The Covid-19 pandemic caused a major shift at online marketplaces — from “just classifieds” to fully transactional services including payment tools, escrow products, pickup and delivery, and more, a new report shows.
The 2021 AIM Group Global Marketplaces Annual, a 136-page report, details how marketplaces like Craigslist; Marktplaats in the Netherlands; Mercari of Japan and the U.S.; multinational OLX, and ThredUp, among others, quickly and successfully reacted to the pandemic.
“The age of fully transactional online marketplaces is here,” said Peter M. Zollman of the AIM Group. “The ‘listings only’ model won’t work any more. Unless a marketplace offers services like payment protection and product certifications, it will struggle to compete with competitors that are moving fast into the world of e-commerce.”
The report shows that what works in some countries doesn’t work in others. “It’s not a set formula,” Zollman said. And the transition is capital and labor-intensive. Many marketplaces can’t compete and face an uphill climb.
The crowded battlefield of Axel Springer, Prosus, Schibsted and others changed when Adevinta incorporated EBay Classifieds Group. The report covers each of those companies — their strategies, tactics, growth, revenues and more.
The report also analyzes two “companies to watch”: Jordan-based OpenSooq, in the Arabian Gulf region, and a joint venture between DPG Media / Mediahuis in the Netherlands and Belgium.
The report ranks the Top 50 world’s largest general marketplace sites, and a country-by-country analysis lists top marketplaces and classified sites in 64 countries from Argentina to Zimbabwe.
The report sells for $1,495 at AIMGroup.com; a free preview is available there, too.
SOURCE AIM Group
