The Best Marketplaces for Growth and the Stack to Enable Them

On October 2, Zentail’s CEO and co-founder, Dan Sugarman, joined forces with Steve Bulger, President of eFulfillment Service, for an engaging 1-hour webinar discussing the best marketplaces for growth and how to build the perfect tech stack for success. Together, they shared insights on navigating the ever-changing world of ecommerce, from multichannel selling to managing inventory and fulfillment.

Continue reading to explore how Zentail and eFulfillment Service empower sellers to streamline operations, navigate marketplace complexities, and position themselves for explosive growth. Whether you’re just starting to expand or looking to maximize your success across platforms, you won’t want to miss these insights.

You can also watch the full recording of the webinar here.

What’s Zentail? 

Zentail is a software platform that makes multichannel selling easy. It brings all your data into one central place, covering everything you need for marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Target, and storefronts like Shopify.

Zentail synchronizes orders and inventory, transforming complex back-end setups into a unified quantity for each channel. A key differentiator is its ability to automate workflows and seamlessly translate a central catalog into high-quality listings across multiple sales platforms, which is key for success in multichannel selling.

What’s eFulfillment Service? 

eFulfillment Service provides warehousing and order fulfillment services for online sellers. Unlike many fulfillment companies, eFS works with sellers of all types and sizes, offering a lot of flexibility without big spend or order volume requirements. With nearly 25 years of experience, the family-owned and operated business takes pride in its high level of service and full control over operations. The team features a strong in-house development team that’s built integrations, including one with Zentail, to make things even easier for clients.

How does the integration between Zentail and eFulfillment Service enable seamless multichannel selling?

Dan: In the old days, you had to physically go to a store to buy something. But online, it’s different, you don’t need those old distribution channels anymore.

The promise is that you can sell from a shared stock of inventory. You’ve got all your products in one place, and all these virtual storefronts are pulling from the same stock. In theory, it sounds great — you should be able to have all your inventory available across different channels.

But in reality, it hasn’t quite worked out that way. By taking control of the fulfillment experience, Amazon has built out a massive physical infrastructure for its FBA program, creating a new challenge. Now, you’re required to have your inventory with Amazon. Walmart is following a similar model, so you have to keep inventory with them too. And if you want to start a new sales channel, you have to store inventory somewhere else again.

This creates a unique challenge for sellers.

What’s great about eFulfillment Service is that you can keep all your inventory in one place and still live that online selling dream. When you’re ready to expand to a new sales channel, you’re already compliant from a fulfillment standpoint. Plus, with your catalog already translated through Zentail, you can launch on a new channel with just a click. We make it easy to understand the intricacies of a new channel without having to learn them all yourself.

Which marketplaces are showing the most growth opportunities?

Dan: At Zentail, we track data from all major marketplaces, including insights from our customers, and we’re particularly excited about growth opportunities on Walmart and Target Plus in the U.S.

Amazon

Dan: Amazon is typically where we see the most marketplace success, aside from first-party web store sales. Walmart often comes in as a second choice.

Steve: Sellers tell us that while Amazon generates a lot of sales, it’s becoming harder to work with — especially with tough inventory level requirements that can get expensive.

That’s where eFS helps by offering overflow storage, or what we call FBA prep. For example, if Amazon only wants two of the 10 pallets you send, we store the other eight, prep and label them, and replenish Amazon’s warehouses as needed.

eBay

Dan: eBay is another platform where we see a good amount of GMV, similar to Walmart and Target Plus, but there’s been less success with newer expansions on eBay. That might be because eBay tends to do well in specific categories, and a seller’s history on the platform seems to play an important role in their success. 

Target Plus

Dan: More sellers should be looking at Target Plus. It’s hard to get approved, but we’ve had a lot of success helping sellers get in. Target relies on partners like Zentail — there are only a couple of us handling the pipeline for new sellers. It’s a very exclusive marketplace with a lot of traffic and a very small catalog, so if you can get approved for Target Plus, it’s definitely worth it.

