Marketplace Jungle

Today's guest doesn't yet sell on Amazon. Nor does she have a team of marketplace experts at her side. In fact, until fairly recently, she was still working at HSBC while getting her first foray into eCommerce up and running, and it's this fresh perspective into D2C eCommerce along with an impressive work ethic which has helped her to turn an idea for doing some good in the world into a 6 figure eCommerce business. Lucy Jeffrey is the founder of Bare Kind; an ethical socks company which dedicates 10% of all profits to various animal charities around the world. For Lucy & Bare Kind, marketplaces play a key role in helping to keep the dream alive; but unlike most D2C brands you hear about, this isn't an Amazon-first business; it's questionable if that would even align with the ethical standards set by their brand. Instead, Bare Kind have found their success from a surprising source; B2B marketplaces such as Faire & Ankor Store. So much so that one of Lucy's biggest problems - not unfamiliar to an Amazon seller - is that too much of their revenue is coming from one external channel. In this episode, we talk about the risks that entails, as well as Lucy's experience on getting to this point. Expect to learn; How Lucy managed to turned a side hustle into a 6-figure business What steps Lucy takes to balance cashflow when 60% of the revenue comes in November & December How Bare Kind were able to start selling on Etsy despite not offering handmade products Why selling on B2B marketplaces should be a no-brainer for any D2C brand Lucy's experience finding agents and distributors to continue expanding their business internationally, and her criteria for finding the right partners for this Why lead generation is an essential part of selling on B2B marketplaces, and how Lucy finds potential customers who she can drive towards these I hope you get a lot from of this episode, but if you want more, Lucy has created a course designed to help other businesses learn how to succeed on B2B marketplaces. You can get 20% off this course with the code JUNGLE20 at www.wholesaleautopilot.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

James Gurd is co-host of the Re:Platform podcast and an experienced consultant in the field of platforming (i.e. switching from one shop system to another). He's helped House of Fraser, Victoria Beckham, Mars, Colgate & more to coordinate their own re-platforming projects, so he's well-positioned to share his tips, tricks & advice to help you figure out which shop technology is best suited to complement your marketplace business. Whether you're just getting started with shop number 1, or looking to upgrade as your business scales, James has tips to help you understand which questions you should be asking to figure out which technology is right for your business. Expect to learn: - What the difference is between a content-management system & a shop system - Whether it's best to use plug-ins from a shop ecosystem or work with external technology and integrations - How to add value to your shop without simply offering discounts left, right and centre - How much customisation you should add to your shop before it starts to take more away than it adds --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Being able to reach buyers outside of your home country is one of the major reasons for selling on marketplaces. Amazon offers many solutions to help sellers test out new markets, but by taking a few extra steps to overcome these hurdles yourself, you'll open up a world of new potential sales channels - and that's the purpose of this podcast; to explore the marketplace opportunities beyond Amazon, and what steps are necessary for you to build a successful marketplace business rather than just an Amazon business reliant on FBA. Today's guest is Andy Cooper, head of sales and marketing at Global eCommerce Experts (GEE) - a full-service solution provider, which tackles all aspects of expanding your eCommerce business internationally. In this episode, expect to learn: - Which marketplaces Andy's team see perform best across their 2.5k sellers - Who or what a responsible person is when it comes to setting up shop internationally - What compliance factors you need to take into consideration from business to product and packaging - What you can do to reduce the environmental impact of your products --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Jamie Roller is Associate Director of Growth Channels at Dr. Squatch - a 9-figure DTC-first brand who have really nailed not only the Amazon game, but have managed to build a strong international presence through their own DTC website and complement their US business with channels such as Walmart & Target. Dr. Squatch produces high quality, organic men's health products and have managed to carve themselves out a niche for offering unique products to their growing & loyal audience. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Matthew Ferguson is Co-Founder & Director of Services at Rich Insight, a specialised marketplace agency which helps brands and retailers of all sizes with the day-to-day operations and management of multiple marketplaces. In-house vs agency is always a big topic for marketplace sellers and opting for the latter often leaves sellers with a bad taste. There's no end of agencies and consultants who claim to offer marketplace expertise only to find out later that they're only familiar with Amazon, or only with managing PPC campaigns or highly focussed on private label sellers. But for traditional retailers or growing consumer brands, finding an agency which can really manage all aspects of the marketplace business can be challenging. In this episode, expect to learn: - What questions you should ask yourself to help you decide which technology you need to help manage your marketplace business - Why we at eCommeleon ended up entering the saturated Channel-Management space when our original idea was to replace Microsoft Excel for eCommerce businesses - What impact Matt sees AI having on the eCommerce industry - Matt's advice for building a team to manage your marketplaces and his tips to help you find the right agency if you prefer to take that route --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

