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Retailers should use search, marketplaces, social media and emerging AI discovery to meet customers where they look—but they should also invest in the website, product information, direct customer relationships and measurement they control. The aim is not to leave third-party platforms; it is to avoid relying on any one of them as the only route to customers.
Why retailer visibility spans more than one channel
Customers can encounter a product through search, social posts, a retailer’s own content, recommendations from other people and marketplace listings. In IAB Australia and Pureprofile’s 2025 report on online shoppers in Australia and New Zealand, shoppers used an average of 4.8 product-discovery touchpoints. The report identifies search, retailer stores and content, personal connections, other consumers and social media among important sources. IAB Australia’s report summary also describes differences by age: search led overall and was particularly prominent for shoppers over 50, while social media and influencers mattered among younger surveyed shoppers. These findings describe that report’s markets and methodology, not every shopper everywhere.
Businesses also tend to use a mix of platforms, though that is a different measure from how shoppers discover products. DHL eCommerce’s 2025 Business Edit reports that 63% of global ecommerce businesses sell on at least three online platforms and 87% have at least one social media profile. Its survey covered 24,000 respondents in 24 countries and was conducted in February and March 2025. The figures describe business adoption, not which channel performs best or produces the most sales. DHL’s survey summary notes that sole traders and micro-enterprises rely more on marketplaces, while larger firms are more likely to focus on their own ecommerce websites.
What a retailer controls—and what it does not
A retailer’s website offers the strongest direct control over its own product presentation, information structure and buying journey. The business can organize descriptions, product details, reviews and transaction steps around its customers. By contrast, an outside platform sets its own listing formats, ranking systems, policies and display rules. That difference is a strategic reason to build an owned presence, not evidence that a website will automatically outrank or outperform another channel.
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The Office for Product Safety and Standards describes an online marketplace as a platform where third-party sellers offer goods or services directly to consumers; the marketplace facilitates the transaction and typically does not own the inventory. The UK government’s marketplace report helps clarify the distinction: a retailer may benefit from a platform’s reach, but the platform remains the environment governing the listing and customer interaction.
How owned and external channels work together
| Channel | Useful role | Retailer’s control | What to measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retailer website | Present products, guide shoppers through the purchase and support a direct customer relationship. | More control over content, site experience and transaction flow; still subject to technology, legal and operational constraints. | Visits, product engagement, conversion, revenue and returning customers. |
| Search | Help people discover or evaluate products when they search. | The retailer can publish useful, accurate information but does not control search rankings or results display. | Search referrals, relevant landing-page visits, conversions and revenue. |
| Marketplaces | Reach shoppers browsing a third-party platform. | The platform controls listing presentation, ranking and marketplace rules. | Marketplace visits or impressions where available, orders, revenue and channel economics. |
| Social media | Support discovery and product consideration among audiences using social platforms. | The retailer controls its own posts, but the platform controls distribution and interface. | Referral visits, engagement, conversions and revenue where trackable. |
No channel is best for every retailer. A sensible portfolio depends on where a business’s customers discover products, the work required to maintain each presence and whether the channel’s results justify that effort. The available survey figures do not provide comparable channel costs or prove a universal return-on-investment ranking.
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How an owned presence reduces dependence
Search engines, marketplaces and social networks can change their ranking, display or advertising systems. When most discovery depends on one external route, a change there can leave a retailer with fewer ways to reach customers. A maintained website and direct customer relationships provide additional routes and give the business more influence over how its products and buying experience are presented. This is diversification, not a guarantee against platform changes or a reason to withdraw from channels that work.
Accurate, current product information is a practical foundation: keep descriptions, availability, key attributes and reviews useful and consistent on the retailer’s own site, then adapt information for each external channel’s requirements. Better-structured content can help people understand an offer, but it does not guarantee a search position or an AI recommendation.
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How to tell whether visibility produces sales
Reach alone does not establish business value. Connect website analytics, ecommerce records and customer data so the retailer can examine the path from discovery to visits, purchases and revenue. Use a measurement approach suited to the business; the sources do not prescribe one attribution model or analytics vendor.
- Define the outcome. Decide whether the question is about qualified visits, completed orders, revenue, repeat purchases or another business result.
- Use consistent channel information. Record referral sources and campaign details where possible, and keep product identifiers consistent across the site and commerce records.
- Connect visits with commerce outcomes. Compare analytics data with orders and revenue, accounting for the limits of what each system can observe.
- Review assisted paths as well as last clicks. A shopper may discover a product in one place and complete a purchase later through another. Avoid treating a single touchpoint as the entire journey when the available data shows more.
- Assess channel economics. Compare attributable outcomes with the content, staffing, advertising and integration effort required. The available sources do not establish a common cost benchmark.
- Act on the gaps. If a channel brings relevant visitors but few purchases, inspect product information and the buying journey; if referrals or source data are missing, improve measurement before concluding that a channel has no value.
Consent and applicable privacy requirements matter when collecting and connecting customer information. The cited sources discuss measurement strategy but do not provide legal advice.
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What the available numbers do—and do not—show
Online shopping is a substantial part of retail in some markets, but figures must stay attached to their geography and date. The UK government’s Office for Product Safety and Standards cited an Office for National Statistics figure that nearly 30% of UK retail sales were online in 2023. That is context for ecommerce, not a measure of marketplace share. Neither it nor the Australia-and-New Zealand shopper report or DHL’s global business survey should be treated as a forecast for an individual retailer.
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