The e-commerce market is globally growing at a CAGR of 8.02% between 2025 and 2029. The number of shoppers is forecasted to grow to 3.6 billion by 2029. There is no doubt that the e-commerce sector is growing rapidly. In such scenarios, traditional ways do not work anymore. Online customers today expect convenience, choices, and the best prices. This kind of dynamically evolving e-commerce landscape makes it essential for retailers and brands to adapt by embracing multichannel selling.

Third-party (3P) commerce is emerging as one of the primary growth drivers so that online businesses can maximize revenue through diversified sales channels. Keep reading to learn more about 3P commerce challenges, benefits, etc.

Understanding 3P Commerce

With 3P commerce, brands and retailers can reach a bigger consumer market using online marketplaces and other third-party platforms. Retailers can access unowned stocks, thereby reducing risks linked with stock management. Brands can improve their market reach as they don’t just sell at their online stores but also through multiple channels. Thus, businesses can leverage this model to make the most of consumer demands and optimize resources.

What Data Tells Us

1. Juggling Multiple Marketplaces Isn’t Easy

3P commerce has a major disadvantage, though. For brands and retailers, managing numerous 3P platforms often poses operational challenges. The study showed that businesses usually navigate four separate platforms. This ultimately hits their operations and costs. One of the major concerns is the need for specialized professionals, as reported by almost 65% of global executives. 45% said that operating costs increase. Both these factors cut into the profit margins significantly, as per the study. Speed to market is also a big concern as the onboarding process generally takes up to six weeks.

Of all the surveyed executives, 97% believed that a centralized commerce platform or solution would be better to streamline operations, reduce costs, and increase profitability.

2. More Channels, More Revenue

3P commerce continuously seems to be gaining traction as an integral part of multichannel selling strategies. Almost 70% of the surveyed executives shared that about 50% of their total revenues are generated from 3P commerce. 29% say that more than 50% of their revenues come from third–party commerce. In the past year, 3P commerce revenues have increased, as confirmed by 68% of brands and retailers worldwide.

These figures show that third-party commerce is indeed a strong strategy for e-commerce businesses to gain financial success.

3. 3P is Becoming a Growth Engine for Modern Brands

The study shows that almost 95% of executives globally suggest that sales generated from 3P commerce channels contribute to the success of the company. Almost all retailers and brands covered in the study recognize the importance of 3P as a growth driver.

The primary motivators for the use of the 3P commerce model are:

– businesses want to reach out to a larger number of customers

– businesses want to target customers on their preferred channels of shopping

– to increase their cross-border sales and revenues

– to avail more retail media ad opportunities

– to improve their total sales volume

– to lower margins

– to increase product assortment without risks of owned inventory

3P Commerce: Emerging Trends

• Increased use of technology: Almost 49% of businesses use between 4 to 6 platforms to manage their 3P commerce operations. Such businesses need to use technology to manage these platforms successfully.
• Increase adoption of AI: The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in e-commerce is automating all manual-led tasks. This is revolutionizing the industry. Almost 98% of surveyed executives feel that AI is crucial for successfully managing their e-commerce operations.
• Cross-border selling: 3P commerce has also opened the chance for online businesses to sell cross-border. They can use the potential of global e-commerce platforms like eBay, Amazon, Walmart etc., without investing in developing their own infrastructure. Almost 96% of those surveyed felt that without third-party opportunities, they could not sell in international markets. After all, cross-border sales have multiple challenges like currency conversions, logistics, international regulations, translations, etc.
• Use of social commerce: The use of social media platforms is also on the rise in 3P commerce. Around 82% of executives integrate social commerce into their strategy. Social commerce allows brands to reach consumers directly through platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. The use of shoppable ads and influencer posts facilitates seamless purchases.
• Retail media advertising: This is another tactic that is catching up. It is a powerful tool where retail media ads are placed on the e-commerce app or site of the retailer to make a last-minute appeal to customers just at the point of purchase.
• Best solution for meeting supply chain challenges: With 3P commerce, the typical supply chain issues are easier to overcome. Retailers and brands are gradually shifting to 3P commerce. This gives them greater flexibility beyond owned channels. Nearly all surveyed executives (almost 96% of executives) agreed that supply chain agility is crucial for growth.

Why Everyone’s Betting Big on 3P Commerce?

There are different reasons for this.

• Study results affirms that it has been convenient to tap into international markets without the logistical burden of maintaining foreign warehouses.
• Increased visibility and customer acquisition confirming that selling through multiple platforms has helped achieve this.
• They are using 3P commerce because in a competitive market, they need new revenue streams to stay profitable.
• Choose to work with third-party commerce because diversified channels help businesses drive higher sales across multiple platforms.
• 3P helps them expand their offerings through dropshipping and marketplace selling without the burden of excessive inventory.
• Using 3P and retail media advertising along with platform-based promotions to capture demand effectively.

The Role of Technology in Managing 3P Commerce

One of the biggest challenges in 3P commerce is technology management. Overseeing multiple platforms is proving to be costly and complex for brands and retailers. It was found that most businesses are comfortable using up to four e-commerce platforms.

The biggest issues for businesses in managing multiple platforms include:

• Tracking ROIs across different sales channels is difficult. Monitoring customer engagement requires real-time insights and analytics.
• Product listings could vary between different platforms, maintaining product information consistency was a problem.
• Synchronizing inventory across different channels is an issue.

Integrated Commerce Solutions are poised to be game-changers

Using multiple e-commerce platforms in a 3P commerce strategy is one of the biggest challenges. In the survey, most respondents agreed that this can be very time-consuming and requires expertise for the management of ground operations. It is not an ideal situation. The solution is a unified commerce platform.

This is where platforms like ChannelSale can come to your aid.

Third-party commerce is getting popular and catching up. Brands and retailers cannot brush aside its impact and need to stay focused on their strategies if they want to make it big at online marketplaces. To overcome the challenges, you can consider using platforms like ChannelSale that centralize inventory management, product listings, and order fulfillment, offering real-time views for better decision-making, helping your business manage multiple platforms for third-party businesses seamlessly.