Marketplaces
Is your business ready for another marketplace?
Check the catalogue, operating capacity and cost of a new channel before treating it as another source of sales.
2 minute read · Practical guide
The key decision: Use a small, representative launch to test the operating model before scaling the catalogue.
More on MarketplacesStart with eligibility and ownership
Choose the target country and marketplace. Check the official seller requirements for the actual business and product category. Assign responsibility for documentation and account tasks. Do not order stock or promise a launch date on the assumption that an application will be approved.
Build a channel cost sheet
Record product cost, channel charges, fulfilment, returns and promotional spend separately. Use current fees for the account and category rather than a rate copied from another seller. Make a base case and a less favourable case. A channel that adds revenue can still consume cash and operating time.
Check the catalogue before uploading it
Select representative products: a simple item, a product with variants and one with detailed specifications. Review identifiers, images, dimensions, claims and stock records. Record how errors will be corrected in the source data so the same problem is not uploaded again.
Assign the daily work
List the tasks that begin after launch: order checks, customer questions, listing errors, inventory updates, returns and settlement review. Give each one an owner, a backup and a way to escalate. A new marketplace should not depend on one person remembering to check another dashboard.
Decide what the pilot must prove
Choose a limited catalogue and review the whole order journey. Check whether the team can keep stock accurate, meet the agreed dispatch process and explain the contribution result. Expand only after repeated exceptions have a workable resolution. Keep customer and account data in the systems approved for that purpose.