Marketplaces have become an integral part of the e-commerce industry. Marketplaces make it easy to realize (extra) revenue, without having to pay marketing costs upfront. Instead, you will pay a commission per sale, so you take a little risk and are guaranteed to receive sales.
Knowing the best German online marketplace to sell online is essential if you want to expand your online business. In addition to being gateways to online stores, these huge online malls carry a big name. These channels can be an excellent solution to increase your results.
To decide which marketplace to enter, you need to be clear about the specifics of each one. You should also know the rules that must be followed, responsibilities, and rights.
All of them adopt no single rule. Each marketplace or group of marketplaces adopts its model.
The largest marketplace in the Netherlands is bol.com. But what about marketplaces in Germany?
What are the advantages of selling on marketplaces?
Selling on the best marketplaces can bring many advantages to digital entrepreneurs, so much so that many have joined this tool. Shall we see some?
Greater visibility
Unlike e-commerce, where you need to work hard on your promotion, working in a marketplace allows customers to reach you in different ways. Currently, some marketplaces have a base exceeding 76 million registered users, and the platform usually moves around US$ 20 billion annually.
Thus, it is easier to visualize these sites’ business potential to users and sellers. Even those just starting have an infinity of opportunities to do business and achieve success in their sales.
Increase in sales
With the number of users we present, as an example of an active platform, it is much easier for a business to increase sales revenue and achieve higher conversion rates for the sales team.
Users use these sites daily for competitive prices and good business opportunities. The entrepreneur has a vast and constantly growing audience with a quality product sold at a fair and competitive price.
Legitimacy
One of the significant issues around online shopping is the safety of the store where the product is. If you’re new to the market, you might be losing sales because some visitors still don’t trust your brand. Therefore, having the legitimacy of a large company in a marketplace is advantageous.
Cost-benefit
Of course, you’ll need to pay fees to make your sales, but they can be pretty worth it, considering the number of customers you’ll attract per month. Your profit and the peace of mind of not worrying about buying a standalone platform pay off a lot.
Therefore, the best marketplaces to sell will combine affordable rates, good visibility, and satisfactory returns.
SEO
Entrepreneurs who work with online stores know the challenge of starting an e-commerce and struggling to reach the first places in the SERPs of search engines.
An initial job of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), translation into German, or optimization for search engines, demands a lot of effort and dedication for entrepreneurs looking for organic traffic.
Niche reach
As you will see in our list of the best German online marketplace, many operate in particular market segments. This is an advantage for those who undertake niche products; after all, making contact with your audience faster and more efficiently is possible.
Best Germany online marketplace for WooCommerce
With so many advantages and sales sites available for those who want to work with this business model, it is necessary to know the best German online market and research to understand which is the most suitable for each type of company.
After all, the features and obligations may change according to each marketplace. We have prepared a list of the 5 best German online marketplaces. Check out!
1. Amazon
Amazon is perhaps the most well-known webshop and marketplace worldwide. If not because of the Amazon brand, it is thanks to the much-discussed founder and owner Jeff Bezos.
We have to make no bones about the fact that Amazon has worked hard in the past years to build the empire as it is. Despite being founded in the United States, the company quickly spread its wings to Europe. Amazon is therefore one of the largest webshops and marketplaces in Germany.
Figures Amazon.de
The figures of Amazon.de are insane. 79% of Germans start their search on Amazon, 52% of every euro spent is spent on Amazon and finally, Amazon.de realizes about €54 billion in revenue a year.
In other words, moving to Germany means at least selling on Amazon.de.
Connect Amazon.de to WooCommerce
Luckily, Woosa has developed an Amazon WooCommerce plugin, which also facilitates the German website of Amazon. It has never been easier to get started with Amazon.de. Start your 7-day free trial here.
2. Kaufland
We know Kaufland as a physical warehouse in Germany. In 2020, Kaufland acquired the webshop and marketplace real.de. Real.de was the largest local webshop and marketplace in Germany.
