What are marketplaces?

Marketplaces. They are so familiar, but on the other hand a little unfamiliar at the same time. I will open up the marketplaces a little more in this blog, because I dare say that we use them almost every day for different purposes and therefore it’s good to know what they really are.

In history, trade was physically made only in a few and selected places due to transport links and other factors. In these days, trading can take place almost anywhere and anytime. How great is that? Trading and many other fields are constantly evolving these days and as we’ve seen it in history, it can happen really fast. From a business perspective, it is therefore very important to be aware of permanent changes.

In a nutshell, online marketplaces are a type of e-commerce websites where multiple third parties provide products and services for sale, all on one website. Marketplace operator processes consumer transactions and then they will be delivered and fulfilled by the retailers or wholesalers. More than 60% of online sales take place in marketplaces and due to the large product ranges, they attract a huge amount of people every day and therefore are very effective solutions for selling goods online.

So far, selling on marketplaces is still relatively low in the Nordic countries compared to the world’s largest economies, such as U.S. or Asia. Therefore, especially here in the Nordic countries, there is a great opportunity to take advantage of the visibility and demand offered by marketplaces before its popularity explodes here too.

I think that the main reason for low use may be that the transition to large marketplaces is perceived to be much more difficult than it actually is. For example, you can read from the news that Amazon or other major marketplaces are taking over markets in new countries. Well, this is partly true, but above all this should be seen as an opportunity, not a threat. The arrival of well-known marketplaces in new countries also opens up opportunities for companies and brands to increase their sales and visibility worldwide, so why not take advantage of it?

Many things are perceived as a threat in life, although they can also be very useful. At the end of the day, everything depends on the human perspective on things. However, the fact is that marketplaces have come here to stay and Xales is the easiest way to get there.

Best, Teemu