Insights

#MarketplaceConnect 2026 — Marketplace is no longer a side bet.

Back from the show.

Marketplace is no longer a side bet. It is becoming the core growth engine of retail.

Across conversations with execs:

  • 30% to 80% 3P growth in 2025, mostly in the FR market
  • 25% to 60% of digital GMV already marketplace-driven
  • In many cases, 50%+ of total growth coming from 3P

Yet most orgs are still structured around old 1P reflexes.

The market only cares about one thing: is the product available here?
If not, the customer leaves. Period.

Another signal: AI is everywhere (onboarding, attribute gen, pricing, cat matching) — but the real bottleneck is no longer supply. It is decision speed under complexity.

When 10% of sellers drive most of the GMV, but time and resources are spread evenly, growth slows down.

2026 will not be about adding more sellers.

It will be about prioritizing better.