Marketplace Winners, Platform Costs⚡️

Happy Wednesday! The platform wars are heating up and everyone’s paying for it. Sellers are spreading bets, platforms are squeezing margins, and the only constant is churn.

Maze Story🌀
⚡️ Marketplace Winners, Platform Costs
🎯 Content Sells, Data Rules

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- Artur Stańczuk, MarketMaze Founder

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E-commerce’s map is being redrawn, but the real action isn’t just Amazon’s dominance—it’s the rising clash between global giants and local heroes. According to the DHL “E-Commerce Trends Report 2025”, seller concentration, platform stacking, and budget spend show a sector that’s both consolidating and splintering. Sellers are playing defense and offense at once, chasing volume but paying a premium for reach.

Amazon’s seller grip is unmatched in markets like Spain, France, and the US, but homegrown champions such as Poland’s Allegro and the Netherlands’ Bol still carve out major territory. The relative size of these platforms shows just how skewed the seller pool is: in some mature markets, Amazon or a national giant controls double the sellers of the next biggest rival, while others remain hotly contested.

Spain, Belgium, and Poland don’t just have a market leader—they have a marketplace with 2x the sellers of #2. This runaway effect creates winner-takes-all dynamics that squeeze out competition and force sellers onto the biggest stage, where platform policies—not just buyer demand—shape their survival. Yet the map isn’t all locked down; in the UK, Netherlands, and Italy, leadership is narrower, giving smaller sellers more leverage.

To survive, most sellers now list on at least four platforms. The global average sits at 3.7, with big brands hedging even harder—over 4.5 on average. This “stack everything” approach makes exclusive seller bases rare and blurs the lines between platforms. Being unique on Amazon or Shopee isn’t a badge anymore—it’s an illusion. Platform-hopping is the new insurance policy.

For sellers, marketing and e-commerce platforms swallow a full third of every dollar, with payroll eating even more. Half the e-commerce budget now goes to these three buckets—leaving inventory, logistics, and events to fight for scraps. The cost of being everywhere, and staying visible, keeps rising. In 2025, efficiency isn’t just about cutting corners—it’s about picking the right corners to cut.

Editable Slides & Sources:
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Retailers aren’t just posting—they’re engineering engagement with military precision. The DHL “E-Commerce Trends Report 2025” breaks down which content, channels, and analytics drive sales and shape strategy. In today’s market, conversion is a science, and everyone’s fighting for an edge.

Paid ads (88%) and exclusive discounts (87%) are the main drivers for conversions, while UGC and demos are table stakes for any serious player. Shoppable posts and Q&As round out the mix, but live shopping still trails at just 63%. Retailers are betting on what works, not what’s trendy.

Facebook and Instagram are the undisputed core of social selling, with most retailers using both to sell and post content. TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn are growing, but remain niche for now. Social media strategy is no longer about just being present—it’s about doubling down where the buyers actually buy.

A third of retailers now face double-digit return rates, mostly due to damage in transit (43%), unwanted goods (41%), and over-ordering (30%). Sizing and quality issues round out the pain list. Returns don’t just cut into profit—they’re a symptom of deeper friction in logistics and expectations.

Retailers are laser-focused on app experience (60%), social media performance (54%), and price tracking (51%). Marketplace research, logistics, and even sustainability analytics all matter. In 2025, the best merchants aren’t just creative—they’re relentless data nerds, measuring everything, always looking for an edge.

Editable Slides & Sources:
🔒 Available for MarketMaze+

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THAT’S IT FOR TODAY

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MarketMaze team