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As e-commerce become more complex, e‑marketplaces become more interesting

 

E‑marketplaces offer customers more choice, and sellers wider access to customers with many outsourced services that it would otherwise be very complex, time consuming and expensive to develop

 

Amazon is the new “Gold-Standard” e‑marketplace, with a incredible market share of 38% of all e-commerce transactions in the USA in 2022

we work with

any person, business or organisation that wants to sell or market effectively in today’s multi-channel environment

Retailers (B2C)

that need to sell in an increasingly connected and competitive environment

In addition to an online store, we develop and enhance your multi-channel presence, delivery and supply chain

Wholesalers (B2B)

develop cost-effective sales channels to reach retailers in different markets worldwide

Post-pandemic more wholesale business is moving on-line, driven by lower costs and greater efficacy

Brands (B2B2C)

a website and instagram are only the beginning of a marketing strategy

We develop the widest commercial vision: then work with brands to improve reach and profitability

Virtual Events and Conferenced

Respond to lower physical mobility, benefit by engaging a wider audience

Bring people together, engage them, make interact easy and increase resonance of their contributions

Digital Transformation

Deploy a cohesive platform to serve cross functional business requirements

Scale business, reach more people worldwide, reduce costs and increasing customer satisfaction

e-Marketplace Operators

Find new was to be competitive: feasibility, PoC, implement and improve

If you operate an e‑marketplace, or if you are considering setting one up, we really should be talking!

hearts & minds

we combine functional and stylish experiences that capture users’ hearts and minds

know how

we make a plan, deploy skills with project management, measure and refine

Branding and Design

Branding is not simply about making something look attractive, but is the key to effectively communicating with customers in a target market group. Getting this right ensures consistency and integrity and builds confidence, value and trust.

“Design is the silent ambassador of your brand.” – Paul Rand

e‑Commerce

We have a depth of experience in the following platforms and in many other niche systems for specific purposes:

  • Shopify
  • WooCommerce (WordPress)
  • Magento
  • PrestaShop
  • Microsoft .NET

Our broad experience enables us to be truly platform agnostic, which is a necessary approach as most solutions are much wider than a core e-commerce platform, encompassing links and integration to a range of processes and technologies. Time and again we see cases where technology is deployed, either on the basis of a narrow range of product features, or worse still because the technology partner only has skills in a particular e-commerce platform and always proposes the same thing based on what they can deliver, rather than on what is best for their clients.

We implement sites for business-to-consumer B2C and business-to-business B2B. Automating B2B is often a great way of reducing costs, increasing customer satisfaction and scaling a business, particularly in a the context of Covid-19.

e-Marketplaces

We are experts in e-marketplaces, having created, managed and consulted on e-marketplaces since 2015. The major benefit for sellers is exposure to many new clients, and correspondingly for buyers there is a tremendous opportunity to find new products or service providers: and all participants realise gains from aggregation, economies of scale and a more integrated supply chain.

We work with publishers, trade-shows and other website owners to analyse and develop the business model and then to implement and operate e-marketplaces worldwide.

As if any proof of the power of the e-marketplace phenomena were need, look no further than Alibaba’s “Singles Day” which happens each year on 11th November (11/11). On Singles Day in 2019 Alibaba sold $38.4 billion, netting the first $1 billion in sales in 68 seconds and first $10 billion in half an hour. Fashion and electronics were amongst the most sold items.

Virtual trade shows and events

The virtualisation of many trade shows and events has been made necessary to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Some trade shows and events have been cancelled, whereas others are going ahead with a realisation that there will be many less physical attendees. However, necessity is the mother of invention, and often what starts off as a problem inspires a set of solutions that strengthens the initial proposition. The virtualisation of any particular trade shows or events is a clear case, where we can make it accessible to more attendees and add new commercial aspects.

In order to realise the most gains from virtualisation, E-Marketplace.com starts with a platform agnostic approach, where we explore what the best possible virtual event or trade show will consist of. Then we fit the technology to the business plan, rather than vice versa.

Customer engagement, retention and conversion

Most people are familiar with SEO and paid advertising as means of attracting visitors. However, the vital aspects of maximising visitor engagement and conversions are often not given anything like the attention they deserve, leading to enormous scope for achieving much better results.

