The share of consumer electronics sellers fell in 2021 from the prior year at Taobao, Tmall and eBay, while holding steady at Amazon. Who gained share? Walmart Marketplace saw consumer electronics climb to 16.0% in 2021 from 11.1% in 2020.

So, is it worth it for retailers to sell on marketplaces? The answers vary depending on what any given retailer sells and where their target audience spends its time online. But the data suggests that in a general way, selling in online marketplaces is a win for merchants.

When Digital Commerce 360 compared the overall performance of Top 1000 retailers that sell on marketplaces versus those that do not, the difference was compelling. Those that did sell on them correlated to higher overall growth in online sales.

Choosing whether to sell on a marketplace is a complicated decision for retailers. Marketplaces often allow retailers to immediately grow sales and reach a larger audience. But they also usually take a large percentage of the sale, plus other fees, and it can be hard to get noticed among so many other products on a marketplace.

So how should a retailer decide on whether or not to sell? And what products work best on which marketplaces? Industry experts say the key factor is the nature of shoppers on any given marketplace. 

More Charts & Data stories

This chart is derived from the analysis in our 2022 Global Marketplaces Report. We add new content regularly. Check back soon for more Charts & Data stories.

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