Let's talk Marketplace

Marketplace Universe

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More than half of all e-commerce sales are generated on online marketplaces - if that's not reason enough for a regular talk show! Marketplace specialists Valerie Dichtl and Ingrid Lommer take up the challenge.

2d ago

Just Being on TikTok Shop Is Not Enough": Philips' 2-Year Playbook for Europe #LTM153

A 130-year-old brand on a channel that didn't exist five years ago - and one of the most honest assessments of TikTok Shop you're likely to hear. Stephanie van der Planck-Jones built Philips' TikTok Shop business in the UK from scratch and is currently expanding into Germany, France and Spain. In this episode, she explains why 80% of Philips customers spend more than two and a half hours on TikTok every day - and why that was the decisive reason for Philips to enter TikTok Shop. She talks about why the first six to nine months on the platform are essentially a paid experiment, and how to bring stakeholders through that phase without losing their trust. Stephanie also explains why affiliates require far more work than most brands expect - and why that's especially true in newer markets like Germany. And she makes clear why TikTok Shop isn't just for low-priced products: Philips now sells devices up to €400 on the platform. Note from the sponsor ChannelEngine: 20,000 SKUs across seven Kaufland markets - without starting from scratch seven times. The Handyhuellen.de case shows how an existing Kaufland Germany setup was rolled out to six additional countries with the help of ChannelEngine - and why that is exactly what makes the difference in cross-border expansion. Individual markets were technically activated in around two hours, the new countries reached around 50% of Germany's sales volume after one year, and Italy is already number two after Germany. The full case with all the details is available at Marketplace Universe. https://marketplace-universe.com/best-practice-how-handyhuellen-de-scaled-into-seven-kaufland-markets/

37 min
May 28

From Headache to Scale: How AI Is Changing Fashion Content Production #LTM152

AI can generate an impressive product image – but can it deliver that same image, correctly named, in the right format, and on time to Zalando, About You, and Amazon simultaneously? That, says Fabio Loparco, CEO of Pixel Moda, is where the real problem lies. In this episode, Valerie speaks with Fabio about what has changed in AI-powered content production for fashion brands since September 2025. They discuss why AI-assisted and Generative AI are two fundamentally different business models. Why scalability doesn't come from the tool itself, but from its integration into the production infrastructure. And why Zalando produces 70% more content at the same cost – not because they have better AI, but because they rebuilt their operating model around it. Note from the sponsor ChannelEngine: TikTok Shop is worth it – but only if you get the fundamentals right. Because TikTok Shop rewards content performance, runs on creator trust, and punishes weak operational processes. The brands winning right now have the infrastructure to back up their content strategy. That's exactly where ChannelEngine comes in: the platform connects your backend directly to TikTok Shop, handling real-time stock sync, listing compliance, and order routing – so your operations don't fall apart when your content takes off. The full deep dive on how to win on TikTok Shop is right here on Marketplace Universe. https://marketplace-universe.com/how-to-succeed-on-tiktok_shop/ Note from the sponsor eDesk: Every unanswered pre-sale question can mean a lost purchase. Every slow response can hurt seller performance. And every poorly handled complaint can turn into a negative review that affects visibility for weeks. Many sellers spend months optimising ads, listings and prices – but a significant share of revenue is won or lost in a place many still underestimate: the inbox. That's exactly what we'll be discussing in a free webinar on 2 June at 11 AM CET with Gareth Cummings, CEO of eDesk, and Irene Epp from Pertemba – who sell on more than 100 global marketplaces and handle over 1,000 customer inquiries per day. Register right now here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/6717775614141/WN_45_8U9P_TKWx-WzmbZnGFQ#/registration

44 min
May 21

What's up eBay Live? Taking stock six months after the launch #LTM151"

Live commerce in Europe is still too often viewed through an Asian lens - and that's exactly the problem. In this episode, Ingrid sits down with Lara Day, who has been building eBay Live in Germany for the past year, six months after the official launch. They explore why the European model needs its own logic and can't simply be a watered-down version of the Asian one. They discuss why re-commerce, secondhand and fashion are the natural entry points for live commerce in Europe - not because of entertainment value, but because live commerce solves a trust problem that static product images never could. And why returns play a bigger role in this equation than most people assume. The episode also features two sellers who are already active on eBay Live: Benjamin Gabriel, who sells refurbished electronics, and Meroda, who sells vintage fashion. Both describe how the personal connection to the buyer in a live stream changes purchase decisions - and reduces returns. Plus: how much technology and production does a successful live stream actually require? The answer might surprise you. Note to the eBay webinar: Want to go deeper? On June 16, 11. a.m. we're hosting a free webinar What It Really Takes to Succeed in Live Commerce together where Mason Howell from eBay and Ingrid Lommer will walk you through exactly how eBay Live works, what you need to get started, and how brands and retailers can make the most of it. Here's the Registration Link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/5017786708012/WN_2aFhsYAMSIa8ZIgyy0TJ2g