For over 6 generations, Charles Bentley have manufactured homeware goods for some of the biggest names on the British high street, but consumers have only known about them since they added a D2C arm to the business in the early 2000's. They've now been selling on markeptlaces for over 18 years and regularly add new non-Amazon channels to their portfolio. Andrew Steel, Company Director, shares his experiences, tips & advice to help you expand your business beyond Amazon. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Cas Paton is CEO at OnBuy. OnBuy was recently ranked by the Financial Times as the fastest-growing eCommerce business in Europe, and they're not even active outside of the UK (yet). In this latest 'Meet the Marketplace' episode, we get a peak behind the scenes at OnBuy and learn just what makes them tick, how Cas measures success and why you as a seller should be looking to partner with OnBuy to grow your business in the UK. If you're interested in selling on OnBuy, reach out to Jesse on LinkedIn to find out how eCommeleon can help you here. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

In the latest ‘Meet the Marketplace' format, our guest today is Shakhil Shah from Allegro, the number one marketplace in Poland and the biggest marketplace of European origin. In the shadow of its neighbour, Germany, it can be easy to overlook Poland as a viable expansion opportunity, but for many marketplace sellers, few marketplaces offer as much potential as Allegro. In this episode, expect to learn all about eCommerce in Poland and how Allegro can help you take advantage of this growing market, how Allegro plans to expand beyond Poland into neighbouring Czecia and how Shak sees the marketplace space evolving in the next few years, and much more! Want to start selling on Allegro? If this episode piqued your interest and you'd like to find out more about how to start selling on Allegro, reach out to Jesse via LinkedIn to learn how eCommeleon can help expand your business to Poland. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Today's guest is Ben Helyar. Ben is General Manager at NetRev which is an umbrella group comprising of multiple daily-deals sites as well as a digital agency. Ben's team works with brands to help them gain exposure through highly targeted marketing campaigns to their database of over 30 million shoppers in the UK & Ireland. In this episode, expect to learn: - Why Daily Deals sites are a great option for expanding your brand and are about more than just clearing old stock - How you can use daily deal sites as a tool to help you expand internationally - What developments in the daily deals industry can tell us about the marketplace space - What discount sites have in common with cold feet --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Connox is a €100m+/year business which operates across 7 European countries - primarily Germany. In the last few years, most online retailers with that level of turnover have explored the possibility of opening their doors to third-party retailers by becoming a marketplace, so what makes Connox special? Furniture is notoriously hard to sell online. The logistics, the marketing & the price point are all factors which have kept successful furniture sellers from expanding via marketplaces... until now. Tobias Röbig helped build both the OTTO & AboutYou marketplaces before pivoting to HeyConnect - a full-service agency part of the FIEGE Group. He's now combining this marketplace service & logistics expertise to help Connox do for the furniture industry what Zalando did for the fashion industry. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Mark Gray has has built his entire career around the world of marketplaces; from a side hustle operating under alias as ‘crazy stamp lady' on eBay while working in the US Coastguard, to helping expand ChannelAdvisor's operations from the UK to Australia, and leading the development of some of the APAC regions biggest marketplaces; Mark Gray has a multi-faceted insight into the world of marketplaces and it's a real privilege to be able to bring him onto the show. In this episode, expect to learn: - How to negotiate the best rates when selling on non-Amazon marketplaces - Actionable steps to help you expand to Australia - What it's like to build a marketplace from the ground up; what makes a marketplace tick, and how understanding the marketplace's perspective on things can help you build a stronger working relationship --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Today's guest began his marketplace journey on the playground; selling secondhand phones to supplement his pocket money. More than 20 years later, Eddie Latham is now