Expert interview with Niels Floors from ChannelEngine

If you want to build a strong brand, marketplaces are essential. They are the place where customers find your brand today. But how can you still be profitable in a rapidly growing e-commerce world? Niels Floors, who works at ChannelEngine, knows all about it. 

• 30 experts will tackle a research question
• For bol partners, by bol partners
• The result: a bluepaper full of practical tips and advice

'As a brand owner, you can no longer do without marketplaces. But marketplaces are developing rapidly. If you want to remain successful, you really have to put in the effort and fully understand the platforms. This means constantly improving the content on your sales channels, managing your stock and prices well, and ensuring your order flows run smoothly. And where you used to primarily want to be visible on Google, you now arrange that visibility on every individual marketplace. Brand owners therefore have to get to work, but often don't know the tactics and strategies to be profitable. That's exactly what our ShoppingTomorrow expert group is researching this year.'

'Anyone can put a brand on a marketplace, and generating revenue isn't that difficult. The challenge lies in making a profit. Being successful and profitable is the most important theme in e-commerce right now. The supply chain is becoming more expensive, causing all costs to rise. But customers still expect a good price. So, it's becoming increasingly difficult to run a profitable business. It's certainly possible, but it's no longer as straightforward. You have to work much harder for it now. For this reason, we are conducting research with 29 experts into the strategies and tactics that help brand owners with this. How do you still build a successful brand on marketplaces in the current climate? And how do you achieve profitable growth?'

'That's right! We are investigating which challenges are currently most prevalent for brands. For those challenges, we will look for solutions. We select a number of cases that we will work out from top to bottom. From problem to solution. In one half of the cases, we focus on building a brand on marketplaces. So, how do you position your brand well and ensure visibility through branding, advertising, and content improvement. The other half of the cases is about profitability. How do you reduce your costs and operate efficiently? We will ultimately bring the results of the cases together in a bluepaper. It will contain concrete conclusions, advice, and practical learnings. We provide solutions for challenges that almost all brands face. So, if you want to get ahead of that and grow faster towards a profitable, healthy business on marketplaces? Then the bluepaper is really useful.'

What tips can you give brand owners now?

'My number one tip: automate. We all see how fast developments are going in the field of automation. Take AI, for example. You won't start a healthy business manually anymore, so research what tools are available and see which ones fit your brand. And take marketplaces seriously, because it's no longer a side business. It's your most important sales channel, and you really have to invest in it if you want to be successful. Make sure everyone within your organization understands how marketplaces work and that your systems are in order. It could be that you suddenly have a lot of sales. You then only have one chance to do it right. Because if you can't deliver on your promises and get bad reviews, it's difficult to build a good reputation again. A good start is half the battle!'