Before you start selling on online marketplaces, it's essential to conduct thorough market research. Understand industry trends, analyze competition, and identify your audience's needs.

Then, analyze which marketplace you want to start with. Will you choose a general marketplace (such as Bol or Amazon), or is the chance of success greater on a specialized marketplace (such as Zalando and Decathlon)? Make sure you thoroughly understand this marketplace before onboarding.

Analyze your assortment to determine which products are most suitable for sale on online marketplaces. Do you have enough price margin to make a profit? Are your products easy to store and transport? Is there sufficient demand in the market, and can you provide enough stock?

Also, consider your fulfillment partner. How much inventory can you store? Are there strict rules or a stock ceiling?

Good to know: at Distrilink, we have our own warehouse and can provide a solution for almost any situation.

Create an account on the desired online marketplace(s) and register your brand to protect it.

If you are the first seller of the brand on the marketplace, you can rest assured: you have complete control over the content and can tell your brand story exactly as you want.

If your products are already being sold by other sellers, the situation is more complex, and you can take steps to improve the content and/or remove other product listings. Depending on the platform, this can be very complex.

Developing strong product pages is an art. On one hand, you want content that converts, providing more information to the customer and showcasing your brand story. This can be in the form of text, specifications, packshots, images, or a video.

On the other hand, you also want SEO-performing content, tailored to the marketplace, to be shown more often in the search engine's algorithm. Every marketplace is different in this regard, and experience is required to maximize this.

Moreover, every marketplace has different requirements, such as how you format your text or what the technical requirements of an image are.

Logistics and fulfillment are not an afterthought but an essential ingredient for success on marketplaces.

It is very important to always have inventory and offer the shortest possible delivery times. If you fail to meet the strict requirements of a marketplace, your account performance will decrease, and, worst case, you risk your account being closed.

Therefore, work with a reliable logistics partner who understands the requirements of both the brand and the marketplace. At Distrilink, we can take over this process completely for you.

Visibility is key on marketplaces. After all, you're not the only seller who wants to showcase their products online. Marketplace advertising is crucial.

In general, we recommend reinvesting about 5% of your total revenue in advertising. To make optimal use of this budget, it is advisable to work with a partner who can create targeted campaigns for a relevant audience.

Ensure that your pricing is competitive and in line with market standards while still making enough profit. Not an easy task!

Moreover, participating in promotional moments is essential on marketplaces. Alternatively, you can bundle various products at attractive prices for the customer.

Good customer support reduces the number of negative reviews and ensures that your customers will make a second purchase from you more quickly. Conversely, late or unfriendly customer support can lead to account strikes, risking your account being closed.

At Distrilink, we completely take over customer support for you. Because we don't leave this to the marketplaces (for example, via LVB or FBA), we can also answer specific questions because we know your brand and products better. We also process returns from our warehouse.

Afterwards, it's important to regularly analyze sales data. Is a product not selling well? Before you pull the plug, it's best to check if there's anything you can optimize: price, reviews, advertising, content... you name it.

Successfully launched on one marketplace? Consider expanding your sales channels to other online platforms, such as a second marketplace or your own webshop.

An omnichannel strategy offers many benefits but requires a lot of planning and expertise. You want to offer a seamless shopping experience to your customers, regardless of the channel they use. Integrate and synchronize your inventory and order management and centralize your content in a PIM to ensure a consistent brand experience.