Interested in joining Target Plus? Apply through Zentail to significantly improve your chances of approval.

Other Marketplaces

Dan: Outside of these top players, I see other marketplaces like TikTok getting a lot of attention. We haven’t seen tons of success on TikTok Shop yet, but they have strategies that are driving commerce. I think success there might be geared more toward specific types of brands, and it seems like having a strong influencer strategy is key — one that may not even be tied directly to TikTok Shop.

We often hear there many U.S. marketplaces don’t generate significant sales, and that’s where some sellers get tripped up. Getting on more marketplaces doesn’t always mean more sales. It’s usually smarter to focus on top marketplaces that drive most of the revenue.

If you can do really well on the major marketplaces we’ve discussed, you'll get the best return, rather than spreading yourself too thin on platforms with limited traffic.

The power of marketplaces

Steve: A lot of online sellers turn to marketplaces because it’s often harder to drive traffic to your own Shopify or BigCommerce store. Where are you going to get that traffic from? You can try to outrank giants like Amazon and Walmart on Google or take a social media approach. But the big advantage of marketplaces is that they already have the traffic. If you can figure out their algorithms and how to succeed there, the sales will follow.

Dan: The typical long-tail marketplace only generates around $5 million in GMV annually. While these marketplaces may actively market to attract sellers, it’s not always the best move to be everywhere at once. Our goal is to help sellers focus on platforms that drive the most GMV.

What are some top factors sellers should consider when figuring out which marketplaces to expand into?

Steve: When expanding into new marketplaces, it’s crucial for sellers to be strategic and consider several key factors:

Don’t spread your resources too thin

Trying to spread your brand too thin across multiple marketplaces can backfire — you end up being a jack of all trades, and that’s not always the best strategy. When you spread your resources too thin, you often take a generic approach to marketplace selling, but each platform has its own nuances, rules, and audience demographics.

Know your product and your audience

Demographics play a big role. What’s your product, and who’s your target market? Is Amazon the right fit? Additionally, it’s important to know where your audience is located: are they primarily in the U.S. or overseas? Different marketplaces offer varying levels of global reach. 

Consider the costs and competition

Keep in mind, you’re competing with a lot of sellers. Can you be as price-competitive, or are you targeting a niche audience that’s willing to pay more for something unique? Costs, fees, and competition levels all come into play.

Assess brand control

Amazon is known for owning the customer relationship; they’re Amazon’s customers, not yours. That’s true for many marketplaces, but others, like Etsy or Target Plus, allow you to have a bit more control over your brand presence.

Leverage your brand’s strengths

If your brand is strong in social media and creative marketing, you might be better off building your own audience, rather than relying on platforms like Amazon or Walmart to handle the marketing for you.

When should sellers start expanding to multiple channels?

Dan: When expanding into new sales channels, there are a few key factors that sellers should consider to ensure they’re ready for growth and can maintain success across multiple platforms:

Scale before expanding: One key factor to consider is scale. A lot of people don’t ask the important question: “When should I try to expand?” My advice might be different from what people expect. We sell multichannel, but I don’t think you should jump into every channel right away. You want to have something interesting and prove market demand first.

There are a couple of ways to do that today. Amazon has a huge audience, and they do the marketing for you. If you can find success on Amazon, then it makes sense to start expanding from there. You don’t want to only rely on Amazon, though. The same goes for Shopify. If you can handle your own marketing and find success on platforms like Facebook and Google, or if you’ve built an audience through online forums, there are many ways to grow through Shopify.

Focus on high-return channels first: Once you hit a minimum of $1 million in revenue on a single sales channel, that’s when it’s time to start thinking about a multichannel approach. As you scale from there, the returns get bigger. Once you reach $5 million, you can see a much higher ROI by adding new channels.

Ensure you have the resources to support expansion: You can start looking at adding sales from other channels once you’ve scaled. For example, if Amazon is your primary channel, adding an extra 30% in sales by going multichannel could make sense. If you can afford the staff, software, and fulfillment capabilities to manage it, expanding to other channels becomes a smart move.

