Sell on marketplaces: the complete, hands-on guide

Why sell on marketplaces

Marketplaces provide a shortcut to audience and purchase intent. They reduce time-to-market when testing a new category or country, at the cost of fiercer competition and precise technical requirements. Done well, marketplace presence becomes a true profitable acquisition lever and a range steering tool for your e-commerce strategy.

• Traffic & intent: millions of ready-to-convert shoppers.
• International: faster entry into new markets without opening a local D2C shop.
• Catalogue effect: depth of range = visibility = recurring sales.
• Test & learn: validate categories/prices before heavy investment.

Definition & essential prerequisites

Selling on a marketplace means publishing your offers (titles, attributes, price, stock, images) on a third-party channel, then handling orders, despatch and returns in line with that channel’s rules. Success hinges on product feed quality and your ability to adapt per marketplace.

• Clean catalogue: reliable GTIN/EAN, correct taxonomy, compliant HD media.
• Channel requirements: mandatory/optional attributes, parent/child variants, size guides.
• Logistics: SLAs, delivery promises, returns policy.
• Tooling: marketplace connector, dynamic rules, monitoring & alerts.

👉 Explore marketplaces by country & vertical

Step-by-step methodology for selling on marketplaces

The method below industrialises your roll-outs, limits rejections and protects margin. It works for Amazon, Mirakl (Fnac-Darty, Carrefour, Leroy Merlin, etc.), Zalando, eBay and most vertical marketplaces.

1. Select marketplaces based on your vertical, target countries and media/logistics prerequisites.
2. Audit catalogue completeness: GTIN, attributes, categories, images, variants.
3. Map & adapt: category templates, per-channel taxonomy, local labels.
4. Optimise titles & attributes to improve matching and conversion.
5. Configure rules: exclusions (stock/margin), rounding, per-country/channel pricing.
6. Test on a sample: publish, analyse rejections, correct, iterate.
7. Deploy & steer: monitoring, alerts, A/B testing, returns management.

Tip: run each launch as a two-week mini-project with a measurable goal (e.g. “90% of SKUs listed without critical rejection”).

Optimise your catalogue & marketplace SEO

Marketplace visibility algorithms rely heavily on listing quality (titles, attributes, categories) and commercial performance (CTR, conversion, return rate). A well-prepared feed maximises both publishing and selling.

• Recommended title structure: Brand + Type + Key Feature + Model + Size.
• Attributes: complete 100% of mandatories and as many optionals as possible.
• Categorisation: fine mapping per channel, most specific level.
• Variations: parent/child, sizes/colours, size guides (fashion).
• Images & media: minimum resolution, expected ratios, per-channel media packs.

Example title optimisation: “Lacoste men’s polo cotton piqué L1212 M”. Vary by marketplace (length, attribute order, user terms).

Pricing, margins & the Buy Box

The Buy Box (where applicable) is won through a triad of competitive price, availability and seller performance. A per-channel pricing strategy, coupled with exclusion rules, protects your margin while staying eligible.

• Per-channel/country price grids with psychological rounding.
• Exclusions: low stock, margin below threshold, restricted zones.
• Faster update cadence on best-sellers.
• Monitoring of price/stock discrepancies vs warehouse reality.

Do this: simulate net margin per SKU and per marketplace (commission + logistics + returns + tools) before full roll-out.

Operations: stock, orders, returns

The best listing won’t sell if the logistics promise fails. Near real-time stock sync, solid order routing and smooth returns protect your seller score and placements.

• Price/stock sync: high frequency on fast-moving lines.
• Order management: acceptance, despatch SLAs, tracking numbers.
• Returns: clear policies, stock reintegration, reason analysis.
• Alerts: feed errors, rejections, missed SLAs, abnormal spikes.

KPIs, reporting & governance

Track a simple yet comprehensive dashboard: publishing, visibility, conversion, margin and operational quality. Hold a weekly ritual with stakeholders (commercial, content, logistics) to drive action plans.

• Catalogue quality: completeness rate, rejection rate, rejection reasons.
• Speed: time-to-list, update cadence, despatch SLAs.
• Performance: sessions, CTR, conversion, Buy Box share.
• Profitability: net margin per channel, AOV, return rate.
• Governance: change log, roles & permissions, testing sandbox.

Use cases & concrete examples

Here are three typical scenarios to show the method in practice and the watch-outs for each vertical.
 

1) Home & DIY (Leroy Merlin, ManoMano…)

Goal: push a wide assortment with frequent technical attributes (dimensions, compatibility) and contextual images.

• Build long, detailed listings with clear attribute tables.
• Add schematics or plans (where the marketplace allows it).
• Set exclusion rules for bulky items with weak unit economics.

2) Fashion (Zalando, La Redoute…)

Goal: manage numerous variants and comply with strict media standards.

• Polish size guides and variant consistency.
• Provide multiple images (front/back/detail/on-model) per requirements.
• Adapt titles (attribute order, local nomenclature).

3) Consumer electronics (Amazon, Kaufland, Media Markt…)

Goal: optimise product matching (GTIN, references) and master the Buy Box.

• Validate GTIN/EAN and compatibility (models, series).
• Steer price per channel and set alerts for stock discrepancies.
• Accelerate despatch times on best-sellers.

Go further with Lengow

Lengow provides ready-to-use marketplace integrations, advanced rules to adapt your feeds per country/channel, and monitoring to cut rejections and speed up sales.

👉 Manage your marketplace orders
👉 Optimise your product detail pages
👉 Manage marketplace feeds