Does the business enter the marketplace on its own? 7 insights that will save time and money
In 2020, Cuore became one of those who quickly jumped on the wave of marketplaces: first with antiseptics, then with maternity products, and later with Korean cosmetics. In addition to producing its own products (now there are more than 10 brands), the company also represents well-known Korean brands. New Business Director Cuore Nikolay Novoselov shared life hacks that will help brands enter the marketplace without excessive costs.
Sometimes it seems that there are many brands on the marketplaces that are offline, but in fact this is not the case: the transformation process has not yet been completed (if compared with the American or Chinese market).
The fact is that a significant part of brands have some problems with independent access to marketplaces.
And, as communication with a large number of representatives showed, the main barrier was that marketplaces do not work according to the rules that are familiar to offline brands. Most of them are used to working according to the rule: "We take the final seller or supplier to the warehouse, (sometimes) we buy a shelf, and selling is not our task."
The marketplace also requires getting one step closer to customers. Regulate the supply, monitor competitors, ensure the quality of each unit of goods, answer customer complaints and questions. And most often brands have no experience of such interaction. Not because they are "bad", but because their sales model had not previously assumed the presence of such tasks and such experts.
For those who want to go to marketplaces with a ready-made product, we have developed this guide.
It will help answer the question of what a brand needs to enter the marketplace and become a winner and what makes up the concept of "one step closer to customers".
Some brands even provide special dispenser boxes that can be put on the shelf in a second (remember chocolates or marmalades at the checkout. This is due to the fact that updating on the shelf can occur even when there are customers in the trading floor. Therefore, the product must be ready for sale without unnecessary operations on them and look perfect.
The fact is that a significant part of brands have some problems with independent access to marketplaces.
And, as communication with a large number of representatives showed, the main barrier was that marketplaces do not work according to the rules that are familiar to offline brands. Most of them are used to working according to the rule: "We take the final seller or supplier to the warehouse, (sometimes) we buy a shelf, and selling is not our task."
The marketplace also requires getting one step closer to customers. Regulate the supply, monitor competitors, ensure the quality of each unit of goods, answer customer complaints and questions. And most often brands have no experience of such interaction. Not because they are "bad", but because their sales model had not previously assumed the presence of such tasks and such experts.
For those who want to go to marketplaces with a ready-made product, we have developed this guide.
It will help answer the question of what a brand needs to enter the marketplace and become a winner and what makes up the concept of "one step closer to customers".
1. Packaging and goods that are already ready for the flight to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (in a bag)
Usually, working with offline retail involves the delivery of goods in a form that is ready to be quickly put on the shelf without an extra mountain of garbage in the form of packaging.Some brands even provide special dispenser boxes that can be put on the shelf in a second (remember chocolates or marmalades at the checkout. This is due to the fact that updating on the shelf can occur even when there are customers in the trading floor. Therefore, the product must be ready for sale without unnecessary operations on them and look perfect.
“
The product for the marketplace must be ready for the fact that it will fly in a bag to Sakhalin 10 seconds after sorting: this is not a figure of speech.
Armor-piercing packaging, which, most importantly, will not allow you to spoil the rest of the things in this bag in case of damage to the goods. Imagine a broken jar of cherry jam in a pile of expensive tablecloths.
Therefore, working with the marketplace involves investing in a specialized packaging infrastructure and a staff of specially trained people. Moreover, the rules change from time to time: they need to be carefully monitored and the packaging line updated.
Therefore, working with the marketplace involves investing in a specialized packaging infrastructure and a staff of specially trained people. Moreover, the rules change from time to time: they need to be carefully monitored and the packaging line updated.
2. Work without "your manager" and without a student with leaflets
Brands get used to the fact that on the side of the retailer (seller) there is someone who can be influenced and who can be interested in selling their goods. Or, as a maximum, put your person in a branded T-shirt.
The marketplace is a zone where the brand itself creates a virtual shelf and is responsible for it. No one will correct the layout, will not tell the customer the composition, will not make a special promotion and will not even write off the goods just like that. Moreover, the degree of impact is more or less the same for everyone, no one has significant advantages.
At many stages of working with marketplaces, it is necessary to make decisions and take responsibility for the result: this requires the extreme involvement and attentiveness of top management or another employee who has such skills.
In certain cases, it makes sense to work through a specialized agent company that has experience in this field and has been through all this repeatedly. And which already has those who will change prices at night.
3. Product centric marketing
There is practically no classical marketing on marketplaces. In fact, there is a real-time struggle for traffic on the sites (through product placements in the search results).
Contrary to popular belief, it does not make sense to cheat or buy reviews on marketplaces — this has long been visible to both the marketplace and customers. Based on our experience, it can be noted that the price, the card and the "set" of one product are important.