using marketplaces at scale as a way to enable international expansion both for his own business, Majority Audio, and for clients of his agency Velocity Commerce. Majority Audio recently won the Queen's Award for International Trade and Velocity helps companies such as Rab Clothing, Brita & Sony to manage their own marketplace presence. In this episode, expect to learn: - Eddie's thoughts on the increasing number of marketplaces available to sellers - What barriers face marketplace sellers when expanding internationally and how to overcome these - How selling on marketplaces helped prepare Majority to add a B2B arm to their traditionally D2C business and enable the next step in their journey - How you can emulate the private-label approach to optimising your product listings when your inventory is too large to deal with individual SKUs And much more… --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Jason Wyatt is Co-Founder of Marketplacer – an Australian technology company which enables established retail businesses to open their doors to third-party sellers by becoming a marketplace. For the European listeners among you, Bike Exchange is one of their customers who you might recognise – Jason's first company in fact, but in Australia, where there are now more than 40 notable marketplaces, Marketplacer has helped some of the country's biggest names, including Chemist Warehouse, Woolworths, Myer and more to leverage this new business model. In this episode, expect to learn: - How Lance Armstrong winning the Tour De France inspired Jason to quit his cushy accounting job to build a cycling marketplace - How Myer grew their online revenue from 60 million to ¾ of a billion since working with Marketplacer - Whether becoming a marketplace is a viable way for you to grow your own business - Jason's recommendations to take advantage of the 40+ marketplaces in Australia --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Today's guest has walked the halls of some of the world's biggest companies; from Coca-Cola to Kellogs, to Nestle and Mastercard, Dean McElwee is now the Director of Global eCommerce collaboration at Stanley Black & Decker. Expect to learn: How much of your time you should spend focussing on marketplaces How to ensure your presence on marketplaces aligns with the rest of your brand messaging When and why brands should take back control from their retail customers How to decide which products are right for which channels And much more --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Chris Dawson is the founder of the UK's top marketplace news resource – ChannelX, formerly known as Tamebay. Chris started his eCommerce journey selling on eBay as a way to make ends meet and quickly became so successful that his blog became known as the go-to place for all tips & resources for succeeding on marketplaces. In this episode, expect to learn: How Chris's early days of selling on eBay led to him founding one of the biggest blogs for marketplace sellers in the world How to protect your business from the sudden loss of a marketplace channel – whether through an account suspension, or as many German sellers have recently experienced with MyToys – through the news that the marketplace will close down. The pros and cons of selling on third-party marketplaces Which steps you should take when looking at marketplaces beyond Amazon And much more… --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Lennard Kressin is Director of the Limango Marketplace; a member's-only shopping club experience from Germany which boasts exclusive deals on curated brands for their target market - young mothers and their families. In this episode, expect to learn: - Why Limango is a great expansion option for your brand within the German market - How Limango has grown from a Groupon-clone to a 9-figure marketplace and one of Germany's top shopping destinations for young mothers - How Limango helps brands to succeed on their marketplace with a variety of promotional campaigns throughout the year And much more… --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Ken Kline is the founder & CEO at VHC Brands from Kansas USA. Traditionally a wholesale business, selling to all the major names in the US, Ken saw the opportunities of D2C before it was trending and diversified his business across marketplaces – both B2B & B2C, before setting up a new business to really leverage the direct-to-consumer opportunity. Expect to learn: - How a ‘single source of truth' for product data can help scale your business - How to sell D2C without upsetting your B2B customers - The difference a smooth logistics operation makes --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

