What is Marketplace Integration and How Does It Work in eCommerce?
Tags: programming, api
Published: 2022-09-26 10:34:10

Today, integration with third-party marketplaces is a necessity for many software businesses. Companies that sell eCommerce solutions and applications must connect their systems with multiple marketplaces and platforms to stay competitive.

Below, we’ll show you how your company can benefit from secure marketplace integration. We’ll also explore the various types of marketplace APIs that are available and how to use them. Also, you will know how to integrate with marketplace APIs easily.

## How Does Marketplace Integration Work?

The eCommerce market has grown exponentially in the past few years, and it continues to grow. Today, more and more people are choosing to open up their online stores. But to stay competitive in the market, online sellers need to use special tools and solutions to automate their businesses. This is where you come in as an eCommerce software or app provider. You must ensure that your solution is able to automate different online business processes and make e-retailers' activity more efficient.

Marketplace integration involves developing an application programming interface (API) connection between your system and various marketplaces like eBay, Walmart, Amazon, or Etsy. Once the connection is up and running, you will be able to retrieve, add, synchronize, delete, and work with marketplace data related to products, prices, orders, shipments, inventory, or taxes.

The marketplace integration process involves several stages, as follows:

**Stage #1:** The first stage of the integration process involves exploring the peculiarities of each marketplace and studying the documentation. You must know that each marketplace has a different API structure and traits, so each integration is a unique process.

**Stage #2:** Integrating your software with the API of the marketplace.

**Stage #3:** Once you have connected with a marketplace, the next step is to transfer data between parties. This involves managing marketplace products and orders, as well as accessing data related to shipping, taxes, or baskets.

**Stage #4:** The final stage of a project is to perform ongoing support and maintenance of the integration.

## The Specifics of Various Marketplace APIs

An application programming interface (API) acts as an intermediary between two applications, enabling them to communicate with each other and exchange data. This concept is used across all industries and niches, including the eCommerce sphere.

To service your clients across multiple places, you should connect with as many marketplaces as possible. Four major online marketplaces that every eCommerce software provider should consider connecting with as quickly as possible are Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Walmart. They have tens of millions of sellers on their platforms, so you can extensively grow your business by connecting with them.

Let's take a look at the specific details of these four marketplace APIs.

**Amazon API:** Amazon is undoubtedly the largest online marketplace in the world. Its API is powerful and enables sellers to access data on listings, payments, and orders. However, Amazon's API is quite old. As a result, changing data on Amazon listings, payments, or orders can be quite a tedious task because it requires experienced developers who know how to perform an Amazon API integration properly.

**eBay API:** [eBay API](https://developer.ebay.com/develop/apis) powers more than 800,000 online stores and services 170 million users on a monthly basis. eBay API offers unrestricted access to a plethora of unique features and capabilities, but you must overcome the annoying bugs and errors that keep showing up if you want to create an error-free integration.

**[Walmart API](https://api2cart.com/walmart-api/?utm_source=dev.to&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=marketplaceintegrationn.kov):** Walmart is the largest chain of physical stores in North America, and it is also a popular online marketplace. The company uses a smooth REST infrastructure for its API, making it easy to work with data.

**[Etsy API](https://api2cart.com/etsy-api/?utm_source=dev.to&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=marketplaceintegrationn.kov):** This rapidly expanding marketplace, which offers a user-friendly API supporting the OAuth method, combines the reliability of the RESTful interface with the utility of the lightweight JSON format.

## How to Connect with Marketplace APIs Easily?

In 2022, it will be crucial to grow and expand your software business. To ride the wave of eCommerce growth and capitalize on the huge number of e-stores being opened during the pandemic, you need to connect your business with as many marketplaces as possible.

To save time and effort, you should avoid manual integration and choose a service that offers automatic integration. API2Cart is one of the solutions that allow you to get connected to 40+ shopping platforms and marketplaces within a few days and use more than 100 API methods to manage various store data.

This service provides a single integration solution for multiple marketplaces, reducing the total cost of ownership and maximizing your ROI. Currently, it supports connections with Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and Etsy. Soon enough, the company is planning to add the connection with AliExpress and Flipkart along with numerous other platforms.