36 min
May 7

Welcome back, Valerie: What a baby does to business. #LTM150

Welcome back, Valerie: What a baby does to business. #LTM150 Episode 150 is a special one – and a very personal one. Valerie is back after four months of maternity leave, and to mark the anniversary, the two take a moment for an honest look behind the scenes. They talk about what it was like to steer a business through a time like this - for Ingrid, who held the wheel on her own, and for Valerie, who learned that being pregnant and being a founder in Germany comes with almost no systemic support. The fact that it worked anyway comes down to a strong partner, a team of ten women working behind the scenes - and a business structure that can withstand phases like this. They speak openly about why they kept the pregnancy quiet for so long, what they learned about trust in business, and how motherhood changes the way you work. An episode about partnership, reliability - and what really keeps a business standing when it matters most.

30 min
Apr 30

11 Giants, 83% Share: A Data-Driven Map of Marketplace Concentration #LTM149

In this episode the focus is on data: Ingrid speaks with Friedrich Schwandt, co-founder of ECDB, about current developments in the global marketplace landscape. At the centre are new insights into market concentration, the growth of 3P models, and shifting dynamics among leading platforms. They discuss why 84% of global e-commerce revenue now flows through marketplaces and how power structures within the top players are evolving – driven by the rapid growth of platforms like Temu, Shein or TikTok Shop. At the same time, they take a closer look at regional champions and category specialists, analysing how to identify whether a marketplace model is being built strategically or merely “running on the side.” The conversation also covers new transparency around 1P and 3P shares, the role of data modelling and estimation, and why 3P has become the central growth driver in e-commerce.

39 min
Apr 23

Escaping the Race to the Bottom: Strategic Pricing on Marketplaces #LTM148

Pricing on marketplaces is no longer just an operational lever. In this episode, Ingrid talks to Alexander Ioffe (Dimax Group) and Mateusz Wrobel (base) about the reality behind repricing and automation. It becomes clear that prices are shaped by a combination of factors: competition, platform logic, availability, margins and strategic goals - and often also by dynamics within a brand’s own distribution network. When multiple partners sell the same brand, different calculations collide and can trigger self-reinforcing price spirals. They explain why automation is necessary, but does not replace strategy. Repricing tools react faster, but they don’t decide why prices should be adjusted. This is where the work shifts: away from operational maintenance towards clearly defined price boundaries and strategic control. An episode about control, responsibility and the question of how much you should really leave to automation. Note from the sponsor Channable: Incomplete or inaccurate product data quickly costs visibility and margin in the marketplace business. This is especially true in the DIY segment, where a single centimetre can make a huge difference. Because here, it’s not about “Do I like it?”, but whether a product actually fits, works, and is correctly classified. Channable sees this every day. The integrator works with product feeds across multiple categories and marketplaces – and has a clear view of where data does not align with platform logic. What’s interesting is that the issues are often not that complex. More on how to improve product data can be found in this LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/valerie-dichtl_2-m-instead-of-200-cm-and-your-product-share-7448286365009666049-hxVb?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAdsMEUB4XWtREmwGDN_WBf1ZK4QGlwZlME Note from the sponsor Front Row If you work with marketplaces, you probably know this situation: your Amazon team optimizes retail media, your D2C team looks at CRM and lifetime value, and your performance team focuses on ROAS. But the customer doesn’t experience your brand in separate channels. From the customer’s perspective, it’s all one journey - from discovery on social media to research on marketplaces and finally to purchase. And that’s exactly what the new Connected Commerce Guide by Front Row is about. The guide explains how brands can connect Amazon, D2C, retail media and CRM into one system instead of optimizing each channel individually. It shows why focusing only on short-term metrics like ROAS often hides the real impact marketplaces have on the overall customer lifetime value. You can download the Connected Commerce Guide by Front Row for free here: https://www.frontrowgroup.de/insight/connected-commerce-guide/

