Future Proof Org Structure:
Marketplace & Digital Platforms

Placing bets on a future channel that will drive incremental growth with a specific audience, and then finding the magic formula of resources to enable that growth is one of the most exciting (and challenging) parts of being a senior leader in a global brand. 

To be as successful as possible, those teams need to be sponsored by a senior stakeholder to let them run as fast as possible across multiple departments, remain separate enough from the normal rhythm of the business such that they do not get bogged down with daily operations, yet remain sufficiently close to letting them run learnings that can be scaled across the rest of the business. 

For the last decade, most leading brands have focused on moving from a handful of eCommerce champions to a separate Amazon COE, until finally just embedding eCommerce across their entire business — great stuff. 

But! a new challenge has shown its face in 2020 — 3P Marketplaces and Digital Platforms. Amazon 3P, Zalando, Instacart… The marketing levers are familiar (Content, Search, Reviews, etc.), but the commercial relationship is different enough that it may require a dedicated team to not only grow and manage the business but also to ensure we understand the nuances of what is different.  

Join POTOO’s Stephen Mader and Andy Davies from leading eCommerce recruitment company Vertical Advantage for a glimpse at 2021 and exploring where brands are investing for Marketplace Growth:

• How should brands resource against 3P Marketplaces?
• Where should those teams sit? Marketing or Sales?
• Should they report to Amazon? The Pureplay Channel? D2C?
• What functions should they have direct vs. indirect control over?
• Should they have a dedicated budget or bespoke assortment?
• How separate do you need to keep them? 
• What is the candidate profile you should be going after to lead this team? 
• What should their KPI structure look like?
• What are the advantages & disadvantages of outsourcing vs. insourcing your marketplace strategy?