How To Think About Selection For A Marketplace

Marketplaces
Written By Rick Watson

One of the most important questions in adding selection for a marketplace is how to prioritize that selection in your pipeline.

Here are some important factors to consider:

  • Drives your economic engine. focus on the categories and shopping behavior that feed your economic model.

  • Consider time to "payback" on the selection. category expansion is sexy, but takes time. Balance that with focus on out of stocks, and brand/line expansion within current categories.

  • Reinforces your competitive differentiation. yes, another sku is nice, but if buyers don't understand why YOU are offering this SKU, it will be easier for them to shop someplace else. how does each added SKU reinforce your unique value to your buyers?

  • Matches your buyer persona. adding selection that doesn't match this isn't helpful unless it's part of a coordinated campaign to rebrand yourself.

  • Ships independently anyway. heavy/bulky, etc., is always a good choice for dropship because these items could never have been combined in a single box to begin with.

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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