Moreover, these parameters are important both in dynamics and in strategy: when to change the appearance, when to adjust the price or include a discount. This is a daily, meticulous job (usually late at night).
What is really important is to be able to "feel" traffic and evaluate it according to certain parameters. It is important to be able to determine who your customers are, how they act, what region they are from, what they are looking for. What they can be caught on and what is the "trigger" for them to make a purchase.
4. Absolute competition
Online sales are a place of freedom and a completely different level of competition compared to offline. In classical trading, it is difficult to imagine how a competitor copies the design and is located close to the original product (unless, of course, it is a fake brand made by the seller himself).
Online is a part of the strategy that you need to work with regularly. What to do when there is an absolute analogue of it next to the product, but at the same time its price is half as much?
Moreover, almost any self-employed person can enter the market with a similar product: to do this, he just needs to purchase the product, pack it and create a card.
5. No margin for error
Online unites the product with the community of buyers with the help of reviews and ratings. User opinions become part of its packaging.
Taking into account the opinions of other users, even the algorithm of actions changes for some customers: people choose starting from studying reviews, and not from getting acquainted with the product and its additional characteristics. Why read into the latter, if Alyona from St. Petersburg and Marusya from Moscow have already criticized the product?
In the case of a direct online sale (or offline sale), the user must make an effort to extract an independent, honest opinion for himself. It is possible to compare products, check them for originality and quality on the marketplace, just by scrolling through the page a little.
With this maneuver, the client will quickly get acquainted with the reviews and feel the so-called "honesty effect".
It is these manipulations that deprive the manufacturer of the right to make a mistake: any of them will be immortalized in the reviews. Until the end of the shelf life of the product there are 2 years out of 3 = negative. The integrity of the box is broken = negative. The product is dented = negative.
That is why the marketplace provider must think through every step. For example, the current packaging for our antiseptic was recycled about six times: somewhere there were too tightly twisted lids, somewhere bottles were scratched or broke through during delivery to the pick-up point. Every little thing significantly influenced the demand.
6. The product is more important than the packaging
At first glance, it sounds crazy, but professionals know that packaging plays a key role in offline sales. Why should "conditional" packaging be given much more attention than the product? First of all, in order to make it look more profitable on the shelf.
Brands get used to the fact that on the side of the retailer (seller) there is someone who can be influenced and who can be interested in selling their goods. Or, as a maximum, put your person in a branded T-shirt.
The marketplace is a zone where the brand itself creates a virtual shelf and is responsible for it. No one will correct the layout, will not tell the customer the composition, will not make a special promotion and will not even write off the goods just like that. Moreover, the degree of impact is more or less the same for everyone, no one has significant advantages.
At many stages of working with marketplaces, it is necessary to make decisions and take responsibility for the result: this requires the extreme involvement and attentiveness of top management or another employee who has such skills.
In certain cases, it makes sense to work through a specialized agent company that has experience in this field and has been through all this repeatedly. And which already has those who will change prices at night.
3. Product centric marketing
There is practically no classical marketing on marketplaces. In fact, there is a real-time struggle for traffic on the sites (through product placements in the search results).
Contrary to popular belief, it does not make sense to cheat or buy reviews on marketplaces — this has long been visible to both the marketplace and customers. Based on our experience, it can be noted that the price, the card and the "set" of one product are important.
Moreover, these parameters are important both in dynamics and in strategy: when to change the appearance, when to adjust the price or include a discount. This is a daily, meticulous job (usually late at night).
What is really important is to be able to "feel" traffic and evaluate it according to certain parameters. It is important to be able to determine who your customers are, how they act, what region they are from, what they are looking for. What they can be caught on and what is the "trigger" for them to make a purchase.
4. Absolute competition
Online sales are a place of freedom and a completely different level of competition compared to offline. In classical trading, it is difficult to imagine how a competitor copies the design and is located close to the original product (unless, of course, it is a fake brand made by the seller himself).
Online is a part of the strategy that you need to work with regularly. What to do when there is an absolute analogue of it next to the product, but at the same time its price is half as much?
Moreover, almost any self-employed person can enter the market with a similar product: to do this, he just needs to purchase the product, pack it and create a card.
5. No margin for error
Online unites the product with the community of buyers with the help of reviews and ratings. User opinions become part of its packaging.
Taking into account the opinions of other users, even the algorithm of actions changes for some customers: people choose starting from studying reviews, and not from getting acquainted with the product and its additional characteristics. Why read into the latter, if Alyona from St. Petersburg and Marusya from Moscow have already criticized the product?
In the case of a direct online sale (or offline sale), the user must make an effort to extract an independent, honest opinion for himself. It is possible to compare products, check them for originality and quality on the marketplace, just by scrolling through the page a little.
With this maneuver, the client will quickly get acquainted with the reviews and feel the so-called "honesty effect".
