While selling on online marketplaces such as Amazon, Buy.com and Walmart.com can dramatically boost a retailer’s sales, such sites also often present third-party product listings inconsistently at the risk of disappointing shoppers, according to a report released last week.


“Marketplace customer experience compares unfavorably to that of e-commerce sites, particularly in regards to comprehensiveness of product information and logistics transparency,” concludes The Merchantry Report, The State of Online Marketplaces.


The study was prepared by the E-Tailing Group for Merchantry, which helps retailers and media companies implement online marketplaces. Such marketplaces are proliferating because they allow the retailer operating the marketplace to expand product selection without buying more inventory, while allowing third-party retailers, or merchants, to reach a larger audience. Merchantry expects the number of such marketplaces to increase dramatically next year as retailers try to duplicate the success of Amazon, but its report indicates both retailers and listing merchants should proceed cautiously with their plans for such sites.


For the report, E-tailing Group researchers placed orders with Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Buy.com, Kohl’s, Newegg.com, OneStopPlus.com, Overstock.com, Sears, ShopNBC, TigerDirect and Walmart. They then evaluated product listings, pricing, social media, customer service, shipping and return processes and other metrics. The results demonstrate that retailers face challenges offering their marketplace shoppers the same level of product detail, transparency and logistical support online shoppers have come to expect and rely on from their own sites.


For instance, only 39 percent of marketplace products could be added to a wish list versus 83 percent of products being sold by the retailer operating the online marketplace. Gift registry functionality was available on just half of marketplace products. Retailers that provide free shipping extend the offer to merchant listings only 33 percent of the time. While the majority of e-commerce sites incorporate social media tools, the majority of online marketplace products do not have social media functionality. Only 50 percent of marketplace product listings state seller/merchant details. Less than half of marketplace products feature customer ratings. Only 20 percent of product pages have enhanced guides or videos.
Finally, logistics such as shipping and returns often are different depending on whether the consumer is buying from the retailer or a third-party merchant.


“Profit-maximizing practices that have become standard in the e-commerce industry are not consistently applied on marketplaces, where we found incomplete product information, limited functionality and inadequate customer experiences,” said Lauren Freedman, president of the e-tailing group. “Details are ultimately what matter to shoppers. Given our findings, online marketplace shoppers would face many disappointments on the path to purchase; marketplaces have to better capitalize on selling and service fundamentals to retain shoppers.”