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Consumers today want convenience and fast gratification. That’s why hundreds of thousands of consumers turn to platforms like Amazon to make their on a regular basis purchases. With just one click of a button, the product they need will arrive at their doorstep in a matter of days (or sooner). Thanks to technology and changes in consumer behavior as a results of the global pandemic, e-commerce is expected to proceed to grow rapidly. By 2028, the global e-commerce market is expected to do so increase by 50% to almost $7 trillion.
In today’s modern economy, most entrepreneurs and small business owners must leverage technology through social media, chatbots, workflow automation, and CRM platforms. While it may complicate and frustrate entrepreneurs, the Internet has made it possible for businesses, especially product-based businesses, to reach hundreds of thousands of potential customers around the world and generate serious revenues through e-commerce.
But is 2025 the right time for small businesses to start tapping into global marketplaces like Amazon, Shopify and Etsy? The recent trend has shown that small and medium-sized businesses are achieving tremendous growth and success with these platforms.
Benefits of Amazon and other online marketplaces
Building an e-commerce presence using an established online marketplace like Amazon comes with a wide selection of advantages. Small businesses that are best positioned to realize these advantages are established product-based businesses with a scalable supply chain, brands looking to expand or diversify into international markets, corporations that need a low-cost option to build an e-commerce presence, and suppliers of area of interest or specialized .
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Wide reach and global access: Small businesses often struggle to reach a large enough audience through traditional marketing. They are often limited to local or online communities that they have built themselves. Global marketplaces like Amazon give small businesses access to hundreds of thousands of latest customers and help them expand into latest international markets with little or no effort.
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Consumer trust and brand exposure: Earning consumer trust is difficult, especially for startups and small businesses that have not gained the same social credibility as mainstream brands. Online marketplaces like Amazon provide a level of comfort for consumers who want to purchase products from trusted sources. While they is probably not familiar with your specific company, they’ll rest assured that their experience will likely be consistent with previous purchases on the platform.
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Built-in marketing and web optimization tools: Reaching your audience online might be quite difficult. Not only are the rules of web optimization (SEO) continuously changing, but you are also competing for attention with 1000’s of comparable brands. Learning the technical concepts of web optimization and other internet marketing strategies can change into complicated and time-consuming. Fortunately, platforms like Amazon give their sellers the tools they need to succeed without having to change into an web optimization guru.
Making the most of online marketplaces
Creating an e-commerce operation is not a silver bullet. Success on these platforms requires strategic planning and setting the whole lot up from the starting. It is essential for entrepreneurs to know best practices that may increase their possibilities of successfully introducing e-commerce to the online marketplace.
I talked to Jamie LeBlanc from Prime Seller Pro, an expert in logistics channel management and e-commerce, to learn what corporations need to concentrate to when considering their e-commerce strategy in 2025. He has identified five fundamental areas to explore:
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Choose the right platform: Amazon appears to be the leader in today’s e-commerce landscape. This is no surprise as Amazon is pretty much in control 40% of the US e-commerce market. However, Amazon is not right for every business. There are many platforms available, each with its own benefits and disadvantages. For businesses that produce handmade or artisan products, for example, a platform like Etsy could also be a higher option because these are the kinds of products that Etsy customers are looking for.
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Consider fees and support: Each platform has its own fee schedules, infrastructure, and seller support resources. It’s essential to fastidiously evaluate each platform to discover which one will likely be best for what you are promoting. It’s a good idea to get feedback from other small businesses using these platforms to learn more about their experiences, what they recommend and what mistakes you possibly can avoid.
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Build a strong, consistent brand: When selling products on a third-party platform, it is important to emphasize the look and feel of your brand. Consistency across social media, your website and your online marketplace is key to providing a skilled appearance that buyers can trust. Try to use a similar tone in your message and, if possible, add branding elements reminiscent of colours or logos.
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Select order achievement method: Some platforms offer order achievement services that allow products to be shipped to a central warehouse for storage. When you make a sale, the platform retrieves the order from the warehouse and forwards it to the customer. This will make the experience seamless for each you and the customer. However, this also means you’ll have to carry excess stock, which might be expensive. The alternative is to ship the whole lot yourself. The drawback is that it requires a lot of manual effort to process orders, pack products and arrange shipping.
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Learn about the platform’s search algorithms: You’ll never sell your products if people cannot find them. It’s essential to understand how to optimize your product listings to comply with the platform’s web optimization standards. The excellent news is that the majority platforms provide loads of resources to provide help to achieve this.
Building a successful e-commerce operation using an online marketplace like Amazon has many advantages. However, having the right strategy is the key to staying ahead of the competition and maintaining with rapidly changing consumer behavior. Entrepreneurs must rely on market research to determine exactly whether this selection is right for their company.