At eCommeleon, we often recommend to our clients that they can use marketplaces as a toe-in-the-water approach when evaluating new markets; marketplaces are a great tool for enabling international expansion. Fruugo is an international first marketplace which enables true cross-border expansion by showcasing your products in 40+ countries. With a heavy focus on SEM, Fruugo ensures that buyers around the world can find your products; you just have to be able to get the item there. Tony Preedy is CEO of Fruugo, and former Director of Marketing and International Development at Lakeland. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Malte Karstan is currently head of acquisition at the Berlin Brands Group, one of Europe's largest aggregators. But that's just the latest step in an eCommerce, career spanning almost as long as I've been alive. If it's a marketplace, the odds are that Malte has probably sold on it, worked with them, consulted with them or helped brands figure out how to sell there. As such, the breadth and depth of his marketplace expertise, particularly in using marketplaces as a tool for international expansion is incredible. In this episode, expect to learn: --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Today's guest works with some of the top brands in the world to help them tackle every step of the marketplace process. Loreal, Mattel, Castrol, Unilever & Henkel all work with Rex Brown for their UK marketplace presence. Shah Sacki, Managing Director at Rex Brown has led the team from their days as a Groupon-focussed business to a point where they now manage 50 eBay stores and are active on almost every relevant marketplace. In this episode, expect to learn: - How & why Rex Brown sacrificed valuable warehouse space to setup multiple studios for TikTok live - How to build a marketplace business where Amazon only represents 40% of the pie - How Rex Brown used other marketplaces to reduce the impact of Groupon's strategy change - How to use TikTok as a marketing & sales channel - Which marketplaces have the best tools for sellers - What trends are coming next in eCommerce - Which marketplaces Shah believes offer the best options to promote your listings --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Chloe Thomas, host of 2 of the top eCommerce Podcasts joins us to share her expertise on whether or not marketplaces should play a role in your eCommerce business, and how you can figure out where they fit into the overall strategy. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Andy Davies is the founder of Nurture Talent and has been working with Europe's leading FMCG brands and brand aggregators to help them secure the best of the best to work in their eCommerce & marketplace teams. In this episode, you can expect to learn: - What the big players are learning from marketplace-first brands - Who should you hire first if you want to transform your marketplace business into a b2b business - Why your Amazon expert might not be the best person to help you expand to new marketplaces - Which roles to have in-house and which you can outsource - How to leverage your existing team for new expansion opportunities --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

Jason Greenwood has been living in New Zealand since the earliest days of eCommerce and after building up his own eCommerce business from scratch, he's been helping B2B & D2C brands alike to develop and implement their own omnichannel strategy. In this episode, we covered; Jason's experiences from the early days of eCommerce How an eccentric start-up from Wellington kept eBay at bay Why Facebook Marketplace is still one to watch How you can expand your business to the ANZ region How B2C brands & retailers can benefit from B2B marketplaces --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

In a slight deviation from our usual theme, today's topic is Amazon. From 2003 until 2019, Stefan Haney lived & breathed Amazon. He was integral in the development of many of the most important tools used by Amazon sellers today and in this episode he shares why Amazon works the way it does. In this episode, expect to hear: - How Stefan thinks the Amazon algorithm will react to listings created with ChatGPT - How Amazon benchmarks itself against other marketplaces - How you can use Amazon as a tool to help you expand to non-Amazon marketplaces - What it's like to be on the receiving end of the infamous "?" email from Jeff Bezos --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

After working at Amazon as a vendor manager, Valerie Dichtl, unhappy with internal pressure to constantly renegotiate deals with the brands she was working on, switched to the other side of the table and helped a German fashion brand take on marketplaces properly for the first. She has since become renowned in the German fashion industry as one of the leading experts for all things marketplaces. Founder of Marketplace Uni, Valerie teaches would-be Marketplace managers how to get their brands onto the top marketplaces in Europe. She works with sports & fashion brands to help them ensure that their business is ready for marketplaces and that all stakeholders are aligned for this new business. In this episode, you can expect to learn: - Which marketplaces are out there that you might not yet know about - How to bring profitability to the forefront of your Marketplace strategy - How to use marketplaces for overstock or end-of-line items - How to distribute Marketplace revenue to keep your team motivated, and - Where to begin with selling on marketplaces if you've never done so --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message

An introductory welcome message from your host, Jesse Wragg. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketplace-jungle/message