People who don’t take the time to reflect often fail to see the true value of community in business – or take its benefits for granted. Both perspectives overlook the full potential of exchange, connection, and trust. That’s exactly why, in this episode, Ingrid and Valerie highlight the very real business impact of networking and community: From insights you’ll never find on a dashboard, to avoiding costly mistakes, to building unexpected business relationships that would never have happened otherwise. They share real-life stories from their own experience – about people who connected through community but would’ve never met otherwise. About how true peer-to-peer exchange can build the trust needed to accept a market reality – like the surprisingly low relevance of Zalando in the UK. And one thing is clear: There’s one ingredient that should never be missing from any community... Fun.

Note from the Marketplace Universe Brand Leader Community:

The Brand Leader Community Softlines for marketplace managers responsible for brands in the fashion, shoes, sports, and Accessoires launched in June with Season 1. A curated circle of approx. 25 peers from leading fashion & sports brands with Invite-only access. Currently, leading marketplace heads from brands such as s.Oliver, Mammut, Speedo, Hunckemöller, Oui, Berghaus, and Armedangels are among those taking part. Season 2 will start in December. If you would like to participate, you can find more information here: https://marketplace-universe.com/leaders-circle-softlines/

Note from the sponsor exporto:

Internationalization and its challenges are a big concern to brands and sellerrs. Shipping, returns processing, tax regulations and one-stop shop procedures – all of this can cause quite a headache. Service providers such as exporto can help. exporto has spezialised cross-border e-commerce logistics in Europe. With automated technology and a strong partner network, exporto ensures that online retailers can ship internationally as smoothly as they do in their home market. And the best part? Exporto has an attractive discount for you: If you register with exporto by August 31 and sign a contract, you won't pay any basic fees for the first two months. Register right now here: https://mag.exporto.de/marketplace-universe-offer

Note from the sponsor Kaufland Global Marketplace:

Want to expand your marketplace business across Europe? Then Kaufland Global Marketplace is definitely worth a look. After launching in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Austria, Kaufland is now expanding its marketplace network to France and Italy – two of the largest e-commerce markets in Europe. France went live on August 12, Italy will follow in just a few weeks. And here’s the best part – there’s a special offer for new sellers: With the voucher code MP-UNI2025, you can sell without paying a base fee for 3 months on all Kaufland marketplaces. Valid only for new registrations until October 31, 2025. Register right now here: https://www.kaufland.com/join?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=paid&utm_campaign=B2BMarketplaceUniverse&utm_content=08_2025

The marketplace business continues to produce remarkable success stories – such as those of Carolin Langer and LaCaTho. With an average shopping cart value of only $4, her business is profitable, scalable, and growing. In this episode, she talks about how she started out on eBay and now supplies over 40,000 customers a year with bee-friendly seeds. For her, automation is a must, not an option. Many tools make her work easier, but they are all reviewed every six months. There are clear responsibilities in her small team, with everyone having a specific area of responsibility – for eBay, Amazon, and Shopify. And because Carolin loves to shoot short videos of seeds, flowers, trees, and bees everywhere she goes, she is able to market her products without expensive ads – which are simply not feasible with such low-priced products. Instead, they generate a decent amount of sales in their own shop via TikTok. She also reveals how she manages her time – she works full-time as a mechanical engineer.

Note from the sponsor exporto:

Internationalization and its challenges are a big concern to brands and sellerrs. Shipping, returns processing, tax regulations and one-stop shop procedures – all of this can cause quite a headache. Service providers such as exporto can help. exporto has spezialised cross-border e-commerce logistics in Europe. With automated technology and a strong partner network, exporto ensures that online retailers can ship internationally as smoothly as they do in their home market. And the best part? Exporto has an attractive discount for you: If you register with exporto by August 31 and sign a contract, you won't pay any basic fees for the first two months. Register right now here: https://mag.exporto.de/marketplace-universe-offer

Note from the sponsor base:

Base is a SAAS e-commerce solution provider originally founded 2006 in Poland. The platform offers features such as automations for order management, inventory management and fulfilment, a marketplace management tool for lots and lots of B2B and B2C channels, and integration options to include other backend tools in real-time. Base is present in 11 countries, the solution is already used by companies such as OBI, Kärcher, MediaMarkt, Samsung, Decathlon, Intersport, Develey. If you would like to learn more about Base, join us at our Connect Event with Base on September 17 in Cologne. Register right now: https://webforms.pipedrive.com/f/1wBV5bM8AALuEq8GfFLwj7tLJ80w9AZL4cf4DN1nvG4uMLrSOfA5NxaV1X0qvNAC7

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Marketplace Dynamics

02:46 Carolin Langer's Journey: From Side Hustle to CEO

06:38 The special market situation of LaCaTho

12:27 Marketplace Strategies: Automation and Customer Experience

17:32 Volume in the main and off-season

21:06 Bestsellers and the tricks of algorithms

24:31 The power of Videos and of TikTok

31:46 Scaling and Future Plans for LaCaTho

ChatGPT is testing in-chat shopping – from product search to recommendations and even checkout via Stripe. No webshop, no marketplace – just conversation. Shopify reacts immediately, blocking AI shopping agents. The battle for the customer interface has officially begun. In this episode, Ingrid and Valerie discuss how AI agents are shifting the power dynamics in e-commerce – and what this means for marketplaces, sellers, and brands. They also unpack the stories behind these headlines:

• Galaxus pushes international expansion despite heavy losses
• Tesco builds a massive new distribution center
• bol.com opens up to non-EU sellers
• Zalando & About You – merger approved, but many questions remain

Note from the sponsor eBay:

Selling internationally sounds easy – but the reality often tells a different story. Because shipping abroad is not the same as being truly ready to scale across borders. That’s why our partner eBay has put together a super helpful whitepaper that helps you check your international readiness with a detailed checklist and gives concrete advice on pricing, customer service, inventory, returns – and even how to identify the right markets and products. One highlight: With the eBay Product Research Tool, you can analyze three years of sales data by country and category. So if cross-border commerce is on your radar, download the free whitepaper “From Germany to the World” by eBay right now: https://www.ebay.de/sml/whitepaper-internationalverkaufen

Note from the sponsor base:

Base is a SAAS e-commerce solution provider originally founded 2006 in Poland. The platform offers features such as automations for order management, inventory management and fulfilment, a marketplace management tool for lots and lots of B2B and B2C channels, and integration options to include other backend tools in real-time. Base is present in 11 countries, the solution is already used by companies such as OBI, Kärcher, MediaMarkt, Samsung, Decathlon, Intersport, Develey. If you would like to learn more about Base, join us at our Connect Event with Base on September 17 in Cologne. Register right now: https://webforms.pipedrive.com/f/1wBV5bM8AALuEq8GfFLwj7tLJ80w9AZL4cf4DN1nvG4uMLrSOfA5NxaV1X0qvNAC7

Chapters:

01:00 AI's Impact on Marketplace Shopping

07:40 Galaxus's Internationalization Strategy

09:41 Tesco's New Distribution Strategy

11:49 Zalando and About You Merger

15:30 Bol's Expansion to Non-EU Sellers