Why analyze competitors on marketplaces and how to do it?
What sales metrics should you pay special attention to and why?
How to apply the obtained results to your business and its promotion?
Olga Bogdanova, head of the marketplace unit at Completo , answered all questions .
Marketplaces as your Analysis of competitors potential growth point
Over the past year, domestic marketplaces sales marketing directors, managers email lists have shown steady growth: the total volume of spending on the platforms in 2023 is almost 1.5 times more than in 2022. The most popular platform in terms of turnover and number of purchases made is Wildberries, in second place is Ozon. These two marketplaces account for 86% of sales (in rubles).
Yes, the pace of their development is not as incredible as it was a couple of years ago, but trading platforms have occupied their niche.
Besides this,
-
- marketplaces do not displace the google tag manager simplifies rest of the market, the main growth of their sales is the flow from offline. Why buyers prefer online shopping is obvious;
- small and medium-sized non-specialized players become sellers on marketplaces. Whether they trade successfully or not is another story;
non-specialized online stores are losing traffic on their websites while building up their expertise and sales on marketplaces;
- Brand stores maintain their positions due to the uniqueness of their products and high brand demand.
Along with omnichannel retailers and brand stores, marketplaces are one of the main channels for making purchases.
This means that in the current reality, it is simply necessary to consider them as a possible point of business growth.
Let’s make a reservation: we are talking about gambling data a business with the prospect of long-term operation, and not about “entrepreneurs” who dream of implementing the “buy for 200, sell for 500” scheme on marketplaces.
Why analyze competitors on trading platforms
First of all, it is necessary to understand that marketplaces are a space:
-
- where everything is in plain sight . As a buyer, you enter the site and see all available ads, product reviews and the seller’s reaction to them;
- extremely sensitive to trends and changes in user preferences;
The screenshot below shows the dynamics of demand for the book “The Master and Margarita” immediately after the premiere of its film adaptation in cinemas. The information field that accompanied the film generated a surge of interest in the original.
After identifying the audience’s initial interest, sellers had six months to prepare for the main wave of sales. Those who did, thanks to one book in February 2024, increased their sales.
This is a clear example of how a trend influences users and motivates them to make a purchase, and how important it is for a seller to track trends related to their niche and take advantage of them in a timely manner.
Image from the author’s archive
- with high and sometimes senseless competition. According to a study by the MPGO service together with Modulbank and the analytical service for marketplaces Shopstat, only about 18% of sellers on Wildberries have a turnover of over 1 million rubles , on Ozon even less – only 13.05%. All the rest sell for the sake of sales, take up places in the search results, including advertising, “inflate” advertising rates.
