The UK has some incredible options for home and garden brands looking to find their audience online. Amazon may still be the biggest player in the game but smaller marketplaces with product niches are capturing the attention of consumers who shop with purpose.
As there is so much choice for consumers nowadays, meeting them where they shop is half the battle. If you are a home or garden brand in the UK, these are our top 5 marketplaces you need to be on to ensure you connect with your target market;
- B&Q
- Amazon
- ManoMano
- Wayfair
- Argos
B&Q
B&Q Marketplace, which launched in March 2022, is a home and garden juggernaut boasting over 300,000 products from 400 esteemed sellers. From wallpaper to power tools, cookware to tableware, this platform offers an expansive array of home improvement products, setting the stage for unparalleled success.
With over 50 years of rich history, B&Q stands as a beacon of excellence in the realm of home improvement. Through its marketplace, B&Q offers third-party sellers an influential platform, attracting a staggering 250 million online visits annually.
For brands seeking to amplify sales in the UK’s home improvement sector, B&Q Marketplace is the ultimate destination. Despite its relative infancy, B&Q Marketplace has swiftly emerged as a dominant force in the e-commerce landscape. By February 2023, it commanded an impressive 24% of B&Q’s total e-commerce sales.
As the sole official B&Q partner agency in the UK, Optimizon are uniquely positioned to provide invaluable insights into this groundbreaking marketplace. Our privileged access grants us exclusive knowledge, direct communication channels with B&Q personnel, and unprecedented opportunities to elevate brands within the marketplace.
Amazon
There isn’t a lot to say about Amazon that I’m sure you haven’t heard a thousand times. You know that when it comes to online shopping, Amazon is the big boss. They’ve got over 2.5 billion people visiting their site every single month, and sellers from all corners of the globe. Plus, they list everything under the sun for your home and garden needs – whether it’s furniture, bedding, kitchen gadgets, or gardening tools, you name it, they’ve got it.
Spanning an impressive 19 countries, Amazon isn’t just a massive hit for home and garden brands in the UK. You can reach a global audience without even leaving your couch. But here’s the kicker: while Amazon offers some pretty sweet perks like Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) Amazon Advertising, it’s not all smooth sailing. You must brace yourself for some tough competition, strict rules, and, of course, those pesky fees. But hey, nothing worth doing comes easy…
ManoMano
ManoMano is currently a top marketplace for home and garden goods in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and the United Kingdom. As one of the most successful marketplaces in Europe, it now has a total of 7 million customers and 50 million unique visitors every month.
Established in 2013, ManoMano has swiftly emerged as Europe’s go-to destination for DIY and gardening tools. Boasting over 10 million products, this dynamic marketplace caters to a diverse audience across Europe’s largest economies. It’s the UK market that shines brightest across Europe, driving significant sales growth, with a remarkable 240% increase in turnover to €105 million in 2020.
ManoMano prides itself on its stringent partner selection process, ensuring a curated selection of quality sellers who deliver competitive pricing and superior service. In fact, 75% of UK sellers are locally based, fostering trust and reliability within the community.
To support its growth trajectory, ManoMano is investing heavily in marketing initiatives, including TV advertising, and expanding its suite of seller support services, making it the perfect place for home and garden sellers to expand to, if they haven’t already!
Wayfair
Wayfair, a US-based powerhouse, ranks among Europe’s top 5 marketplaces, specialising in home products as well as indoor and outdoor furniture. Renowned as the leading home and garden e-commerce marketplace in the US and 22nd in Europe, Wayfair boasts an average of 24.4 million monthly visits in Europe alone and a hefty $14.15 billion in revenue for 2021. In the UK, it holds sway as the top online retailer for home furnishings and stands as the fourth largest e-commerce marketplace nationwide, drawing over 24.1 million visits monthly to its UK website.
With its Amazon-like reputation in the home goods market, Wayfair continues to dominate online homeware sales, offering a straightforward path for businesses to boost sales and extend brand reach. For drop-ship homewares businesses, selling on Wayfair provides a prime opportunity to capture market share, drive sales growth, and attract new customers. The platform’s vast visitor base actively seeking furniture and homewares, coupled with a favourable buyer-to-seller ratio and fee-free structure, makes it an enticing addition to any brand’s sales channels.
Argos
You can’t talk about online shopping in the UK without mentioning Argos. It’s like a staple in the UK online marketplace scene. Did you know it’s ranked as the third most popular e-commerce website in the UK? Pretty impressive. They’ve got pretty much everything you could think of, and what makes it a hit with UK shoppers is that they can offer same-day delivery. They even claim about 96% of their customers live within a stone’s throw of one of their stores.
Here’s a neat trick they use to get more eyeballs on their site: they focus on those sneaky non-branded keywords to show up higher on search engine results. And guess what? Most folks under 45 start their product hunt that way. So, if you’re a home and garden business looking to get in on the online marketplace action, selling on Argos could be your golden ticket.
Plus, since Argos is part of the Sainsbury’s family, they play nice with the Nectar card loyalty program. That means more chances for shoppers to stumble upon your products.
Now, selling on Argos might not be as straightforward as hopping onto Amazon or eBay, but hey, that’s where having an e-commerce partner really pays off. They can help you navigate the ins and outs, making your life a whole lot easier.
If you are a home or garden brand and you aren’t on all these marketplaces, you could be missing out on massive profit! Omnichannel selling isn’t easy, but if it were, everyone would be doing it. Ensuring your listings work well together across marketplaces, with the right branding, pricing, promotions and advertising is more than just one person’s full-time role. But that’s where an agency like Optimizon comes in. We can become part of your team, working effectively across multiple marketplaces and territories to give you the biggest profit-margin possible.
Want to find out more about getting set up on the marketplaces above?
