A shop discovers your range on a marketplace; a pharmacy that already buys from you wants to reorder three lines between two visits. Both orders can be placed online, but the service expected is different. To choose a channel, look at who brings the customer, how the order is handled and what is left of your margin.
Two models that can complement each other
A marketplace brings together several sellers and professional buyers. It can provide discovery, payment, payment terms or other services. A brand portal presents your catalogue and lets customers order directly on the terms of their account.
The boundaries are not absolute: a marketplace can offer a journey for your existing customers, and a portal can welcome new prospects once they are qualified. Compare the actual journeys rather than assuming that one always serves acquisition and the other only reordering.
Compare the contribution of each order
List the commission, the fixed fees, payment, the shipping you pay for, returns and sales admin time. The cost of a portal also includes running it, connecting it to the catalogue and supporting buyers. A channel with no sales commission is not a channel with no cost.
That last condition matters a great deal. A new order with a positive contribution can be worth having even if the channel costs more. For a customer you already have, the service provided may also justify certain fees: guaranteed payment, payment terms, ease of ordering or handling of returns.
Order value500 €
- Products250 €
- Picking and shipping20 €
- Commission and other channel fees85 €
- Contribution145 €
The scenario with €15 of channel fees leaves €215 of contribution only if the order also exists through that other channel.
Check the exceptions to the rate card
Commission varies with the platform, the country, the type of order and where the customer came from. Faire, for example, provides for 0% commission on eligible Faire Direct orders, under the conditions of its programme. That does not mean every fee is zero. Source: Faire’s terms for brands in Europe.
Ask for the rate card that applies to your account and simulate a first order, a reorder and a return. Also check the basis of the calculation: products, shipping, taxes, discounts or additional fees. Keep a dated copy of the terms you used to decide.
Test the terms you have negotiated
A brand may have a price list per pharmacy buying group, a free-shipping threshold, volume tiers and a temporary campaign. Have a real anonymised account try it out: do the right terms appear as soon as they log in? Does changing a quantity recalculate the benefits correctly? Does the customer see the amount and the lead times before confirming?
The rule does not necessarily have to be identical on every channel. Specific terms can be agreed. They must be explicit for the customer and compatible with your commercial commitments, without depending on a manual correction after each order.
Know which data you are allowed to use
Check the information you can access: the buyer’s identity, the establishment delivered, history, contacts and the origin of the order. Ask about export arrangements and restrictions on use. A file you can export does not automatically authorise any prospecting, nor moving a transaction off the platform.
Match businesses using the right identifiers, in particular SIREN and SIRET, and establishments using their partner codes. A CIP presentation code identifies a medicine; it must not be used as a company identifier. Ambiguous references have to be qualified before merging.
Separate acquisition, reactivation and transfer
Over a chosen period, separate customers who are new to your database, former customers who came back after a break, and accounts that were already buying. Track the contribution and the repeat orders of each group. The proportion of existing customers is a piece of information, not an automatic threshold for leaving a channel.
To judge acquisition, also count the customers who never reorder, the returns and the service time. A higher order volume can hide a lower contribution. Conversely, a channel that is expensive to open can become profitable across several reorders.
Prepare a portal that avoids re-keying
- →Catalogue: active lines, sales units, images and lead times that make sense.
- →Access: account qualification, authorised users and the terms that apply.
- →Transmission: an order that is identified, checked and then sent to invoicing and logistics.
- →Follow-up: confirmation, order status and someone to contact if there is a problem.
Keep a clear place for the field team
The rep needs to see the orders placed between two visits and to know the attribution rules. A visit can then be used to prepare a launch, train the team or resolve a difficulty. State in the agreements how the direct channel affects the pay of the reps concerned.
In the end, choose the channel against a measurable objective: reaching a new network, reducing reorder calls or making ordering easier. A trial limited to one range or one territory lets you measure that result before generalising.
Connect orders taken on a visit with orders placed online
Let’s look at how your customers and your reps can use one shared catalogue, with terms and history followed in Salesia.
Frequently asked questions
- Marketplace or portal: do you have to choose?
- The two can complement each other. A marketplace brings together several sellers and can provide discovery and services. A portal lets customers order from the brand's catalogue. Compare the journeys, the terms and the economic result.
- Does a marketplace take a commission on every order?
- Not always. The rules depend on the platform and on where the customer came from. This guide cites the Faire Direct programme, which provides for 0% commission on eligible orders under certain conditions. Other fees may still apply.
- How do you compare the costs?
- Calculate the contribution after product cost, picking, shipping and channel fees. Add the fixed costs and the support work. Distinguish new orders from reorders that could have come through another channel.
By Anatole Briant
By Pierre Lerebours
By Pierre Lerebours
CEO of Salesia
Anatole Briant is CEO of Salesia. He is your contact for demonstrations, pricing and partnerships.