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Marketplace - one space, many countries, many e‑shops and many customers

28. 04. 2022 | Adéla Berková

Most of the money in e-commerce flows through marketplaces. Customers spend nearly two-thirds of their entire online spending here. In 2022, global sales are estimated to be $3.8 trillion. Marketplaces are a phenomenon not only of today, but also of the future. In short, the future of e-commerce lies in bringing together and connecting small online retailers in one place, providing them with facilities and promoting their visibility within the online space.  

A convenient customer experience and all in one place

Simplicity and convenience - the basic benefits that the twenty-first century customer seeks and demands. That’s why marketplaces are so popular. Navigating a marketplace is very simple and intuitive for the customer. A single user account in which the customer’s essential order details - address, contact and bank details - are securely stored.

Marketplaces are very successful even in Central and Eastern Europe. Apart from the advantages mentioned above, another factor plays an important role in the Czech Republic - big players that previously operated only as e‑shops have transformed into marketplaces. People are used to shopping there, even when they are just a “pure e‑shop”. For the e‑shops themselves, this naturally carries many advantages, from scaling the offer to zero storage issues.

At Heureka, we’ve been offering e‑shops the ability to sell via the marketplace since 2012, back then still under the name Heureka Cart. Today, we operate as Heureka Marketplace not only in the Czech Republic, but also in Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.

Saved money, time and security

A wide range of products all in one place. One user profile where all of the customer’s essential data are securely stored. Important factors for customers that encourage them to use the marketplace - simplicity, convenience, time and money savings and secure shopping. At least that’s what we determined in a survey on Marketplace Shopping conducted in January 2022 among 1,200 Heureka Group users across the countries where the Group operates.

One postage rate even when buying products from multiple retailers is the most tempting way for customers to save money. Furthermore, customers expect and want to be able to return purchased products for free. Simplicity and the ability to make a purchase in two clicks would be appreciated by half of the survey respondents. Verified e‑shops and the associated security of shopping is important to almost half of the respondents.

The results may vary in minor nuances from country to country. However, the survey clearly shows that one common factor is most important to shoppers across the countries - saving money.

Markeptlace Survey: What customers need?

A victory for e‑shops: customers all in one place

E‑shops want to be wherever customers go to shop. Joining a marketplace is a relatively easy opportunity for them to reach a large number of customers in one place. Moreover, with a Marketplace login, the number of moments during which they can lose customers is reduced. Finding an item, adding it to the cart, entering their details, choosing delivery, finding their wallet and credit card, entering payment details, confirming and agreeing to terms and conditions - these are all individual moments during which a customer may decide not to purchase.

What other assistance do e‑shops expect from marketplaces and what are their hopes? Heureka asked e‑shops about this in its January survey as well.

More than half of the e‑shops surveyed (across the countries where Heureka Group operates) would welcome the opportunity to focus more on cross-border sales, i.e. opportunities to offer goods across borders, but ideally without having to localise services to the given market. They are also very interested (almost half of them) in data reports and detailed statistics from individual markets to help them better analyse and set targets and campaigns.

What merchants need help with? Marketplace Survey

Unifying the individual comparison sites into a single platform and migrating to a single Heureka Marketplace is now our top priority. This is so that customers in each country (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina) can shop across all our countries. Soon, e‑shops will be able to show their offer to the 23 million users who visit our websites every month with just a few clicks, without the need for localisation.

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