Another trend that is increasingly important in 2016 are marketplaces. Third party e-commerce platforms provide opportunities to list products on a (foreign) market, without creating an entire web shop around it, ease the initial (language) difficulties and can help with customer service and shipping.  The biggest marketplaces in Europe are Amazon, Ebay, Allegro, Leboncoin and Cdiscount, the list of different platforms, however, seems sheer endless: Some are operated by an actual trader like Amazon, other simply function as an intermediary (like Ebay); Some are specifically designed to fit a niche, others offer anything there possibly is to buy.

While Amazon does not play a major role in the Dutch e-commerce (yet), it makes up big shares of multiple other European online markets. Spain, Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Holland’s neighbor Germany are big Amazon shoppers: up to 30 percent of all online purchases are made through the e-commerce magnate. You can buy almost anything there is to buy off the online shopping platform, from high end technical devices to cook books, travelling hammocks and mermaid costumes. And while the B2C offers make up a large share of the purchases, there is also an option for C2C and second hand trade.

What does this have to do with me, you might wonder… After all, Amazon is not really that big of a deal in the Netherlands, is it?

If you are considering selling your products outside of Holland and want to explore your options beyond your own online shop, you should maybe consider looking into Amazon as well.

While going on Amazon might not be the solution to all your problems, it is definitely worth considering, especially after having a quick look at the numbers: In Germany alone, Amazon’s revenue for 2015 was € 10.6 bn, with rising tendency. Search engine analyses show a shift in consumer behavior: an increasing number of users do not search for products on Google anymore, they directly search through e-commerce pages.

MPO is the new SEO

Competition for top results on marketplaces is fierce, and in order to be found by customers, brands need to put a little effort into their product listings. In fact, optimization for marketplaces can be just as important as optimizing for Google! Ranking factors and regulations might differ from platform to platform, but it is important to familiarize oneself with the specifics before complaining about not creating enough purchases through a marketplace.