INDUSTRY COMMENT: DALEY HUB
D
aley Hub is a fan of the marketplace concept. Having worked with Mano Mano for some 18 months in its
initial incredible growth phase, it’s obvious we would be. And there are numerous advantages for suppliers, not least the low barriers to entry and the massive potentially global reach. An unparalleled way to reach a huge audience without the need for significant investment owned e-commerce infrastructure! But as an agency that focuses on helping companies bring new products to market or exiting product to new channels, Daley Hub has been making a study of how well – or not – marketplaces can deliver strong sales of a ‘new thing’. With millions of products on the platform, visibility has got to be one of the more challenging aspects of this global market stall approach to selling.
What if the marketplace concept is actually a killer of brand-new product and innovation because such products by their nature can be difficult to search - and therefore in such a sea of possible alternatives, difficult to find.
Here’s a mini case study… A brilliant product is only as good as its visibility. Daley Hub met with a business that had developed a cool value package, a ‘paint box’, that included brushes, prep tools, tarpaulin covers, and of course… paint. Appealing to a non-expert DIYer, this great package made it a no brainer purchase for someone wanting a successful paint job from a standing start – and a great promotional story. The problem was that on the marketplace no one was searching for a ‘paint box’, just for paint, or brushes etc, and because marketplaces are in general search engines with no hits, the algorithms rated the product low, so not many sales. Bricks & mortar retailers (with their own website curated ranges) will unsurprisingly say that this product offer is in contrast perfect for them as they can deliver stand out much more efficiently than a marketplace. That is a valid argument. It is also valid to say, as marketplaces will, that more eyes on the page from huge customer acquisition targeting and extended range will ultimately allow the ‘new thing’ to be found.
So what is the answer? In Daley Hub’s opinion, while marketplace retailing offers incredible reach and convenience,
10 DIY WEEK SEPTEMBER 2025
NEW PRODUCT? HOW TO WORK A MARKETPLACE
A viewpoint from market specialist and strategic development agency, Daley Hub
it does present challenges for new product innovation in terms of discovery. With a mixture of information overload and difficult discoverability, the wide choice of millions of products makes it incredibly difficult for new or niche products to stand out. Even with sophisticated search algorithms, a new, unestablished product can easily get lost in the noise. While, clever marketplace algorithms are designed to be optimised for sales and customer satisfaction, this often favours established, high-selling products with lots of reviews. New products without a history can struggle to gain visibility. And so the best sellers are always the better sellers, which while fulfilling existing demand, potentially limits exposure to genuinely new and disruptive innovations that consumers do not yet know they need.
It’s also the case that while marketplaces provide some data, direct access to in-depth customer insights can be limited compared to a business owning an e-commerce platform of its own. This can hinder a brand’s ability to understand specific customer needs and iterate on new products.
Notwithstanding all these caveats however, marketplaces can really
deliver, if the supplier understands them and acts accordingly.
How to make marketplaces work Despite the limitations outlined, many supplier businesses including small businesses and startups will rightly appreciate that marketplaces offer unparalleled reach without the need for significant infrastructure investment. Put simply, to hit the ground running quickly the marketplace offers a profitable route to market. They are also a good way for innovators to test and launch products. Customer feedback, valuable reviews and ratings on marketplaces can be useful for iterating on existing products and informing future innovations. Ironically, given what Daly Hub has found in terms of general innovation, genuinely niche products can do exceptionally well; especially as curated range retailers may not list them.
The key learning is that if you
are launching new product on marketplace, use the low barrier to entry savings to invest in your own consumer marketing to drive consumer interest. The clear way to reveal the ‘new thing’ is through content and social media campaigns to promote
innovative products that are linked to the e-shop or marketplace. Platforms like TikTok Shop and Instagram Shopping as well as AI-powered discovery tools are changing how consumers find products. These platforms are becoming increasingly adept at showing users things they ‘didn’t know they needed’, which can be the answer for a new product discovery. Marketplaces are also developing their own retail media networks, allowing brands to pay for increased visibility, which can help new products get noticed. The sheer reach and lower barriers to entry provide opportunities for innovators, but marketplace retailing does present a complex environment for a new product. The challenges lie primarily in discoverability and standing out amidst intense competition and algorithm bias. But there are ways to address this and make the opportunity work. Start with a seriously strong story about products that offer new and better, told in an interesting way. And tell the story yourself using your marketing and communications to make the marketplace work to the max. At Daley Hub we can make such initiatives worthwhile. For more information visit https://www.
daleyhub.com/contact-us
www.diyweek.net
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