Figures Kaufland.de
Kaufland.de has more than 8,000 sellers on its platform and approximately 32 million visitors per month. Therefore selling on Kaufland.de is a real must-have if you are planning to expand to Germany.
Connect Kaufland.de to WooCommerce
You can easily publish products on the Kaufland marketplace from your WooCommerce webshop using the Woosa plugin. Start your 7-day free trial here.
3.eWorldTrade
eWorldTrade is a leading global B2B marketplace that connects businesses with suppliers and buyers worldwide. With a user-friendly interface and an extensive database of high-quality products and services, eWorldTrade offers a one-stop solution for businesses of all sizes to find the products and services they need to succeed in today’s competitive market.
Their platform is designed to streamline the procurement process and offer our clients value-added services. They are committed to quality and customer satisfaction and continually strive to innovate and improve their platform to meet customers’ ever-changing needs. Whether you’re a small business owner or a large corporation, eWorldTrade has everything you need to be successful
4. Zalando (zDirect)
Zalando is originally a German webshop. Since 2021 they have also added a marketplace functionality to their webshop.
Zalando sells products in the category fashion. They offer 2 variants of their marketplace: Connected Retail and zDirect.
Connected Retail from Zalando
Connected Retail is for boutiques that do not sell their own brand, but the brand of others. For example, a boutique that sells Nike or Adidas products.
The disadvantage of Connected Retail is that it is completely set up for the webshop, combined with physical stores. Zalando wants to simplify the shipping process and make it climate-friendly with Connected Retail and therefore forces shipments from certain physical locations.
Don’t have a physical store? In that case you cannot participate in Connected Retail.
zDirect from Zalando
Unlike Connected Retail, zDirect is specific to online webshops. However, you can only participate if you have your own brand. So you cannot sell other brands on the Zalando marketplace.
The disadvantage of zDirect is that the Zalando platform is not yet fully used to facilitating a marketplace. Therefore the user experience leaves a lot to be desired.
Figures Zalando
Yet Zalando’s figures do not lie. If you’re into fashion, you should take Zalando seriously into consideration.
Zalando has 1.7 billion visitors per month and 46.3 million active users.
Connect Zalando zDirect to WooCommerce
Thanks to the WooCommerce plugin from Woosa, you can easily connect Zalando zDirect to WooCommerce. However, keep in mind that you still have to manually add the products with content in the Zalando zDirect platform.
Unfortunately, Zalando does not yet have an automatic solution for this. Start your 7 day free trial here.
5. OTTO
Otto is Germany’s second-largest online shopping destination and claims to be the largest online retailer of fashion and lifestyle products. Initially, it started as an offline brand, but now 90% of its products are sold online, and it also has a marketplace, where it sells goods and allows third-party sales (accredited sellers).
The company has 9 million active customers, reaching 45% of all German households. OTTO represents the most significant e-commerce opportunity in Germany after Amazon for marketplace partner sellers.
6. eBay
eBay is a constantly growing platform and can be a viable solution for selling online.
It boasts a large number of non-professional sellers who approach the Marketplace to be able to manage the sales process more efficiently. Born as an auction platform for individuals, today also, professional sellers find space.
Getting started is nothing complicated: you must decide whether to register as a company or private individual and load your products or objects accordingly by selecting a fixed price or placing them at auction.
We want to advise you to permanently attach descriptive photos of the product because they immediately catch the eye of the interested buyer and allow him to get an idea of what he is about to buy. Furthermore, as a Seller, you must aim to have an excellent reviews page that suggests to customers how good and trusted you are.
Conclusion
Amazon.de and Kaufland.de are the best German online marketplace to sell online if you want to get a foothold in Germany. Zalando is only interesting if you sell your brand related to the category of fashion.
You should also take several things into account before you start selling in Germany. Read here exactly what you should take into account.
