The eCommerce and marketplace accelerator Pattern has announced the release of new functionality in its eCommerce acceleration platform in Australia, designed to help retail brands identify unauthorised resellers of their products on marketplaces, including Amazon and eBay.
The new protection layer allows brands to stay abreast of how many marketplace sellers are selling their products and who they are – the brand itself, authorised or unauthorised resellers.
“As marketplaces continue to grow in popularity, global and local Australian brands could potentially stand to lose millions of dollars if they don’t have a strategy for identifying and taking action against unauthorised sellers of their products on marketplaces,” says Merline McGregor, general manager at Pattern Australia. “However, tracking down unauthorised resellers can be a complex and time-consuming task for already stretched brands, especially if done manually. That’s why Pattern has developed automated software that can help identify unauthorised sellers in real time, and this feature is now available to Australian brands selling on Amazon.”
The retail market share of marketplaces has proliferated in Australia. Pattern's Marketplace Consumer Trends Report – 2023, revealed 88% of shoppers bought from a marketplace in the previous year, and 92% of consumers plan to shop on marketplaces in the year ahead. As such, the threat to brands of unauthorised resellers is only likely to increase.
An unauthorised seller can be any third-party reseller who does not have an official link with a brand, or a global seller selling from overseas who lists and sells the brand's products on a range of online marketplaces. Not only do they sell a brand's products without authorisation, but they also often challenge a brand's reputation and value by listing incorrect product or brand information. This confuses and undermines the consumer's perception of the brand's products, which results in a poor customer experience.
“The new protection layer within Pattern's eCommerce acceleration platform delivers brands an enhanced understanding of those selling its product on Amazon Australia. It allows brands to not only identify unauthorised resellers but also drill down to how much inventory each seller has, giving brands greater visibility, and therefore knowledge on how big their unauthorised reseller issue is,” adds McGregor.
“Importantly, the new protection feature is already making its mark in the Australian market, having traced an estimated AU$2.5 million worth of potential unauthorised marketplace sales within or into Australia for one of our global footwear brand customers.”
“We are the category leader in global eCommerce and marketplace acceleration. Since 2013, Pattern has profitably grown to more than 1,400 employees operating from 24 global locations, including Melbourne, Sydney and the Gold Coast. As well as being one of the largest Amazon sellers in the world, we are also present on Tmall, JD.com, eBay and other marketplaces. We act as the authorised Amazon seller to more than 200 brands globally, buying their stock to sell on the marketplace and taking care of every aspect of their Amazon presence.”