Marketplace Sellers Shift from Expansion to Profitability as AI Adoption Reaches 82%

ChannelEngine study finds three in five marketplace operations remain manual, while 55% of sellers across the markets surveyed, leverage TikTok Shop as a major sales channel

LEIDEN, Netherlands and NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, ChannelEngine released its 2026 Marketplace Seller Trends Report, finding that profit margin has overtaken net sales as the top success metric, while sellers operate across more channels. The second annual study covers 550 ecommerce decision-makers across France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US.

Implementing AI to improve marketplace operations is now sellers' biggest priority, cited by 26% of respondents. New in 2026, AI integration tops the rankings ahead of boosting profitability at 25%. Meanwhile, increasing marketplace footprint dropped from fourth in 2025 to eighth priority in 2026, pointing to a shift towards optimizing existing operations over expansion.

"In 2026, sellers see profit margin as a more important measure of marketplace success than sales volume," said Jorrit Steinz, CEO of ChannelEngine. "The ambition is clear: grow reach by expanding into new channels while improving returns. With three in five organizations still relying largely on manual processes or partial automation, much of that opportunity is being absorbed by operational costs. Connecting data and automating operations will be critical to turning expansion and investment in AI into profitable growth."

Profit margin per marketplace is cited by 33% of respondents as the top success metric, up from 31% in 2025. Net sales, the leading metric last year, fell to third place. 49% of sellers added two or three new marketplaces over the past year, with 39% operating on seven or more, up from 34% in 2025.

Despite widespread AI adoption, 3 in 5 organizations still describe their marketplace operations as mostly manual or partly automated, with an average of 32% of a team's weekly marketplace workload relying on manual work. Among sellers who rely on manual processes, 37% report higher operational costs, 34% say manual operations slow their expansion into new marketplaces, while 33% cite increased listing, pricing, or inventory errors are a direct result. In the US, 41% of sellers report slower marketplace expansion.

With 82% of organizations adopting or considering AI in marketplace operations, adoption remains supportive rather than transformational. The biggest barriers center on risk, control, and reliability. Compliance, legal, or regulatory risks top the concern list at 31%, with Germany leading at 41%, while the UK shows the most progressive approach to adoption of all five markets surveyed.

55% of sellers are now active on TikTok Shop, either domestically or internationally, signalling that social commerce is a serious sales channel. The UK, where TikTok Shop launched in 2021, is the most mature market. France and Germany only launched in March 2025, yet sellers in both markets are already show meaningful scale and significant adoption in under 18 months. As TikTok Shop expands across markets, social commerce is increasingly becoming part of marketplace essentials rather than experimental.

ChannelEngine, will be available for interviews at Shoptalk Fall, September 29 to October 1 in Nashville. Journalists can visit Booth B21 or contact Ronjini Joshua, [email protected], to schedule a conversation.

Download the full Marketplace Seller Trends Report 2026 here

About ChannelEngine

ChannelEngine is the multichannel commerce platform that connects brands, retailers, and distributors to 1300+ global marketplaces and sales channels from a single platform. Trusted by brands like Samsung, Unilever, Clarks, and LG Electronics across 60+ countries. ChannelEngine customers add an average of seven sales channels and see 42% GMV growth in their first year. ChannelEngine is headquartered in Leiden, the Netherlands, with offices in New York, Toronto, Berlin, Paris, Dubai, and Singapore.

Contact:
Ronjini Joshua
9492959779
[email protected]

SOURCE ChannelEngine