and a host of other inefficiencies. And when there are multiple channels involved, this problem can become inflated.
- Updates or changes in algorithms
To improve customer experience, marketplaces are always updating their algorithms as well as listing requirements. If you’re not equipped with a scalable, efficient solution to make necessary changes to your online marketplace listings, it could affect your bottom line from time to time.
Opportunities for change
- Standardize your listings and SKUs
Defining a specific format for your SKU codes and product listings will make it easier for your team to track, use, and reference when managing inventory. Make sure to include essential details such as style, size, color, ingredients, or any other attributes that your customers are most likely to care about. While you’re at it, you should also consider standardizing product titles, descriptions, and other necessary details in your online marketplace listing.
- Invest in inventory management software
If your inventory isn’t managed efficiently, you could lose out on many sales – be it because of unavailability, long delivery times, supply chain issues, etc. To avoid these issues, it’s smart to equip your business with an efficient software that can keep track of all your products, update you when you’re running low or when your products are reaching their expiry date, and optimize inventory restocking by detecting purchase patterns, identifying top-selling products.
- Centralize your product catalog
It’s easier to manage your listings if all your product data is centralized to a single location. This is especially useful if you’re listed on multiple marketplaces. In addition to serving as a point of reference for your team, it will also minimize other inefficiencies such as logging into marketplaces individually or updating information. Centralizing your catalog will also help you manage inventory, analytics and reporting, and other essential functions from the same place.
- Get expert marketplace management services
As a busy business owner and growing team, you may not always have the time to analyze your business decisions and study the data holistically. In such cases, it may be wise to partner with an expert, like Tenovia. Our marketplace management team will help you prioritize actions based on data analytics and show you how you can create the right organizational structure within your ecommerce vertical, what processes you need to maximize operational efficiency, and how you can optimize inventory, pricing, and other sales strategies.
Ready to take your online marketplace management game to the next level? Get in touch with us and we’ll show you how our end-to-end marketplace management services will help you achieve your goals on India’s biggest marketplaces!