The weight of marketplaces and DtoC in the high-tech market

Marketplaces have become a gateway for emerging brands. Brands are starting to sell their products on marketplaces without distribution contracts or commitment. It’s a way of testing out their products and business models, and quickly understanding whether their product is finding an audience. They can then move on to other channels when their market share meets their expectations.

Roborock has put this to the test: in Germany, the brand entered the market via 3P (marketplace & fulfillment by Amazon). In 4 years, the brand has multiplied its online market share by 4 in the vacuum cleaner segment – capturing 16% of the category’s online market share by 2022.

If we take a look at the brand’s distribution mix, we can see that the marketplace and fullfillment by Amazon approach has enabled the brand to establish itself on the German market without a large-scale distribution agreement. This strategy is rooted in caution, but has proved highly effective. Comparing retail-only and retail + 3P data, it’s clear that Roborock has taken advantage of the 3P strategy to grow in the German market – especially in the early years.