There’s good reason that online marketplaces are increasingly ubiquitous: They are where consumers are shopping.

97% of U.S. consumers who shop online have made a purchase on an online marketplace, a dramatic jump from 85% in 2016, according to a 2017 global study by UPS Inc. and comScore Inc. The study evaluated the consumer shopping habits of more than 18,000 online shoppers worldwide last year. Of those U.S. marketplace shoppers, 90% of those surveyed shop on Amazon, up from 70% the previous year.

Across the globe, online marketplaces play an even more prominent role. 99% of shoppers in Mexico and 98% of online shoppers in Asia have made an online marketplace purchase, along with 96% of shoppers in Canada and Europe, according to the 2018 edition of the global study.

As the percentage of consumers shopping on online marketplaces rises, the platforms are increasingly where those shoppers look first when they look to buy online. For example, a March survey of 1,082 U.S. online shoppers by Internet Retailer and Bizrate Insights asked consumers the first and second shopping sites or apps they visit, and seven marketplaces operators (Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Etsy, Wish, Facebook and Newegg) were among the top results. Amazon is the first site or app that 54% of consumers visit, followed by Google (15%) and Walmart (6%). And while retailers like Walmart and Newegg sell their own products as well, it’s still a signal to marketplace
sellers that their products are put in front of a large audience…

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