Last year, Australians spent close to $19 billion on online marketplaces (pure ones). Moreover, over 70% of online shoppers bought something via a marketplace. In fact, for shopping, marketplace apps are rivalling the popularity of retailer websites. Or more and more Australians are discovering, comparing, and purchasing items through the online marketplace economy.
However, more marketplaces imply more sellers. A larger number of sellers mean more interactions with customers. Hence, customer data volume shoots up. And when more data flows in from more sources, complexity increases.
So, as an online marketplace operator in Australia, your challenge doesn’t really revolve around gathering customer data. It’s more about ensuring that the data is correct, consistent, and connected.
For a long time, platforms like eBay and Amazon have offered the necessary digital infrastructure for connecting sellers with buyers. In Australia though, retail businesses are increasingly embracing their own marketplace models.
Retailer-led marketplaces are on the rise and these include platforms linked to key Australian retail brands. With such models, retailers get to expand their collections without having to carry the entire inventory. Consequently, sellers reach established audiences, while the marketplace presents more choice in products to customers.
One major example of this model is ICONIC. Additional brands can leverage its marketplace to access an established base of customers. And ICONIC gets to support a wider product assortment.
So, it isn’t difficult to see where the model’s appeal lies. Compared to a conventional retail model (inventory-led), marketplaces can scale product selection at a swifter pace.
Is there a catch? Yes, every extra seller translates to an additional information source. And this sparks data challenge.
To a shopper, here’s how a marketplace transaction goes – search, choose, pay, and get the order. But in reality, multiple systems are involved behind that apparently simple transaction. Here’s why:
So, every system is likely to create or tweak customer information. And when thousands of sellers enter the equation, data volume simply shoots through the roof. However, there’s a problem – it’s not easy to be sure if all the information is linked to the same customer, address, and transaction.
Why? The same customer’s name might appear differently across systems (due to initials, abbreviations, middle names etc.). Or one system might have a customer’s current address while another continues to store the old one. Or the formatting of a phone number might vary across systems.
When a retailer sells their own items through their own website, the data environment is mostly contained. However, a marketplace brings together thousands of sellers and runs like an ecosystem.
Naturally, such an ecosystem must reconcile data across various operating processes, data standards, technologies, and businesses. The fact that marketplaces are competing around convenience magnifies the challenge.
Here’s something to shed more light on what’s happening.
Around 40% Australians use major marketplace platforms for weekly purchases. About 80% also say that they don’t visit physical stores as much due to marketplace shopping. So, marketplaces have enough reason to stay ahead in terms of speed and convenience. And this is resulting in greater investment in logistics.
However, information accuracy is essential for faster delivery. For instance, if an address is incomplete, parcels will be delayed. Or if a phone number isn’t valid, the customer cannot receive delivery updates. So, with growing marketplace activity, data quality starts impacting customer experience more than ever.
Inconsistent data impacts online marketplaces in several areas:
Marketplace competition is fast transitioning from product and price to fulfilment. Customers in Australia expect precise delivery estimates, easy options for collection, and hassle-free returns. Close to 70% shoppers, in fact, desire multiple delivery options when checking out. And 26% look forward to same or next-day delivery for urgent purchases.
Hence, the fulfilment chain is under constant pressure. Say, a customer moved a month ago. Their present address is outdated in the seller’s system but updated in the marketplace account. It might lead to an unsuccessful delivery, extra handling, or a return-to-sender scenario.
Data validation can address this issue though and prevent certain errors from heading downstream. Simply put, running marketplace operations smoothly requires you to verify, standardize, and enrich addresses.
Identity resolution can be a challenge for online marketplaces. This means determining whether different records (with varying information) are connected to the same individual. It becomes trickier when data flows in from multiple channels.
For instance, a customer might:
If all these interactions aren’t properly connected, you might end up with fragmented customer profiles. And this can affect everything from marketing and personalization to customer service.
For instance, when a customer contacts your support team regarding an order, the agent might see only one record, though several exist. And not having access to the entire history means they can’t address the problem efficiently.
Did you know that 6 out of 10 shoppers already use AI and over 30% leverage it for shopping tips? Also, with agentic commerce on the rise, AI systems are becoming more capable of anticipating requirements and completing purchases.
Sure, with AI, marketplaces are reaching new milestones in product discovery, suggestions, customer service, and fraud identification. But AI cannot solve underlying data issues.
Rather, automated systems inherit flaws like duplicate records, inaccurate addresses, poorly matched identities, or inconsistent product information.
So, a recommendation engine is almost useless without reliable data on customers and products. Or even if an AI shopping assistant comprehends a customer request perfectly, downstream systems cannot fulfil the order without correct data.
Marketplace growth will undoubtedly open up new vistas for retailers and sellers in Australia. More sellers will lead to more choices in products. And that means more shoppers, transactions, and data. Hence, effective data management is the key to sustainable growth.
However, cleaning information manually will be difficult as sellers, channels, and customer interactions grow in numbers. As a marketplace operator, you will need automated processes for validating, standardizing, matching, and enriching customer data constantly.
This means you must establish consistency across customer identifiers, like names, phone numbers, addresses, etc. Forging reliable connections between records is essential too, so businesses can spot when different records are associated with the same customer.
The marketplace economy in Australia is fast expanding. But more marketplaces invariably lead to more sellers, customer data, and complexity. So, as a marketplace operator, you need clean customer records for effective personalization, efficient deliveries, improved fraud control, and reliable AI outcomes.
Invest in advanced capabilities for transforming fragmented customer data into something accurate and usable. Consider tools for identity and address verification, contact validation, de-duplication, data matching, geocoding, and enrichment. Building a robust data foundation is no longer a dream
Every new seller adds more data to manage. get a clean, connected customer view