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New 2026 study finds profit margin has overtaken net sales as the leading marketplace success metric, while TikTok Shop adoption continues to grow
ChannelEngine’s 2026 Marketplace Seller Trends Report finds that ecommerce sellers are prioritizing profitability and operational efficiency as they expand across more marketplace channels.
The second annual study surveyed 550 ecommerce decision-makers across France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the US. The research found that profit margin per marketplace has become the leading measure of success, while artificial intelligence and automation are increasingly viewed as tools for improving marketplace operations.
Profitability Moves Ahead of Sales Volume
Profit margin per marketplace was identified as the top success metric by 33% of respondents, up from 31% in 2025. Net sales, which ranked first in last year’s study, fell to third place in 2026.
At the same time, marketplace expansion remains significant. Nearly half of respondents, or 49%, added two or three new marketplaces during the past year, while 39% now operate across seven or more marketplaces, compared with 34% in 2025.
The findings suggest that sellers are balancing expansion with a greater focus on the returns generated by existing marketplace operations.
AI Becomes a Top Operational Priority
Improving marketplace operations through AI was the most frequently cited priority for 2026, selected by 26% of respondents. It ranked ahead of improving profitability, which was cited by 25%.
By contrast, increasing marketplace footprint fell from the fourth-highest priority in 2025 to eighth in 2026.
ChannelEngine CEO Jorrit Steinz said sellers are increasingly focused on expanding their reach while improving the economics of their marketplace operations.
Manual Processes Remain Common
Despite increased interest in AI, marketplace operations remain heavily dependent on manual work.
Three in five organizations surveyed describe their marketplace operations as mostly manual or partially automated. Respondents estimated that an average of 32% of their teams’ weekly marketplace workload still involves manual processes.
Among sellers relying on manual operations:
- 37% report higher operational costs.
- 34% say manual processes slow expansion into new marketplaces.
- 33% report more listing, pricing, or inventory errors.
- 41% of US sellers say manual operations slow marketplace expansion.
The findings indicate that operational complexity remains a challenge as sellers add more marketplaces and manage larger volumes of product, pricing, inventory, and listing data.
AI Adoption Faces Risk and Compliance Concerns
AI adoption in marketplace operations is widespread, with 82% of organizations either already adopting AI or considering its use.
However, adoption remains focused largely on supporting existing operations rather than fundamentally changing them. Risk, control, and reliability remain key concerns.
Compliance, legal, and regulatory risks were identified as the leading barrier by 31% of respondents. Germany recorded the highest level of concern on this issue at 41%, while the UK showed the strongest overall approach to AI adoption among the five markets surveyed.
TikTok Shop Gains Marketplace Traction
Social commerce is also becoming a larger part of marketplace strategies. The study found that 55% of surveyed sellers are active on TikTok Shop either domestically or internationally.
The UK represents the most established TikTok Shop market among those surveyed, following its launch there in 2021. France and Germany launched the platform in March 2025, but sellers in both markets have already reported meaningful adoption.
The findings point to TikTok Shop moving beyond an experimental social commerce channel as sellers increasingly incorporate it into broader marketplace strategies.
Sellers Shift Toward Efficiency
Overall, the 2026 report highlights a shift from marketplace expansion alone toward managing profitability, automation, and operational efficiency.
As sellers operate across more channels and experiment with AI and social commerce, the ability to connect marketplace data and automate routine processes is becoming increasingly important to managing costs and maintaining performance across a growing ecommerce footprint.