What key factors contribute to a successful launch?

Dan: The goal is typically to get 80% of your catalog live on a new marketplace. According to our data, once 80% of your catalog is live on Walmart, for instance, sellers generally achieve 10-20% of their Amazon GMV on Walmart.

But hitting this threshold is difficult due to two main factors: 

1. Getting your listings compliant
2. Ensuring fulfillment meets the marketplace’s requirements

When it comes to listings, reaching 80% “listing uptime” — the percentage of your catalog that’s published and available for sale — is the first step to success. This is where the 10-20% GMV typically starts to appear.

The next focus is listing quality: how well your listings rank in search results and filters. High listing quality creates a flywheel effect, driving more and more sales on that channel.

Steve: Having the right tools and partners is crucial. Selling on a marketplace is very different from running your own web store, where you control everything — shipping times, inventory accuracy, and more. If something goes wrong on your own site, you might lose a customer, but on a marketplace, it’s more complicated.

You need to keep inventory accurate and up to date across multiple channels, which is where a platform like Zentail helps — ensuring real-time updates so you avoid overselling or underselling. On the fulfillment side, orders must be shipped and delivered on time to avoid penalties from the marketplace.

When you’re new to a marketplace, it’s essential to do everything right from the start to get good visibility. Otherwise, you’ll face hurdles that can slow growth. That’s why the right tools and partners are so important.

It also raises the question: Is this the right marketplace for your brand? Maybe you don’t want to jump into five or six marketplaces right away. Amazon might be the right fit if you have a price-competitive or unique product, but Target Plus, Etsy, or another niche marketplace could be a better match.

Do your homework: understand your brand’s strengths, your product’s strengths, and which marketplace aligns best with those.

What are the common pitfalls and challenges sellers face? 

Dan: Many sellers I talk to know how to succeed on one platform, like Amazon or Shopify, but when they expand to new marketplaces, they struggle. They don’t always understand what made them successful on their original platform, and when they try to list a SKU or two on another marketplace, they find it hard to navigate the differences between sales channels.

At Zentail, we aim to simplify the process of understanding new marketplace requirements without adding extra work. For example, we can automatically take your Amazon setup, with its structured data, and translate it into what Walmart or Target needs. We also highlight any gaps in your data that are needed for the new sales channel.

Some common pitfalls sellers face:

• Changes in marketplace requirements: Sellers often don’t realize when requirements change, which can lead to their listings being unpublished or dropping in search rankings.
• Lack of visibility into listing quality: Many sellers struggle to track how well their listings are performing. Zentail provides tools to monitor where you stand, track changes, and automate updates.
• Managing new schemas: Both Walmart and Amazon introduced new schemas this year. With Zentail, users are automatically protected, and any new requirements are clearly communicated, so you know which listings are published, which have errors, and how to resolve them.
• Limited visibility across marketplaces: Sellers often don’t have a clear view of their marketplace setup, especially compared to their primary sales channel like Amazon or Shopify.

What we solve at Zentail is providing visibility into these issues. Trying to shift even 10% of your Amazon sales to Walmart is tough if you don’t know where the gaps are, and nearly impossible without the right technology.

Why are listing uptime and listing quality important, and how do they affect a seller’s GMV and the customer experience?

Dan: We focus on getting sellers to succeed by improving listing uptime first. Listing uptime is your published rate — the percentage of listings that are actually live on a channel. We track it over time because changes can cause listings to go down, which is why it’s called uptime.

If your listings aren’t published, no one can buy them. It’s a simple concept, but across the industry, publish rates are shockingly low, especially outside Amazon. This is usually because sellers lack visibility into marketplace requirements. They end up spending too much time trying to figure it out in Seller Central.

Getting your listings live is the first step. Once your listings are published and inventory is available, you’re already on the right track.

Next is listing quality. High-quality listings rank better in search results, leading to more sales. Marketplaces have more confidence in products with complete information, which boosts their ranking. Customers also have more details to make informed purchases, which can lower return rates.

