Table of contents:
- Leading marketplaces for top e-commerce categories
- Are vertical marketplaces taking the place of e-retailers in the future?
- Our latest articles
- Talk to one of our consultants about dynamic pricing.
Vertical marketplaces occupy a unique role in e-commerce: While the well-known giants try to encompass all categories, vertical marketplaces cater to specific and often specialised customer needs and interests. Selling through one of these marketplaces presents a number of opportunities, including:
- More targeted audience
- Competitive advantages versus less specialised marketplaces
- Brand and community building
- Increased trust and credibility among shoppers
- More flexibility and reduced competition
- Higher buyer intent
In this article, Omnia explores some of the vertical marketplaces to know in four key European markets across four categories.
Leading marketplaces for top e-commerce categories
Many of the leading marketplaces in Europe are all-in-one sites where shoppers can find products across many categories; For example, Amazon, eBay and bol.com. In this article, we’d instead like to focus more on the vertical marketplaces that are largely, if not entirely, focused on one particular category. We will explore a selection of marketplace champions for Germany, Netherlands, the UK and France across four categories: Fashion, Home Goods, Beauty & Care and Baby Care.
Fashion marketplace champions:
Home goods marketplace champions:
Beauty & care marketplace champions:
Baby care marketplace champions:
Are vertical marketplaces taking the place of e-retailers in the future?
The number of marketplaces continues to expand, and while major players like Amazon, eBay, Rakuten and Alibaba are growing year after year, vertical marketplaces are also increasing in prevalence to cover certain categories or serve specific shopper groups.
According to one study from Cross-Border Commerce Europe, the top 100 cross-border marketplaces generate turnover of €128 billion in Europe. They also found that marketplaces grew by 22% during the COVID-19 pandemic – growth that is expected to continue in the next few years.
With 59% (€141 billion) of the total cross-border e-commerce market in Europe generated by marketplaces, every stakeholder in e-commerce should be paying attention to the vertical and vertical marketplaces, as they continue to steal market share from the larger players.