Extensiv— delivering omnichannel software solutions for warehouse, inventory, and order management — announced a summary of key findings from its 2Q 2024 Market Insights research which analyzes the order volume trends and seller dynamics across different ecommerce platforms. The 2Q insights indicate a complex picture of the ecommerce sector, with both Amazon and Shopify seeing a decrease in order volumes per seller despite increases in the number of sellers. This trend suggests market saturation where the influx of new sellers is not matched by an equivalent growth in orders. The overall drop in orders also indicates consumers are being more cautious with their spending. However, other smaller marketplaces saw growth in both seller and orders per seller, indicating that ecommerce brands are diversifying sales channels.
The 2Q 2024 Market Insights research is based on data from Extensiv’s proprietary platform. Extensiv Market Insights, launched in 2022, provides order volume trends for leading vendors like Amazon, Shopify, and other marketplaces based on data from Extensiv’s platform, which analyzes over 170 million orders per year from more than 10,000 online sellers. This enables brands to benchmark their results to the broader ecommerce landscape. To access Extensiv’s trend data, visit www.extensiv.com/market-insights.
Key Highlights from 2Q 2024 Extensiv Market Insights:
- Amazon Sellers Hurting for Order Volume: Data indicates that while orders per Amazon seller saw a 7% decline compared to 2Q23, the overall count of sellers rose by 18% during the same period year-over-year (YoY). Additionally, there was a 22% reduction in the orders per seller as compared to 1Q24, despite a 6% increase in sellers quarter-over-quarter (QoQ). These trends imply an increasingly saturated and competitive marketplace for sellers, with demand not rising proportionately. This marks a sharp reversal after 6 consecutive quarters of double-digit volume growth, indicating consumers may be pulling back on spending.
- Amazon Prime Day Outcomes: Amazon reported an 11% in sales increase as compared to last year’s Prime Day. However, Extensiv’s market data suggests a notable trend where the overall order volume grew, but individual sellers did not experience the same degree of business expansion. Extensiv tracked a 15% year-over-year increase in orders and a 14% rise in the number of sellers during Amazon Prime Day, resulting in average order increases of just 1% across all sellers. This implies that while the market is becoming increasingly crowded with new individual brands, the surge in orders may not be keeping pace positively for these newcomers.
- Shopify Sellers Skyrocket. Shopify experienced an 8% decrease in orders by seller YoY, with a significant 36% YoY increase in sellers. While sellers also increased over 1Q24 by 8%, Shopify customers saw orders decrease by 13% QoQ. This growth in seller numbers, not matched by order volumes, points to a competitive landscape where differentiation and innovation become key for seller success.
- Other Marketplaces Gained Share. All other marketplaces, such as eBay, Walmart, and Etsy, saw an increase of 11% YoY in their order volume per seller and an increase of 8% QoQ. The number of sellers also increased 17% YoY and 5% QoQ. With many brands struggling to grow revenue and maintain sales YoY, this trend points to brands diversifying their assortment of marketplaces, to control and improve profit margins and differentiation.
“With nearly one-third of consumers reporting a decrease in spending in Q2, we’re seeing consumers taking caution amidst economic uncertainty,” said Aaron Stead, president of Extensiv. “The current market conditions mean that ecommerce brands must innovate and expand beyond traditional platforms to thrive, exploring diverse marketplaces and adding new sales channels to leverage opportunities for margin control and access to new consumer segments. We’re also seeing brands look for greater savings on shipping, through rate shopping and carrier negotiations, to offset any profit erosion they see on the more competitive marketplaces.”
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