If your listing quality is high, you’ll rank better, generate more sales, and get more five-star reviews, creating a flywheel effect of success.

This applies to both targeted searches and product discovery. If key attributes are missing, your product won’t appear in search results, and consumers may lack confidence in making a purchase.

Badging is another factor. Without good listing quality, you miss out on badges that improve rankings and sales. For example, Walmart offers referral fee discounts for badges like Pro Seller or Advanced Seller, which depend on your content score and listing quality. These are key drivers of more sales.

How can technology help sellers scale and meet marketplace demands? 

Steve: Technology is key. Sellers need to fully understand:

• Delivery requirements: How quickly orders need to reach customers.
• Tracking details: The level of tracking information required by marketplaces.
• Inventory management: Accurate inventory tracking is critical, and platforms like Zentail help manage this across multiple channels.

What we bring to the table is scalability. Many sellers experience rapid growth when they get on a marketplace — going from a few dozen orders a week to quadrupling that in no time. Platforms like Zentail and fulfillment partners like eFulfillment Service play a crucial role here. When your order volume doubles overnight, we handle it. In-house fulfillment operations often struggle with this kind of growth, but with nearly 25 years of experience, we’re equipped to scale quickly through cross-training and the ability to bring in extra help.

How can sellers evaluate tech options? With so many tools available, how do you identify your needs and choose the best fit for your team?

Dan: Zentail isn’t for everybody. If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend getting your footing and proving market demand before jumping into multichannel selling. You don’t need more than one sales channel to do that. Once you’ve proven demand, Zentail might be right for you. But it’s not for everyone.

We focus on brands that really care about listing content and winning by having high-quality listings that rank well. These tend to be brands, white-label brands, or authorized resellers. If listing quality isn’t something you’re interacting with much beyond putting up an offer, then you might not care about Zentail’s differentiators.

Steve: Scaling is a big reason to invest in technology, especially for newer brands or those that haven’t yet hit $1 million in GMV. It’s important to focus on one channel and really figure it out. Don’t spread yourself too thin by giving 20% to five different channels. Instead, dial in on one — your branding, pricing, and what works best for your business. Once you start scaling, that’s when technology becomes more important.

Enhancing the overall customer experience is key. AI is evolving quickly, and the level of personalization you can offer is becoming more advanced. When you’re just starting out, if you can find a cost-effective tool or plugin to boost personalization and marketing on one channel, that’s a great place to begin.

AI is a hot topic right now: what are your thoughts on its impact?

Steve: Don’t try to do too much with AI too quickly. Focus on the areas where you have gaps — whether it’s personalizing the shopping experience, managing marketing, or optimizing product listings.

AI is especially useful for product listings — getting them up quickly, optimizing them for each channel, and assisting with inventory management by predicting stock shortages or even reordering from suppliers. We’re not fully there yet at eFS, but tools exist to help forecast inventory needs accurately.

On the fulfillment side, we’re using AI for things like integrations and optimizing pick-and-pack operations.

AI can also help identify new market opportunities and trends, which is crucial for ecommerce sellers. Consumer behavior is always changing, and something might blow up on TikTok or Instagram. The challenge is staying agile and responding to those shifts. AI can help track industry trends and predict what’s coming next.

‍Dan: This is a bit complicated for me. I’ve been around AI for a while — I was working on my PhD in computer science before starting Zentail, so I’ve studied machine learning as it’s evolved.

AI has truly changed the world, and it’s incredible how advanced it is today. But in many cases, it’s still not good enough. There’s a lot of noise around AI right now. But there’s also some pushback because the real-world results don’t always live up to the hype.

One big mistake people make is expecting AI to do everything. You see this with listing creation — people ask AI to fill in fields, and it ends up generating a lot of “hallucinations,” or as I call it, “bullshit.” You get a lot of bad listings.

Some companies use AI well for tasks like translating Amazon listings from Chinese to English, it works well in those cases because it has a lot of context. We extensively test AI internally to see where it can actually be useful, including backend tasks like development.

