Around 247 billion euros – that is the total gross merchandise value that sellers will generate through marketplaces in cross-border European trade in 2025, according to a forecast by CB Commerce. This corresponds to about three quarters of all European cross-border online sales. It’s no wonder that many brands and retailers are looking for new marketplaces to sell to abroad. And the range is constantly growing because many marketplace providers are expanding and integrating more and more countries into their business. One example is MediaMarktSaturn, one of the leading retailers in the consumer electronics market in Europe. This is reason enough to take a look at how to sell cross-border on MediaMarktSaturn Marketplace.
Internationalization of MediaMarktSaturn Marketplace
After MediaMarktSaturn expanded its online business into a marketplace in 2020, internationalization quickly followed: Spain was added in 2021, Austria in 2022, and the Netherlands and Italy in 2024. The marketplace launched in Belgium in March and will be joined by Poland in May. Hungary and Turkey are to follow by 2026. In Austria, the MediaMarktSaturn marketplace is ranked second behind Amazon in the consumer electronics category according to ECDB, and fourth in Spain. In the Netherlands and Italy, MediaMarktSaturn is ranked third: in Italy behind Amazon and Temu, and in the Netherlands behind Amazon and the local hero bol.
New categories in addition to consumer electronics
More than 1,500 sellers are currently active on the marketplace. GMV in the 2023/2024 financial year was over 250 million euros. Together with more than 1,000 brick-and-mortar stores in eleven countries, MediaMarktSaturn reaches over 6 million customers per day. By far the strongest category in terms of sales on the marketplace is IT hardware. This is followed by smartphones, large and small household appliances, and televisions.
However, MediaMarktSaturn no longer wants to limit itself to consumer electronics and is therefore in the process of introducing ten new categories: DIY, sports, mobility, energy, toys, garden, barbecues, baby & kids, lightning and pet care. Sellers from these categories should find a new sales channel as a result.
How to sell cross-border on the MediaMarktSaturn Marketplace
To sell on the MediaMarktSaturn Marketplace, sellers must meet a number of requirements. They must
- be a registered legal entity with a VAT ID and bank account within the EU
- have an EAN for each product, ship directly from an EU warehouse to customers and process returns,
- be able to accept orders within 24 hours and issue invoices in your own name,
- be registered with the Central Packaging Register,
- offer German customer service by phone and email.
The technical connection is possible via API, via middleware such as Channable, ChannelEngine, Channelpilot, JTL, PlentyOne or Rithum, via CSV/Excel or FTP.
Excerpt of MediaMarktSaturn’s German seller pitch desk
To get started, you need
- a registration and a seller profile,
- verification via video identification and registration with the payment service provider,
- as well as the upload of products and offers.
A monthly fee of 39 euros is charged for sales. In addition, there are commission fees between 7 and 15% depending on the category. E.g.: Electronics such as smartphones or notebooks are 7%, TV ist 8%, e-bikes and lightning ist 10%, toys, solar panels and pet care are 12%. Books, health products or furniture are up to 15%. The fees are calculated on the product price including VAT and shipping costs.
Excerpt of MediaMarktSaturn’s German seller pitch desk
And MediaMarktSaturn wants to continue to grow, especially in the marketplace business. The marketplace is to be gradually expanded to all 11 countries in which MediaMarktSaturn is represented. The expansion of categories and the refurbished business, as well as premium services for sellers such as sponsored product ads, price optimization tools and trade marketing, will also serve as growth levers. As a pan-European omnichannel retailer, MediaMarktSaturn offers special services such as Click&Collect and “Space-as-a-Service”. This allows sellers to rent store space in brick-and-mortar stores.
Conclusion:
Brands and retailers wanting to sell via marketplaces in other European countries have an ever-increasing range of options, for example because Kaufland is also expanding internationally or marketplaces like bol in the Netherlands are opening up to foreign retailers. This reduces dependence on one or two providers. At the same time, the expansion of the range, as is currently being undertaken by MediaMarktSaturn, opens up new channels for many sellers.