marketplace

Ready for the electronics hustle? How to successfully prepare for Cyber Week on MediaMarktSaturn Marketplace If you want to be well-positioned for Cyber Week, you need to start planning early. That may sound like a no-brainer – yet in the hustle of daily operations, time often slips away, and suddenly planning gets tight again. That’s why it’s smart to begin early: selecting assortments, choosing the right channels, preparing logistics, and more. Especially when it still seems like there’s plenty of time left.  But what does good Cyber Week preparation really look like? We asked Alexander Klinger, Department Manager Marketplace DACH at MediamarktSaturn – a marketplace which relies heavily on the significance of Cyber Week for their business.  Marketplace Universe: Alexander, how important is Black Week for MediaMarktSaturn and your marketplace sellers? And which categories perform especially well? Alexander: Black Week is by far the most important event of the year for MediaMarktSaturn and our marketplace sellers. In Germany and Austria, we nearly doubled our previous records during these seven highest-revenue days of 2024. Notebooks, gaming PCs, and robot vacuums performed exceptionally well, as did our new verticals. Some offers like Lenovo notebooks, e-scooters, or Roborocks truly went through the roof. What requirements must sellers meet in order to participate in your marketplaces during Cyber Week? Alexander: We inform our sellers about the criteria for each campaign at least two weeks in advance. For Cyber Week, we’ll send out these details 4 to 6 weeks ahead of time to allow enough preparation. Requirements include a minimum discount compared to the best price of the past 30 days, sufficient stock levels, and a maximum shipping time of two days. There are also specific category guidelines. Handpicked products for the homepage Which offer formats perform best during Cyber Week – such as daily deals, percentage discounts, or bundles? Alexander: Our main campaign on the homepage performs best and offers the most visible placement. Depending on how strong the deals are, we handpick products for this section – only the very best make it into the highlights. That ensures maximum value for both sellers and customers. In addition, we run themed campaigns that also perform very well. Beyond that, sellers can benefit from increased traffic on our site by being featured in recurring campaigns like our weekly tech highlights or weekend specials. What determines whether an offer gets especially prominent placement during Cyber Week? Alexander: Our account management teams work on the deals together with our sellers. Only sellers with a reliable customer experience qualify – meaning low refund rates, good on-time shipping, and strong seller ratings. Price is also crucial: we focus on the best possible deals compared to the product’s lowest price over the past year. Only top-tier deals are accepted. We also ensure a balanced deal portfolio to cover all categories with great offers. How much does product data quality – like titles and images – influence placement and conversion during campaigns? Alexander: Product data quality is very important to us, as high-quality content always has a positive impact on click and conversion rates. That’s why we have manual checks done by our content team, which provides sellers with feedback if there are issues. This often happens with images: our content guidelines clearly define what’s allowed on the main image and what isn’t. The same applies to technical specs like minimum image size. What role do advertising formats like Sponsored Ads, premium placements, or onsite banners play during Cyber Week – and how early should sellers book them to get maximum visibility? Book ads 4 to 6 weeks before Alexander: Advertising formats in our webshop are, of course, the easiest way to monetize the massive increase in traffic. They also bring great visibility for sellers and their brands. Available formats include Sponsored Product and Sponsored Brand Ads, A+ Content, and Space-as-a-Service and Instore Ads in our stores. For maximum visibility, sellers should book these 4 to 6 weeks before Cyber Week. Our self-service options allow them to manage their budgets independently. How do you evaluate seller performance during the event – in terms of conversion rates, cancellation rates, or customer reviews? And do high-performing sellers gain advantages in future campaigns? Alexander: During the event, we adjust the deals daily if certain products are over- or underperforming. We look at click-through rates, conversion rates, prices, and cancellations, which indicate overall customer appeal. That said, we treat all sellers equally: those who meet quality criteria have a better chance of getting their products featured. avoid typical mistakes What typical mistakes do you see sellers make in preparing – especially newcomers? And what three things should sellers tackle right now to get ready for Cyber Week? Alexander: A common mistake for major events like Cyber Week is that sellers’ fulfillment is not properly set up. Many are also unprepared to handle the spike in customer inquiries and returns. To be well-prepared, sellers should already be optimizing their content and ensuring sufficient stock for the peak season. At the same time, they should work on their quality KPIs, such as reducing incident or late shipment rates. That way, they improve their chances of being selected for Cyber Week placements. Want to know more? Write to mms.partner.de@mediamarktsaturn.com