Online Marketplaces Reshape UK Purchase Journeys
New research from Akeneo, based on a survey of 1,800 consumers across eight countries, reveals that online marketplaces now control nearly every phase of the UK shopper's path. From initial discovery and price comparisons to final purchases, reviews, and returns, these platforms lead, especially for high-value items over £90. UK consumers turn to marketplaces more than retailer sites, physical stores, or other channels: 30% use them regularly for buying, 24% for search and discovery, 26% for promotions, and 28% for product validation, while 21% handle returns there, just behind other methods at 22%.
This dominance aligns with broader UK ecommerce momentum, where online sales hit over £125 billion in 2024 with 3.1% growth, projected to rise 1.7% in 2025 per Mintel data, amid a maturing market forecasted at 3.6% ecommerce growth. Amazon holds over 30% of online sales and tops visits with 400 million monthly in 2024, per Analyzify stats, as marketplaces capture 91% of online shoppers. High-quality product content underpins this: 52% of UK consumers rate marketplace information as "very good," versus 40% for retailer sites.
Content Gaps Drive Cart Abandonment
Incomplete or inaccurate product data creates friction throughout the journey. Akeneo's findings show 63% of UK consumers abandoned significant purchases in the past year due to missing details, with 70% switching products and 68% ditching brands after poor experiences. Shoppers prioritize rich specs, precise sizing, delivery timelines, and user reviews to validate big-ticket decisions, making marketplaces the go-to for stress-testing options.
This underscores rising stakes for content infrastructure. Over 42% of UK shoppers start journeys via search engines, but marketplaces aggregate discovery tools, peer advice (26% post reviews, 21% seek user input), and checkout seamlessness. As ecommerce users near 62.1 million by 2025 with average order values up 7% year-on-year per Signifyd, even peak periods like Black Friday demand more than discounts—persistent gaps erode trust despite resilient EMEA growth at 7%.
Implications for Product Feeds and Catalog Standards
Marketplace supremacy pressures product feeds to evolve beyond basic uploads. Inconsistent data across channels risks invisibility, as 52% higher content ratings on platforms signal shopper preference for optimized, platform-tailored feeds. Retailers must standardize cataloging to ensure specs, images, and attributes sync flawlessly—mismatches amplify abandonment, handing sales to competitors with superior parity. Improving the quality of your product feed and properly structuring your data is crucial for success.
No-code tools accelerate this shift, enabling rapid feed mapping and validation without dev teams. Feeds now require dynamic attributes like real-time pricing and fit guides, critical for fashion where online captures over 25% of UK textile sales. Standardization isn't optional: as algorithms parse feeds for discovery, poor structure means lost ranking in comparison engines.
Quality and Completeness Redefine Competitiveness
Card quality emerges as the differentiator. UK shoppers rate marketplaces highest because completeness builds decision confidence—reviews, dimensions, and proofs close the loop from awareness to loyalty. Gaps persist: 39-40% approval for stores lags, highlighting how incomplete cards fail high-intent users who cross-check alternatives on platforms.
Fullness matters most for high-value buys, where 28% validate via marketplaces. AI-ready catalogs with structured data elevate this: precise, enriched cards feed recommendation engines directly. Brands copying static data lose to those curating per-platform variants, boosting visibility as LLMs and agents replace traditional search.
Speed in Assortment Deployment Gains Edge
Rapid assortment rollout defines winners in a market expecting next-day delivery from 60% of consumers. Marketplaces demand instant feed updates for promotions and stock, compressing launch cycles. Peak-season invisibility from slow syndication forfeits traffic, as platforms prioritize live, complete listings.
No-code platforms and AI automation cut deployment from weeks to hours, auto-generating variants and enriching feeds with specs. This speed aligns with UK ecommerce's £160 billion 2024 projection, where agile catalog pipelines handle fashion surges—expected at $86 billion by 2030—and food preferences online (37% top category).
AI and No-Code Propel Marketplace Optimization
Emerging AI shopping agents amplify urgency. As voice commerce and LLMs guide paths, marketplaces with robust data dominate feeds—weak presence equates to non-existence. No-code workflows integrate AI for content generation: auto-tagging images, predicting specs, and optimizing for platform algorithms.
Forward, 32 million online shoppers by 2028 demand infrastructure treating marketplaces as core. Prioritizing tailored, AI-fueled content secures discovery amid slowing growth (1% UK online sales YoY), ensuring brands capture journeys from start to returns. Internet Retailing. Analyzify.
From our perspective at NotPIM, the findings highlight the critical need for robust product data management to compete effectively in the evolving UK ecommerce landscape. The shift towards marketplace dominance and the rising consumer demand for complete and accurate information underscore the importance of standardized, high-quality product catalogs. Platforms like NotPIM offer a no-code approach to streamline feed management, enrichment, and syndication, helping retailers optimize their product content and maximize visibility across key online channels. This is crucial for brands looking to maintain a competitive edge. Ensuring the quality of this information through tools like a feed validator can enhance a retailer’s online presence. Many businesses still face challenges with incorrect or missing descriptions, but using a well written product description can help with sales. Managing product data can become very easy via using a dedicated software. Product information management (PIM) software helps in all stages, including uploading product cards.