Retail technology is changing so fast that markets are unable to react to it. One of these changes is the rapid growth of marketplaces’ influence on retail and consumer behavior.
In essence, the marketplace is a “big electronic shelf” that changes the nature of competition and the rules of the game in retail.
Research shows that through marketplaces the buyer gets great advantages, he "sees" all the alternatives, he "hears" all the reviews. Through online shopping the consumer can effectively manage the economy of purchase, order. Rational motives prevail over the emotional side in the choice of goods, and large brands lose many of their competitive advantages. In practice, a lot of small sellers can "crush" large brands.
In this article, using research, statistics and our own observations, we will try to answer the following questions:
— How is the influence of marketplaces on trade, and on the clothing and fashion market in particular, growing?
— How do consumers behave in the context of the growth of marketplaces?
— How is this trend being implemented in Kazakhstan?
THE GROWING ROLE OF ONLINE TRADE AND MARKETPLACES
In this graph (1) , based on PwC data and forecasts, we see the rapid growth of the online share in overall retail: from 7% in 2014 to almost 22% in 2024, with a monetary volume of more than $6 trillion.
And what is important for us is that we see a revolutionary growth in the share of marketplaces in online retail: from 43% in 2014 to 72% in 2024.
CLOTHING AND FASHION ARE AT THE TOP OF VISITS AND SALES THROUGH MARKETPLACES
(2)
# Product Category Marketplaces Visits/month
1 General 89 13.95B
2 Fashion 30 710.31M
3 Arts, Crafts & Gifts 3 408.6M
4 Homewares 7 227.74M
5 Music 2 79.32M
World and Kazakhstan statistics show us that marketplaces play a major role in changes in the clothing, footwear, and fashion markets.
Of the top 150 marketplaces in the world, the most are general marketplaces where all categories of goods are sold (for example, Kaspi). There are 89 of them (out of 150) with a total number of visits per month of almost 14 billion. But in second place, far ahead of the next category, are specialized marketplaces for clothing, footwear and fashion. There are 30 such platforms. And they are visited by more than 700 million visitors per month.
Kazakhstan statistics show that the category "Clothing, footwear france phone number data and sporting goods" is in first place in terms of the share of buyers of these goods via Online - 64%. The next category in popularity - "Food products" - is behind by 15% (3) .
Product category Popularity
Clothes, shoes, sporting goods 63.6%
Food products 48.4%
Medicines 30.4%
THE MOST INFLUENTIAL MARKETPLACES OF KAZAKHSTAN
In Kazakhstan, the number one marketplace is Kaspi.
This is confirmed by both the rating of online platforms according to forbes.kz (4) and our small study, conducted in the form of in-depth interviews with experts.