Blog / Note 05
Making marketplaces a profit channel.
Marketplace growth bought with vouchers rarely pays for itself. Three levers make Shopee and TikTok Shop profitable: a focused range, a price ladder that protects margin, and a weekly review that catches leaks early.
Many brands enter marketplaces with their full range and a heavy voucher budget. Orders grow, but each one costs more than it earns, and the discounts start to pull prices down offline too.
We treat a marketplace as a channel with its own role in the portfolio. That role decides which products go online, at which price points, and what the channel must deliver each week.
- Range
- A short list of hero SKUs built for the platform, not the full catalogue.
- Price
- A ladder with a clear role per tier, plus rules for when vouchers are allowed.
- Rhythm
- A weekly review of margin per order, ad cost and stock, with one owner.
Concept illustration. Applies to Shopee, TikTok Shop and other marketplaces.
The same logic applies to any new channel: decide its role first, then design the range, the price and the review rhythm around that role.