Free Marketplace: the solution for launching an e-commerce business?

Between €2,000 and €20,000: that's the average budget needed to launch your own e-commerce site. This includes expenses such as IT development, maintenance and CMS subscription... Costs can quickly soar. The financial abyss can quickly set in.

But to save money, you don't have to give up on your online sales project. Have you considered choosing a free marketplace to launch your e-commerce business?

A marketplace is a large digital shopping mall, where each store represents a different seller, marketing their products. All without the need to develop their own e-commerce site, since they benefit from privileged locations within the marketplace and easy contact with buyers.

The advantages of a free marketplace are numerous. But you still need to choose the right platform, to deploy the right strategy. We explain everything in this article. Follow the guide!

1/ The advantages of a free marketplace

A free marketplace is a no-cost platform for promoting and selling products on the web. When it comes to launching an e-commerce business, the savings are considerable.

Thanks to these savings, sales staff can calmly test their strategy and the sale of new products. And even if the effort required is less than in e-commerce... the results are often faster!

On a free marketplace, the way things work is simple: sellers only pay for performance. When they sell a product, the platform takes a commission. There are no additional fixed monthly fees.

In return for this small commission on each web sale, merchants benefit from all the advantages of the marketplace model:

• An existing, qualified customer base: with its large, ready-to-buy consumer base, the marketplace is the ideal place to benefit from a continuous flow of customers.
• Increased visibility, thanks to marketplaces' already well-established traffic. Some platforms, such as Rakuten France, create their own highlights, promoted on their acquisition channels (e.g. the unbeatable 7 days). There's no need to invest in marketing and communications to attract traffic to your ads and boost online shopping.
• Responsive support and assistance: when you choose to sell on a free marketplace, you're well taken care of. Via our Rakuten France solution, e-commerce experts are at your disposal. That's the advantage of a three-way relationship!
• Assured security: marketplaces rely on secure infrastructures to protect buyers' data. In particular, the payment stage is simplified and extremely well regulated. No worries for you, or for the end customer, when shopping online. Security first and foremost.

Find out more about the advantages of the marketplace model in this article.

2/ Choosing the right free marketplace

Selling online via a free marketplace is a good strategic choice. It's a springboard for your visibility, credibility and sales. But before you get started, there's no need to rush: it's time for an action plan.

The first step? Choose the right partner for your profile. If you're a private seller, the best choice is a platform or application like Facebook Marketplace. If you're a professional seller, you'll find what you're looking for elsewhere. Like Rakuten.

Here are the criteria to consider before making your decision:

• Audience size: is it a well-established marketplace with a qualified audience? For example, 15 million unique visitors a month visit our Rakuten sellers' ads. The more targeted and developed the audience, the less effort (marketing, communication, etc.) you'll have to put in.
• Store personalization: can you keep control of your brand image? An e-shop customized in your corporate colors always has a greater impact on buyers. That's what we offer at Rakuten. A marketplace that allows sellers to integrate personalization elements boosts conversions!
• Marketplace competition: does a marketplace also sell its own products? The majority of platforms make this choice, which proves competitive for your brand. Other marketplaces, on the other hand, focus on the success of their merchants. That's what we do at Rakuten: we don't sell products. We add value to yours.
• Dedicated support: are you on your own when it comes to joining and selling on the marketplace? Quality support can make all the difference to your online store. It saves precious time and increases efficiency, so you can launch your business with complete peace of mind. At Rakuten, our E-Commerce Consultants are on hand right from the start. Sellers also have access to a help center, our blog articles and all our webinars, to help them improve their skills.

3/ Adapt your strategy to the free marketplace

The first step? Choose the right platform to sell the right products. That's done.

Now it's time for the next step: developing and adapting your strategy for success on the free marketplace.

To achieve this, start by determining the selling price of your products or services. There are three important prerequisites:

1. Carry out a competitive analysis to help you position yourself.
2. Take into account any platform fees (generally in the form of a commission on each sale, for free marketplaces).
3. Set attractive rates for your ads while maintaining your profitability.

After the price test, it's time for optimization. Here again, three actions will help you improve your store on a free marketplace:

1. Use powerful product or service descriptions, with high-quality visuals.
2. Focus on relevant keywords to boost internal referencing and SEO.
3. Offer special promotions to attract customers to your web ads.

Every word, photo and promotion is important in the product data sheet. Its quality has an impact on conversion: 84% of French people claim to have abandoned a current purchase because the information on the product sheet was incorrect or incomplete! (Source: YZR and IFOP study, 2022, relayed by leblogdumodérateur)

4/ Develop your presence on the marketplace

 

As you can see, launching on a free marketplace allows you to get off to a safe start, testing out products or services. But after this initial phase, you'll probably want to look at another model.

For example, some marketplaces, such as Rakuten, offer premium features via a fixed monthly subscription. This paid subscription enables you to reduce the commissions charged on the sale of each product, as offered by the free subscription. Once your sales become regular... switching from a commission-based package to a monthly subscription is more attractive!

As you grow, logistics will also become a key issue for your online store. Thanks to their subscription system, some marketplaces offer an additional management, storage and shipping service. Perfect for outsourcing logistics... and concentrating on what really counts: selling your products and building customer loyalty.

5/ An example of a free marketplace: Rakuten

At Rakuten, we bring together the best of both worlds:

• A free subscription, perfect for launching your e-commerce: the Starter pack.
• A paid monthly subscription, to ensure the long-term future of your business: the Expert pack.

Our Starter pack is a free, no-obligation subscription. It enables e-traders to benefit from all the advantages and services offered by our marketplace: creation of a personalized e-shop, setting up a catalog with no size or time limits, generating in-store traffic thanks to our click&collect solution... These features are available at no extra cost.

"The Starter Pack aims to make it easier for small businesses, looking for a complementary audience, to access the Rakuten platform, its ecosystem of services and its community of active members. It's in line with our promise of 'e-commerce that puts everyone on the same page', whether you're a young pure player recently arrived on the market or a long-established small local business", explains Matthieu Denime, Sales Director at Rakuten France.

Would you like to launch your own e-commerce business and save money at the same time? Then our Starter Pack is for you. Join the 12 million members of our marketplace, and offer your products to over 15 million unique visitors a month.