Four European marketplace leaders which represent nearly 30,000 online merchants – Cdiscount (France), eMAG (Romania), ePrice (Italy) and Real.de (Germany) – announce today the launch of the International Marketplace Network (IMN), a company granting online merchants unique access to marketplaces in all four countries and thus enabling them to reach up to than 230 million potential customers.
IMN is operating an interface between marketplaces that merchants can use to synchronise their offers securely in real time across marketplaces technical effort as the platform responds to the technological challenge of integrating four different marketplaces’ technical standards. The IMN therefore offers online merchants a simple and streamlined connection interface, like a single desk, by providing a quick and cost-efficient way to expand their businesses across Europe, without additional monthly fees.
“We are very proud to join this network. Together, we have brought down the barriers of entry and costs of transaction and found a solution to enable merchants sell across multiple marketplaces, but all the while staying independent“, said Leonardo Costa, Head of ePRICE Marketplace. “We are all strong players in our respective countries, which allows us to focus on supporting merchants’ need in their own language, making it easier for them to be successful. For a local player like ePRICE, IMN is the right way to offer a solution for growth and export to the many Italian and European SMEs looking for an integrated channel to sell abroad.”
“Until now, merchants who wanted to sell on marketplaces across Europe had to enter their products separately on every marketplace according to various processes. The IMN represents therefore a major technical progress and a technological performance”, said Emmanuel Grenier, CEO of Cdiscount. “The network fully meets Cdiscount’s desire to help local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to go digital and to grow through the access to a European market. It supports Cdiscount’s strategy of expanding our products offering to consumers. It is also a European achievement that shows European marketplaces’ dynamism and innovation.”
IMN is an innovative project that fosters a digital single market, as wished by the European Commission and strengthens Europe's position as a world leader in the digital economy. Following the launch of IMN, consumers will have access to a more diverse supply of goods and services. Other European marketplaces have already shown interest in the IMN.
At the beginning, the platform - that started to be technically tested in 2018 - is launched in beta version. The main focus of the IMN operations in the upcoming months will be on further developments of the technical infrastructure as well as the on onboarding new international marketplaces and merchants (more than 100 merchants have already successfully tested the beta network).
“The IMN embodies the idea of a borderless Europe and barrier-free e-commerce”, says Patrick Müller Sarmiento, CEO of Real. “Merchants’ interest in the network has been immense and we already have more than 100 merchants on the network with rapidly growing businesses as a result.” Through the easy connection to local and independent marketplaces within the IMN, merchants can now become even more independent of non-European channels, and grow more sustainably.”
Added Florin Filote, eMAG Marketplace director, concludes: “in today’s global world, companies must think their strategies big from the very start. We believe IMN represents a tremendous opportunity for any company wanting to start its cross-border sales. eMAG Marketplace continues to bring added value to the Romanian sellers by offering them the opportunity to expand internationally and thus fulfil its initial promise of delivering an ecosystem for e-Commerce. In turn, Romanian clients will have access to an even wider range of products.”