Kahuna Publishes a Report on the Emerging Landscape of Digital Marketplaces

By Viraj T On Oct 19, 2018

Airbnb Is Valued at $38 Billion Dollars Without Owning a Single Property. Similarly, Uber, That Does Not Own a Single Vehicle Is Valued at $72 Billion Dollars. ‘Services’ Are Now a Core Part of Digital Marketplaces and Can Be Leveraged to Develop Profitable and Newer Business Models

This exclusive report is developed by Brian Solis, Principal Analyst, Altimeter and published by Kahuna – The report speaks about expanding marketplaces and a platform economy. The report also reveals four main challenges in digital marketplaces viz:

Competitive Differentiation (39%)
Buyer Retention (32%)
Buyer Acquisition (29%)
Effective Social Media Campaigns (29%)

Kahuna’s survey consists of data from client servicing, marketing, and advertising professionals from companies that employ 50 or more people. Kahuna has been extremely particular about the fact that all the surveyed companies have an online marketplace. The report states that while eBay and Amazon rule the roost, marketplaces similar to Uber, TaskRabbit & Airbnb has tremendous potential.

“Marketplaces will account for 40% of the global online retail market by 2020,” said Altimeter Principal Analyst Brian Solis. “Amazon told its shareholders in April that more transactions were fulfilled directly from sellers than from its own fulfillment centers for the first time. Ignore marketplace growth at your peril.”

The report details the current state & Future prediction of Online Marketplaces – it speaks about a new species of product & service sellers. Further, the report pens down the scope of consumer service in the near future and that their broadening choice and increasing expectations would compel enterprises to adapt to newer ways of conducting business.

Other key areas covered in the report are:

Fostering healthy competition
Promoting continuous innovation
Transportation
Classifieds
Property Portals
Consumer Services

Crucial Takeaways from the Report

Digital advertising, search and social media are the best places to recruit sellers, marketplaces state.
Seller retention also requires marketing initiatives.
Merchants can create independent value by leveraging services offered by integrated platforms.
Growth as a service should be introduced on platforms so that sellers are better engaged with a marketplace.

The complete report is available on Kahuna’s website.