It is these manipulations that deprive the manufacturer of the right to make a mistake: any of them will be immortalized in the reviews. Until the end of the shelf life of the product there are 2 years out of 3 = negative. The integrity of the box is broken = negative. The product is dented = negative.
That is why the marketplace provider must think through every step. For example, the current packaging for our antiseptic was recycled about six times: somewhere there were too tightly twisted lids, somewhere bottles were scratched or broke through during delivery to the pick-up point. Every little thing significantly influenced the demand.
6. The product is more important than the packaging
At first glance, it sounds crazy, but professionals know that packaging plays a key role in offline sales. Why should "conditional" packaging be given much more attention than the product? First of all, in order to make it look more profitable on the shelf.
“
Why does packaging cost more than the product? Because it is she who "closes" the customer to purchase.
And in general, how the buyer will continue to interact with the product is not so important: even the appearance of an obvious negative will not stop the customer from re-buying! After all, negative emotions pass, and a beautiful box will again please the eye and warm your hands.
Regarding marketplaces, this strategy is a losing one: customers will quickly "kill" such a product with negative reviews, and everyone will switch to a competitor with a similar product, but a more favorable offer.
In this case, the goods in which the essence is more important than the details begin to win, and packaging is just an element of logistics. That is why one of the main formats has become a doy-pack - a convenient volumetric package with excellent protective properties and a reusable hermetic lock. It perfectly preserves the integrity of the goods and delivery to the customer is carried out without any problems and damage.
7. The actual absence of forecasts
From the point of view of the cost of selling one unit of goods, marketplaces are cheaper offline, but only in the "usual time" and in the "usual case".
In addition, as in standard sales, refunds, marketing activities, etc. are carried out at the expense of the supplier. Difficulties with deliveries are risks for the seller. Each item also has an effective discount.
The only difference in costs is the cost of maintaining sales. In all offline sales, (for most products) a transparent model: invested in a "shelf", invested in "pedestrians", accustomed the client — and the business is automated and even predictable.
Online - the battle for the "shelf" does not stop for a minute. Already tomorrow, several "cheap" competitors can displace rivals from top positions and take the lion's share of sales in the segment. In response to such actions, you will have to reduce the cost and sell the product with zero profit in order to return to the "top sales" one day. And the most difficult thing is that such a swing can go on indefinitely.
On online platforms, you have to compete all the time, then losing, then gaining customers. Therefore, it is not necessary to dream about any prediction of sales and even more so of profit.
Nevertheless, such top brands as Lovular, Synergetic, Pampers on marketplaces already earn more than 1 billion a year according to the MPStats sales analytics service.
On the one hand, it always seems that it's too late, but in fact - you can always start at any time. Soon enough, marketplaces will take a significant share in sales due to affordable product-centric offers and a different understanding of impulsive purchases due to insane convenience and a huge number of entrepreneurs who will promote this segment.
Many more will have time to earn their million with marketplaces!
Regarding marketplaces, this strategy is a losing one: customers will quickly "kill" such a product with negative reviews, and everyone will switch to a competitor with a similar product, but a more favorable offer.
In this case, the goods in which the essence is more important than the details begin to win, and packaging is just an element of logistics. That is why one of the main formats has become a doy-pack - a convenient volumetric package with excellent protective properties and a reusable hermetic lock. It perfectly preserves the integrity of the goods and delivery to the customer is carried out without any problems and damage.
7. The actual absence of forecasts
From the point of view of the cost of selling one unit of goods, marketplaces are cheaper offline, but only in the "usual time" and in the "usual case".
In addition, as in standard sales, refunds, marketing activities, etc. are carried out at the expense of the supplier. Difficulties with deliveries are risks for the seller. Each item also has an effective discount.
The only difference in costs is the cost of maintaining sales. In all offline sales, (for most products) a transparent model: invested in a "shelf", invested in "pedestrians", accustomed the client — and the business is automated and even predictable.
Online - the battle for the "shelf" does not stop for a minute. Already tomorrow, several "cheap" competitors can displace rivals from top positions and take the lion's share of sales in the segment. In response to such actions, you will have to reduce the cost and sell the product with zero profit in order to return to the "top sales" one day. And the most difficult thing is that such a swing can go on indefinitely.
On online platforms, you have to compete all the time, then losing, then gaining customers. Therefore, it is not necessary to dream about any prediction of sales and even more so of profit.
Nevertheless, such top brands as Lovular, Synergetic, Pampers on marketplaces already earn more than 1 billion a year according to the MPStats sales analytics service.
On the one hand, it always seems that it's too late, but in fact - you can always start at any time. Soon enough, marketplaces will take a significant share in sales due to affordable product-centric offers and a different understanding of impulsive purchases due to insane convenience and a huge number of entrepreneurs who will promote this segment.
Many more will have time to earn their million with marketplaces!
