From supply chain resilience to TikTok shop and everything in between, Rithum experts have big thoughts on how brands and retailers can scale, optimize, and future-proof their businesses. During our webinar last week, Rithum VPs of Client Partnerships James Lang and John Fobare joined Rithum’s Director of Product Marketing, Brandon Klein, to talk about where third-party (3P) commerce is headed and how businesses can best keep up with the evolving e-commerce landscape.
Here are the three biggest takeaways from their deep-dive conversation:
Takeaway #1: Selling on Multiple Channels Builds Business Resiliency
Much like a well-balanced investment portfolio, having multiple sales channels is key to weathering economic volatility and shifting consumer behavior. In the webinar, these multiple channels were defined as third-party (3P) commerce; fast-growing business models where brands sell their products through a retailer’s storefront, such as a marketplace or dropship program, instead of managing direct sales themselves. 3P commerce enables retailers to offer a wider product selection without holding inventory. For brands, it helps them reach more customers across multiple sales channels. Marketplaces such as Amazon and Walmart have made this approach popular, with consumer shopping on these platforms growing 30% in 2023 compared to 2022.
The value of 3P is evident in the numbers, which Brandon talked through in the webinar: 99% of the surveyed global brand and retailer executives say that 3P selling is the best business model to weather economic volatility and 70% of executives report that up to half of their total revenue comes from 3P sales. James emphasized the importance of 3P in today’s complex e-commerce ecosystem:”3P commerce is one of the fastest ways for brands to expand their presence and grow revenue. It allows businesses to tap into new customer bases and diversify their sales strategy without heavy upfront investment.”
With consumers able to “shop-hop” (as John called it) across channels, comparing prices and reviews, 3P commerce also helps businesses maintain visibility where their customers are most active. With 68% of global executives reporting an increase in third-party commerce sales over the past year, and 59% planning to expand their 3P strategies even further over the next twelve months, multiple channel selling doesn’t just build resiliency but also is the key to staying competitive.
Final Thought: For those still focused on a singular marketplace, James was sympathetic . . . but still stressed the importance of not falling behind: “The resistance to change is understandable, but 3P is simply evolving with the trends. If you’re not meeting the customer where they are and offering the choices that they’re looking for, your customer will just go and find it where it’s available. Brands and retailers that can overcome some of these hurdles can really unlock the full potential of 3P.”
Takeaway #2: AI and Automation are Growth Game-Changers
AI and generative artificial intelligence (genAI) are playing increasingly vital roles in our world, and e-commerce is no exception. Many executives are turning to automation and AI to help optimize inventory, improve fulfillment accuracy, and personalize customer interactions at scale.
“AI is helping to deliver a lot of value,” said John “You know, we see resources being deployed to add higher value to operations or replace a lot of that mundane work and getting them into greater value-added activities.” Seventy-one percent of survey respondents in a recent study said that AI is very important to their business and their ability to manage e-commerce successfully. But at the same time, a separate study shows that 71% of C-suite execs report genAI adoption challenges, with concerns about its use in silos across the company. This is the hurdle with any new tech: getting past the “new hotness” of something exciting and figuring out how to strategically get the most value out of a technology investment.
At Rithum, our AI Magic Mapper is a great example of how AI and automation can help remove silos, instead of build them. The Magic Mapper supports marketplace expansion by mapping product catalogs across multiple channels in minutes instead of days, and helps you analyze trends, improve personalization, and optimize pricing in real time—ultimately enhancing customer experience and driving conversions.
Final Thought: As John explained, “Retailers and brands want to focus on what adds the most value—consumer engagement, storytelling, and product development—not on the technical complexities of integrating new sales channels. AI and automation free up resources so they can do just that.”
Takeaway #3: Social Selling is the Future of Commerce
With e-commerce becoming more complex, many businesses are looking for unified solutions that bring inventory, fulfillment, pricing, and customer data under one platform. Managing multiple channels separately creates inefficiencies, while a centralized system provides real-time insights that enable better decision-making. “Once we get past the strategy part—we know we’re going to do it, we know where and why—it all comes down to efficiency,” said John. “Businesses have scarce resources, and no one can afford to reinvent the wheel every time they expand to a new channel. Instead of spending valuable time figuring out how to make these connections work from scratch, companies need to streamline the process and focus on what drives growth.”
Social selling is one of the biggest new channels that businesses are looking to pull into their system right now. As Brandon pointed out, 82% of executives rely on social commerce as part of their 3P selling strategy and “29% went so far as to say they rely on social commerce ‘a great deal.’” Younger generations increasingly rely on social platforms to not only research products, but to also purchase what they discover. Retailers and brands who use 3P commerce to get a unified view and meet customers where they are shopping (be it social media or a marketplace) will capitalize not only on the ongoing shift to social selling, but quickly capture future channels (wherever they may be).
Final Thought: 3P commerce isn’t just an add-on, but a competitive necessity and major revenue driver for brands and retailers that use it wisely. Whether you’re expanding into new marketplaces, fine-tuning your pricing strategy, or streamlining your fulfillment process, success comes down to having a clear plan and the right tools.
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These takeaways just scratch the surface of the hour-long webinar roundtable, which covered everything from TikTok shop to supply chains. Watch the full webinar recording for a deeper dive into all the trends shaping e-commerce today.
(Some quotes have been lightly edited for context and clarity.)
