Marketplaces Must be Seller-Centric
Digital marketplaces must build strong seller onboarding and operations teams
The idea of being customer-centric has become increasingly popular as businesses have realized the importance of customer satisfaction and loyalty in achieving sustainable growth and success. However, digital marketplaces cannot only be buyer centric. They must also be seller-centric to achieve sustainable growth and success. While buyers are important for generating revenue, sellers are equally important as they provide the products and services that buyers want to purchase. Without sellers, there would be no products or services available for buyers to purchase, and the marketplace would not exist.
Therefore, digital marketplaces must establish and staff strong seller onboarding and operations to ensure sellers have a positive experience on the platform. This includes providing support and guidance to help sellers set up their profiles, list their products or services, and manage their sales. By doing so, the marketplace will have a better chance of attracting high-quality merchants and building a diverse inventory of products and services, which will in turn attract more buyers and increase revenue.
Moreover, strong seller onboarding and operations can help digital marketplaces ensure the quality of the products and services offered on their platform. By vetting and supporting sellers, marketplaces can ensure that their offerings are reliable, safe, and of high quality. This can help build trust with buyers and encourage repeat purchases, leading to sustainable growth.
The platforms typically require significant professional experience to run seller organizations. The eight active roles listed below require a minimum of 5 to 7 years of relevant experience in e-commerce, digital marketplace, or online retail. They also emphasize the need for strong leadership, financial, marketing, business development, program management, and operational skills to craft high standards and requirements that must be met by marketplace sellers.
Here are short summaries of each of these key seller-centric leadership roles:
Senior Account Manager, International Seller Services, Amazon, San Jose, Costa Rica
The Senior Account Manager for Amazon International Seller Services in San Jose, Costa Rica, is responsible for managing relationships with sellers on the Amazon Marketplace, with the goal of making them successful. This includes recruiting new sellers, expanding their selection and program adoption, identifying growth opportunities, and improving the operational aspects of their business to provide a great customer experience. The role involves working closely with business development and onboarding teams, tracking and reporting performance metrics, and achieving productivity and seller satisfaction targets. The ideal candidate should have at least 4 years of sales or account management experience, be proficient in English, have strong analytical and problem-solving skills, and be passionate about delivering a great customer experience.
Director - MakerPlace GM, Michaels Stores, Irving, TX, United States
The Director, MakerPlace GM job role at Michaels Stores is responsible for managing and growing the new business model of selling handmade goods and services on Michaels MakerPlace. This includes P&L ownership, marketing, operations, community education & engagement, financials & analytics to support both the seller and buyer CX, and seller onboarding responsibilities. The Director will lead a team responsible for developing and growing the MakerPlace peer-peer 3rd party channel, building out the strategy, content infrastructure, and program teams to run the day-day business while partnering across internal and external stakeholders to launch the MakerPlace from the ground-up with a path to rapidly scale. The role requires strong leadership, financial, marketing, business development, program management, and operational skills to drive growth and profitability while improving customer experience.
Senior Director, Marketplace - International Global Selling, Walmart, Bentonville, AR, United States
The Senior Director of Marketplace - International Global Selling at Walmart leads a team to recruit, launch, and manage cross-border sellers across Walmart marketplaces, while developing category strategies and operating plans, seller prioritization frameworks, and goals. The role involves talent development, identifying business growth ideas, building strategic relationships, transforming ways of working, and operating with excellence. The job requires a bachelor's degree in business, retail, or related area and eight years of experience in management, pricing, site merchandising, planning, or inventory planning, or related area or ten years of experience in business, retail, management, pricing, site merchandising, planning or inventory planning, or related area. The ideal candidate has experience in international marketplace selling, leading and completing cross-functional projects, working in a large, complex, matrixed organization, and strategic planning. The role also requires strong influencing and interpersonal skills, financial acumen, and technical/analytical capabilities.
