Amazon’s marketplace sales not only have leapfrogged its direct sales business, but marketplace growth is significantly outstripping that of direct operations, which means the gap between marketplace and direct will grow larger in coming years.
The increasing popularity of online marketplaces is not unique to Amazon—eBay was founded on the marketplace model, while retailers like Walmart and Target are mixing in third-party merchants on their ecommerce platforms—but in the US, Amazon dominates digital marketplace sales.
According to eMarketer forecasts, the gap between US first-party sales on Amazon and third-party sales is widening. In 2017, direct sales grew 20.9% to reach $70.40 billion. By 2019, that total will climb to $95.08 billion. By comparison, marketplace sales jumped 41.4% to $129.45 billion last year. And marketplace sales are expected to log growth topping 30% this year and next. Read the rest at eMarketer.
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