NEWS · 2 October 2026
Survey of 550: margin per marketplace is now sellers’ No. 1 metric
In ChannelEngine’s 2026 Marketplace Seller Trends Report, 33% of 550 e-commerce decision-makers rank profit margin per marketplace among their top success metrics, more than any other metric. Net sales, the leader in 2025, fell to third place.
Margin overtakes sales
On 22 September 2026, ChannelEngine, a Dutch provider of marketplace integration software, published its second annual Marketplace Seller Trends Report. It is based on a survey of 550 e-commerce decision-makers in France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and the US. Profit margin per marketplace is now the most-cited success metric: 33% name it, up from 31% a year earlier. Net sales, which led in 2025 with 33%, dropped to third place. For the next twelve months, AI in marketplace operations (26%) and higher profitability (25%) top the list of priorities, while expanding to more marketplaces fell from fourth to eighth place.
Where the margin goes
The biggest pressure on profitability, cited by 26%, is holding margin while staying price competitive. Marketplace fees and commissions follow (23%), then shipping and fulfillment costs (22%) and rising advertising costs (21%). Inventory problems and high return rates or return costs reach 20% each. Retailers that sell their own brands alongside third-party products put shipping and fulfillment first, at 32%.
Much of the work is still manual. Three in five companies describe their marketplace operations as mostly manual or only partly automated; just 12% call them highly automated. On average, 32% of weekly marketplace work is done by hand, down from 36% in 2025. Among firms that rely on manual processes, 37% report higher operating costs and 33% more errors in listings, prices or stock levels. ChannelEngine itself notes that the data do not prove manual work lowers margins.
What sellers can do now
Calculate the margin of each marketplace separately, after fees, advertising, shipping and returns, instead of judging channels by revenue alone. Then turn to routine work: 45% of respondents still update product content and prices by hand in marketplace portals, at least in part. Those tasks are the natural place to start automating.
Fulfillment costs belong in the per-channel calculation as well. The calculator on TREEBERG’s pricing page shows in advance what storage, picking and packing at the Nordhorn warehouse cost per order.