The key is quality assurance. You still need to be the editor. This applies to content, engineering, everything.

We’re exploring ways to help our users speed up their processes with AI, while making sure they’re not bogged down with bad data.

How has social commerce impacted traditional marketplaces, and how can sellers keep up with changing trends?

Steve: We’re hearing a lot about TikTok, Instagram Shopping, and Facebook Marketplace from prospective clients. These platforms are still new but are gaining traction, especially among younger demographics. That said, TikTok also has a sizable audience of people up to their mid-40s.

Consumers are using these platforms not just for entertainment but to discover products, allowing brands to build a direct connection with customers — something that’s harder to do on Amazon, where the platform owns the customer relationship. This shift is why Gen Z prefers these channels, and it could be a significant challenge to Amazon and Google.

Dan: Social buying isn’t new. Facebook has been a key player for years, and many DTC brands, especially on Shopify, have thrived using Facebook and Google marketing. Google is more about targeted search, while Facebook focuses on product discovery.

Now, TikTok and Instagram have taken this further by leveraging influencers to promote products. It can be lucrative, but there’s a misconception about how easy it is. It’s hard to take an Amazon business and turn it into a TikTok business. Success often depends on the product and having the right influencer strategy.

The way I see it, TikTok is like a modern version of the Home Shopping Network. Influencers showcase products, and consumers buy based on what they see. However, there’s often a gap between what’s promoted and what customers receive, as seen with brands like Shein. TikTok works well as a distribution channel, but purchases are often lower-investment and come with less confidence in quality compared to Amazon.

What are the advantages of using Zentail over a Shopify app or Walmart Seller Center?

Dan: It’s two different answers for those use cases. The short version is, we might not be the right fit for everyone. If you have one product and can handle the listing and fulfillment process without automation, that’s possible, plenty of sellers do that today.

But when you have more SKUs, the complexity grows exponentially. Most sellers don’t have the Pro Seller badge or the listing quality they need because they lack the tools and automation to get there.

Shopify is great for building your brand and website, but success there relies more on marketing than structured data. On platforms like Amazon, where the catalog is massive and buying behavior is different, structured data is critical.

Expanding to new channels using a Shopify app? I haven’t seen many succeed with any complexity involved. You’re often bending the backend, creating metafields and mapping without knowing if it’s even working.

The OMS and IMS features work fine for TikTok Shops or Shopify, but the bigger issue is your listings aren’t set up correctly on more complex channels.

How do you handle returns across multiple marketplaces while keeping customer satisfaction high and operational costs low?

Steve: Returns management can be a nightmare for many ecommerce sellers. But just like on the outbound side — where sellers use us for multiple channels and we handle fulfillment to ensure orders are delivered on time — we manage returns in the same way.

We offer discounted return shipping through our accounts, which is one way we help keep costs low.

Having one consolidated place where all your merchandise is brought back, quickly processed, and either restocked or quality-checked is critical. We do a lot of that for our clients. Some have specific requirements for how they want returns handled. We can repackage items or restock them into inventory. We offer personalized solutions tailored to each client’s needs.

What’s the most important message sellers should take from this discussion?

Steve: My one piece of advice is to avoid rushing into too many channels. Figure out what works well for your brand, who your audience is, and get feedback on your products before jumping into marketplaces. You can optimize your listings and fulfillment, but if the product itself isn’t good, you won’t get good reviews. Make sure you have solid feedback, then do your homework to find out which marketplace is the best fit. Don’t try to tackle four at once.

Dan: If you’re looking for more personalized advice, our team at Zentail is here to help. We’re happy to chat and make recommendations, whether that includes Zentail or not.

We can answer benchmark questions — for example, if your sales are performing well on one channel, how does that compare to others? Is your business a good fit for Target Plus? Should you submit an application? We can help with those decisions.

Come check out a demo, and we’ll show you exactly what the platform looks like and how it differs from using Seller Center or Shopify apps. We’re happy to spend time with you, whether or not we end up being the right fit.