According to eMarketer forecasts, the gap between US first-party sales on Amazon and third-party sales is widening. In 2017, direct sales grew 20.9% to reach $70.40 billion. By 2019, that total will climb to $95.08 billion. By comparison, marketplace sales jumped 41.4% to $129.45 billion last year. And marketplace sales are expected to log growth topping 30% this year and next.

Amazon is famously close-mouthed about the performance of many of its units, and marketplace sales is no exception. In his annual letter to shareholders in April 2018, founder Jeff Bezos said that more than 300,000 small businesses in the US started selling on Amazon in 2017. He added that customers worldwide ordered more than 40 million items from marketplace sellers on Prime Day 2017, a 60% increase over Prime Day 2016.

Digital shoppers like marketplaces because they can buy from multiple brands with one transaction. There is also a perception that marketplaces have better prices because of the ability to comparison shop. According to "The eMarketer Ecommerce Insights Survey," conducted in June 2018 by Bizrate Insights, 41.5% of US internet users had purchased via an online marketplace in the past 30 days. 

Sourced through Scoop.it from: retail.emarketer.com