If you have a website that looks great, but is not performing well, these are key areas to investigate. There are a number of tools that can be deployed relatively fast and inexpensively to realise significant improvements in how long visitors stay on your website, how often they return and how much they convert into revenue, whether this is buying a product of signing up for a service.

Social Media

Social media is easy to do badly or without achieving any demonstrable results. E-Marketplace can create and manage effective campaigns or equip users with the tools to do this for themselves.

Photography, illustration and video production

We have our own in-house studio and a team of designers waiting for your creative brief, and we are experienced at finding and engaging the best freelance photographers, videographers, models, animators, illustrators and creative talent worldwide. This includes usage rights and copyright clearance.

Point-of-sale integration and stock control

Point-of-sale integration is a necessary element of stock control and financial management, and when selling from multiple devices and places at the speed of light, stock control becomes vital.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, recognises that Apple’s inventory loses 1 – 2 % in value each week – yet another reason why the Apple metaphor is so illustrative.

“… inventory is fundamentally evil… You kind of want to manage it like you’re in the dairy business. If it gets past its freshness date, you have a problem. – Tim Cook

Supporting a network of Sales Agents

Selling through agents has traditionally been one of the most significant ways of scaling B2B wholesale without incurring the direct costs of managing a sales force. However, the downside of selling through agents is the high administrative burden and lack of visibility or control.

E-Marketplace combines process improvements with practical strategies for extending agency networks and sales, both of which can yield a rapid increase in B2B orders.

Multi-channel marketing

Multi-channel marketing builds lead generation to effectively “feed” the sales process. E-Marketplace has many ways to give visitors a seamless experience across all customer channels and touchpoints, including multiple websites, social media, web chat, by email and through mobile phones.

Many visitors can be identified, either personally or by the company they work for, and we can score each one based of their profile and actions, to determine who are the most likely to convert and how best to nurture them individually. All interactions are managed in a manner that is fully compliant with the GDPR and other data protection legislation applicable in different territories worldwide.

Sales team management and CRM

“Effectiveness” and “Visibility” are two of the benchmarks we use when looking at how the management of a sales team can be improved. Two of the major buzz words or acronyms are Sales Force Automation (SFA) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and once-upon-a-time most companies would satisfy themselves that it was enough to implement well known systems and leave managers and employees to cope with their shortfalls. The systems available now have undergone enormous evolution over recent years, and some of the defining characteristics are simplicity, ease of operation and adaptability.

We deploy a number of sales methodologies and we develop and refine sales processes and stages as a consistent way of creating measurable and sustainable improvement and scaling a business.

Analytics, big data and artificial intelligence

As the haystack grows, searching for a needle becomes more complex. At the same time analytics software is becoming easier to use and more affordable, with much of it being automated in the form of artificial intelligence or AI. These solutions can be very specific and incredibly inexpensive to implement, often with a demonstrably fast return on investment.

your digital partner

There are many clever coders, an abundance of cool graphic designers, new apps appear daily, marketeers fill our eyes and ears and it is now expensive and requires an expert to be effective using social media. Each one tells you their skills are a vital component of your digital presence. However, when questioned, they will probably agree that none of these is a panacea, and each component needs to be justified in terms of how they increase revenue, reduce costs and improve efficiency, or against other key metrics.

To be useful all of the vital component parts of a digital solution need to be made to work together as part of a larger plan.

Because all merchants have their own unique qualities and are at different stages, we offer a free initial discussion: we begin to understand your business dynamics; and review your multi-channel sales strategy, including your own e-commerce website and how you engage with consumers, agents and niche or global e-marketplaces.

we Research

new technologies, integration and digital transformation, people, process, buyers, sellers and e-marketplace operators worldwide

we Create

carefully crafted digital content, systems and methods that represent and serve our customers in the best possible way

we Engage

working out who to attract and how best to stimulate and excite them, following through to maximise retention and conversions

partnership models

broadly there are three ways we can work together

Tools

deploying the most innovative and evolutionary technologies

Services

insightful and proven expertise delivering real improvements

Projects

we take on overall responsibility for getting something done

Ask

ask for a quote

send a specification

raise specific questions

Meet

book a meeting

discuss ideas

brainstorm challenges