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~ We Are Pentagon ~

unfamiliar territory, can be so inconceivable it can feel like a You need a whole local infrastructure, feet on the ground
risk too far. where critical trading dates, promotions, marketing
opportunities and the subtle nuances of language and
Demystifying Marketplaces culture need to be understood. This is so you can compete
Trading directly on one marketplace only, even with a with the local players, get your products to the customer
specialist team, won’t give you true global presence, so this fast, and handle returns and queries competently and
isn’t a luxury afforded to global businesses. Especially when professionally. Anything else will result in search ranking
taking a genuinely comprehensive view in the eight leading obscurity at best, irreversible brand damage at worst. You
e-commerce economies, if you only chose the leading simply can’t afford to avoid putting your best foot forward,
marketplace channel for each economy, each marketplace and with marketplaces globally, first impressions really do
is completely different regardless of the vertical you retail count.
into. The skill sets required to trade on TMall in China,
for example, are completely different from Amazon, and Managed Retail: A new solution
completely different again to Jumia in Africa or Mercado At Pentagon, our ‘Managed Retail’ model sought to
Libre in Argentina. So, this must be addressed, and you solve these difficult challenges of cross-border trade. We
must consider all of the countless other periphery challenges act as merchant of record as a vehicle to launch brands
associated with trading within these channels in tough, into difficult to reach but highly lucrative marketplaces.
often complex regions. Because we own the direct
“HOW CAN RETAILERS relationship by being merchant
This is where integrators provide a of record with all of our 80
problem is relatively well documented. PROVIDE GREAT SHOPPING global channels, we own all of
good answer, and the solution to this
the challenges associated with
Send your product, price and stock trading within any marketplace
feed into a single data transformation EXPERIENCES WITH MUCH channel. From a brands
engine, which will use technology to perspective, this has resulted in a
OF THE POPULATION
optimise your listings for whichever turnkey solution that allows the
channels the integrator is plugged into. word ‘integrator’ to truly mean
CONFINED TO THEIR
This automates the manual labour we integrate you. You can start
associated with listing, and ensures trading in the best possible way
your products are algorithmically HOMES? ” in two weeks,
prioritised. Therefore, your data
feed built for Amazon can now be Originally designed to solve a
seamlessly launched into Yahoo in cross-border trade challenge
Japan or VeePee in France, and you benefit from a single with one of our larger Enterprise clients, we now have
connection to all marketplaces. countless clients witnessing exponential growth, many on 20
or 30+ marketplaces, and typically road-mapping a further
However, even if you manage to get all of your data ten channels annually.
translated into Japanese or French, you still need to get your
product to the customer, ideally within 48 hours. So, you With the global pandemic, those retailers embracing
need an in-region warehouse, and you need a competent marketplaces have had double the home shopping boost of
and reliable fulfilment provider. And what about customer others in e-commerce. For us, we’ve fast-tracked launching
service? You need someone who understands the language our brands onto as many channels as possible. Our clients
and is ideally located in the territory, or at the very least, has also bypass challenges in their warehouses, fulfilment and
native language skills and prepared to do night shifts in line returns headaches, language and trading difficulties, and
with the local time-zone. And what about returns? Who any other obstacle stopping them from moving forward,
will be handling those? Some of these marketplaces require including social distancing. It’s incredibly empowering, and
you to have a legal entity in the territory, so you need to with the world potentially changed forever, it represents an
make sure you have the legal team arrange that quickly evolutionary step in e-commerce which is only going to get
too, which can take months. Not to mention the technical more complex and desperately needs innovative problem-
integration, which can also take months, and even when solving.
you eventually launch, who knows you? You need time to
establish yourself, build a review base and understand what As Henry Ford put it; ‘It has been my observation that most
the local population want before you can expect to generate people get ahead during the time that others waste.’ ••
any semblance of a profit.

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