Seller Service Program Manager, Global Experience Center, TikTok, San Jose, CA, United States
The job role is for a Seller Service Program Manager at the Global Experience Center of TikTok in San Jose, CA. The Global Experience Center is responsible for ensuring a safe and trustworthy marketplace for users, sellers, and creators. The role requires the candidate to work on all seller service governance and improvement-related projects, focusing on enhancing the experience of consumers contacting sellers, designing programs to improve buyer experience of IM consultation, and optimizing shop experience score. The candidate is expected to analyze key metrics, engage with relevant stakeholders, and introduce new initiatives to drive change. The role requires a minimum of 5 years of experience in the service, experience, and seller governance field, expertise in experience project design, collaboration with cross-functional and cross-cultural groups, and managing changes. The candidate should be able to navigate through ambiguity and work in a fast-growing environment. They should possess problem-solving, issue-resolution, multitasking, and strong ownership skills. The job emphasizes a team player mindset and a mentality of quick adaptability, self-regulation, positive, and optimistic approach.
Senior Marketplace & Retail Dropship Manager, Home Entertainment, LG Electronics North America Englewood Cliffs, NJ, United States
The Senior Marketplace & Retail Dropship Manager at LG Electronics North America will be responsible for leading the Home Entertainment Dropship program, overseeing and executing the day-to-day technical and operational needs, and driving the expansion of the Wholesale Dropship business model across the US. They will work closely with account teams, marketplace customers, and digital transformation key contacts to identify improvement areas, drive best practice sharing, and measure marketplace impact towards annual growth targets. Additionally, this role will be responsible for onboarding new accounts to dropship and implementing best practices for the program. The ideal candidate will have a bachelor's degree, a minimum of five years of related experience, strong communication skills, an entrepreneurial mindset, and the ability to manage multiple projects.
Strategic Merchant Lead, DoorDash, Atlanta, GA, United States
The Strategic Merchant Lead for the Outside Sales team at DoorDash in Atlanta is responsible for establishing partnerships with Local Hero and Local Premium merchants across the Southeast. The role involves prospecting, meeting with, and closing deals with merchants, selling new products and services, and sharing insights with leadership to develop solutions to solve pain points. The role requires leading complex negotiations, accelerating sales cycles, and collaborating with various teams. The job involves some travel and some remote work. The successful candidate should have at least 3 years of experience in a closing sales role, be experienced in a transactional deal cycle, have experience exceeding goals, and be familiar with using a CRM and Google Apps.
Senior Manager, Seller Governance, Alibaba Group, Madrid, Spain
The Senior Manager, Seller Governance role at Alibaba Group in Madrid is responsible for ensuring high standards and requirements are met by sellers to develop trust and customer satisfaction. The role involves developing a deep understanding of Lazada Buyers and Seller journey, defining and monitoring seller health KPIs, implementing seller health strategy, designing and implementing seller policies, ensuring that sellers and buyers are well aware of platform policies, collaborating with business stakeholders on new initiatives, and ensuring onboarding and fulfillment standards are clear for sellers. The job requires at least 7 years of relevant experience in e-commerce, digital marketplace, or online retail, strong project management and analytics skills, and the ability to work in a cross-cultural environment. The role reports to the Head of Platform Governance.
Senior Manager, Seller Growth Programs, eBay, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland
The Senior Manager, Seller Growth Programs at eBay in Dublin is responsible for leading a team to develop and implement strategies to drive growth for sellers in the UK market. The role involves managing a commercial budget, coaching and developing the team, and ensuring operational excellence by collaborating with multiple teams across eBay. The ideal candidate should have a track record in building effective trading relationships, strong analytical skills, and excellent communication and project management skills. A bachelor's degree or three years of experience in commercial operations management is required. eBay is an equal-opportunity employer with a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
In summary, a digital marketplace place more demand on an organization than traditional eCommerce. Companies adopting a marketplace strategy must build additional capabilities. They must be both buyer-centric and seller-centric to ensure sustainable growth and success and staff their operations accordingly. Establishing and staffing strong seller onboarding and operations is important to attract high-quality sellers, ensure the quality of products and services, and build trust with buyers.