30 min
Apr 9

How to showcase a brand on Kaufland international Marketplaces #LTM147

Kaufland is often seen as a price-driven marketplace - and that is exactly why many brands underestimate it. In this episode, Ingrid and Valerie talk to Jan Weiß from Sleeping and Markus Anstotz from Kaufland Global Marketplace about how brands actually succeed on Kaufland - beyond the usual assumptions. At the core is the question of where brand building really happens on such a marketplace. Visibility is largely driven by price, title, and image - the real differentiation begins after the click. They explain why content is not just a conversion driver, but a central lever for brand control, especially for products that require explanation. The conversation also dives into the operational reality of Retail Media on Kaufland: why a structured campaign setup is critical, what role top sellers play, and why not every product should be treated the same. Another focus is on how to measure success - and why classic KPIs like ACOS or ROAS often fall short. Instead, they discuss how brands should evaluate the share of marketing in total revenue, and why this is the key question for sustainable growth. Note from the sponsor base: Repricing is a persistent challenge on marketplaces: On the one hand, prices have to keep up with intense competitive pressure. On the other, they shouldn’t put your margins at risk. At the same time, effective repricing is almost impossible to manage manually when prices change multiple times a day - especially across hundreds of products. This is where repricing tools like the one from Base come in: They use intelligent algorithms to adjust prices based on predefined rules. How this works in practice will be shown by Alexander Ioffe from Dimax International and Mateusz Wrobel from Base in podcast episode 148 next week. Don’t miss it!

35 min
Apr 2

What Do AI Agents Want? Optimizing for Amazon Rufus & Agentic Commerce #LTM146

AI agents are changing how products are discovered and selected - but what does that actually mean for day-to-day marketplace operations? In this episode, Ingrid speaks with AI specialist Barbara Branca about why the logic is shifting from rankings to recommendation systems - and why “good enough” product data is no longer sufficient. Barbara argues that listings are turning into decision documents: AI systems no longer operate on keywords alone, but aim to understand intent and prepare purchase decisions based on that. This requires complete, structured, and consistent data - not just within a single marketplace, but across all channels. At the same time, the conversation gets very practical: which tasks in marketplace operations can already be meaningfully automated with AI, where real time savings can be achieved, and how to get started without overhauling everything. Barbara’s recommendation: don’t start with your entire catalogue, begin with your top products and assess whether your data is truly decision-ready. Note from the sponsor eDesk: As soon as sellers operate across multiple marketplaces, customer support quickly becomes highly complex. Irene Epp from Pertemba described this vividly: her team handles more than 1,000 customer inquiries per day - across over 130 marketplaces worldwide. Having spent many years in customer support herself, Irene calls it the “watchdog of the company.” Together with Gareth Cummings from eDesk, she explained in podcast episode 145 how this volume can actually be managed: all messages, orders, and customer data are brought into one central inbox, marketplace SLAs are tracked, and response times stay within required limits. Routine inquiries such as shipping status or returns can be automated - allowing the team to focus on more complex cases that require real judgment. If you missed the episode, it’s definitely worth a listen: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1cKbdDr2ipbnGCwo0KmxKF Note from the sponsor Kaufland Global Marketplace: If you’re looking to expand your marketplace business internationally - for example to Poland or Italy - it’s worth taking a closer look at the Kaufland Global Marketplace. Through Kaufland, you can currently sell in seven European countries: Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria, Italy, and France. The key advantage: you can manage all marketplaces through a single account, without having to set up your products separately for each country. We also have an interesting offer for you: With the promo code MP-UNI2026, new sellers can sell on all Kaufland marketplaces without a base fee for three months. The offer is valid until May 31, 2026. And if you’d like to learn more about how brands can build visibility and branding on Kaufland marketplaces, make sure to tune in to our upcoming podcast episode 147. Our guests will be Markus Anstots (Kaufland), Jan Weiß and Marvin Thöne (both Sleepling).

41 min

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Let's talk Marketplace (Trailer)

A brief summary of this episode

06/30/2022

•

1 min

More than half of all e-commerce sales are generated on online marketplaces - if that's not reason enough for a regular talk show! Marketplace specialists Valerie Dichtl and Ingrid Lommer take up the challenge.

Creator

Marketplace Universe
Years Active

2024 - 2026
Episodes

156
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© 418744
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Let's talk Marketplace