The Marketplace Swing: Why Retailers Are Going 3P and What It Takes to Win Ready to scale your marketplace?

Payoneer Team

Last Modified – October 7th, 2026

What is the marketplace swing? 

The marketplace swing refers to the structural rebalancing happening as retailers move from 1P to 3P business models. While some enterprises maintain hybrid models, the direction of travel is clear: 3P share is climbing on every major platform. 

“Retailers are realizing they don’t need to own inventory to own the customer.”

— Ya Wen, SVP Global Marketplace, Payoneer 

According to third‑party analyst estimates, Amazon’s 3P share is projected to reach approximately 75% of ecommerce sales by 2028 (up from ~67% in 2023), while Walmart’s 3P share is projected to rise from 26% to 36% in the same period, per Flywheel Retail Insights. Third-party ecommerce is forecast to grow at an 11.7% CAGR from 2023–2028 versus 6.6% for 1P. These figures are based on external forecasts and are subject to change. 

This shows that 3P isn’t just a feature, it’s a growth engine. 

Three retailers, three models — one direction 

The clearest proof that the marketplace swing is structural, not cyclical, comes from watching how three very different retailers are executing it simultaneously. 

Sources: Walmart:44,000 new sellers / Chinese sellers 34% of base → Marketplace Pulse, mid-2025; 420M+ products, 95% from 3P → Walmart / GoAura, 2025; $200B GMV by FY2030 → Flywheel Retail Insights. Target Plus: $1B GMV in 2024, $5B target by 2030 → Target; investor day, March 2025; Q1 2025 20%+ GMV growth YoY → Target Q1 2025 earnings report. Best Buy: August 2025 launch on Mirakl → Best Buy press release, August 19, 2025; 2× SKU count / new categories → Best Buy / Mirakl launch announcement, August 2025.

Mirakl, the operating system for intelligent commerce, is a leading B2B SaaS platform and a Payoneer partner, and enables enterprise businesses, sellers and brands with an AI-driven platform that helps in launching a marketplace, scaling dropship, connecting to new channels and turning traffic into ad revenue while unlocking agentic commerce growth. Mirakl sits at the center of this movement. In 2025, Mirakl has seen 45 global enterprises join its customer base by implementing marketplace, dropship, payments or catalog management solutions powered by Mirakl which solidified Mirakl’s core product profitability. Annual Contract Value (ACV) bookings grew close to 20% year-over-year, reflecting sustained commercial momentum and strong demand across the business. 

Mirakl achieved a record $14.6 billion in annual GMV on marketplace and dropship through Mirakl Platform, a 31% year-over-year growth reinforcing its market leading position as an enabler of long-term growth for enterprises. In 2025, over 35 customers surpassed the $100 million GMV threshold. In 2025, 36 enterprises launched their marketplaces or dropship activities, including Bauhaus, Bunzl, JCB, John Lewis & Partners, Limango (Otto Group), Tesco and Ulta Beauty. That growth has since accelerated and its GMV grew by 50% in H1 2026 compared to the first half of 2025. Best Buy, Lowe’s and Macy’s, among others also operate their marketplaces on the Mirakl platform 

“We are seeing large incumbents really buy into this model and start to realize the profound operating and economic leverage of this model play out. We have seen high growth and it still feels like we are in the early innings of this movement. There is a lot more scope for participants to transform, accelerate and grow – of course catalog management, order orchestration and payments are all key elements of the equation which we aim to simplify for our clients”.  

— Haanee Monem, Director of Client Success and Financial Services 

Why retailers are making the switch 

1. Economics: The margin profile is structurally superior  

In the 1P model, retailers carry inventory risk, markdown exposure, and working capital requirements. When a product doesn’t sell, the retailer absorbs the loss. In the 3P model, platforms earn commission fees, advertising revenue, and fulfillment income on gross merchandise value (GMV), without owning all the inventory. Amazon’s third-party seller services generated over $140B in revenue in 2024. Many brands switching from 1P to 3P report improvements in net margin, once operations are optimized. 

Rather than eliminating warehouse investments, leading marketplaces are transforming them from cost centers into profit engines, monetizing fulfillment through seller-paid services and turning logistics into a scalable revenue asset instead of a balance sheet burden. 

2. Assortment without inventory risk 

3P marketplaces allow retailers to test categories, absorb demand spikes, and serve long-tail niches without the risk of owning unsold goods. In its Q1 2025 earnings call, Target cited home and apparel as categories where 3P provides assortment it couldn’t justify buying wholesale. Broader assortment also improves search relevance and conversion rates, as with greater variety, shoppers can find exactly what they need, more often. 

3.  Differentiating in an expanding marketplace landscape 

Retailers are increasingly using 3P marketplaces to deepen customer engagement, expand assortment, and remain competitive in categories where shoppers expect marketplace-style selection and fulfillment. As Best Buy’s leadership noted in its Q4 FY2025 earnings call: customers are already completing consumer electronics transactions through marketplaces, and Best Buy needed to be where they were, not just where they used to shop. 

4. Retail media: The revenue layer 1P can’t unlock 

Retail media is advertising sold by a retailer on its own platform, where brands and sellers pay for placement within the shopping environment, right where a shopper is already in buying mode. 3P platforms unlock an advertising revenue layer that simply doesn’t exist in a 1P model. Bernstein estimates Walmart’s retail media could grow from 3% to 5% of GMV, a potential multibillion-dollar annual revenue opportunity, directly tied to 3P inventory depth. For retailers building marketplace infrastructure, retail media is not a side benefit: it’s a primary financial justification.

Global forces accelerating the shift 

Three distinct motions are converging to accelerate the marketplace swing: 

• Cross-border supply expansion: Sellers from regions like China are actively expanding into Western and emerging markets. Chinese sellers now represent 34% of Walmart Marketplace’s seller base. Retailers building 3P capabilities gain direct access to this supply, especially in consumer electronics, home goods, and apparel. 
• Seller diversification: Sellers in the US, Europe, and other markets are reducing dependence on any single marketplace. This creates demand for new marketplace relationships and compliant infrastructure that can handle global complexity. 
• Improved enablement technology: Marketplace software and payment orchestration platforms have dramatically lowered the cost and complexity of launching a competitive 3P platform. Automated onboarding, compliance tooling, and payout infrastructure that once required years to build can now be deployed in months. Platforms like Mirakl have helped accelerate marketplace adoption by enabling retailers to launch and scale 3P ecosystems faster with integrated seller onboarding, catalog management, and marketplace operations infrastructure. 

What retailers need to get right 

The marketplace swing is an operational revolution. Retailers who unlock 3P growth at scale need four things working in parallel: 

1. Seller onboarding and KYC automation 

Manual identity verification doesn’t scale. Third-party compliance tools enable automated KYC, AML checks, and multi-jurisdictional eligibility, dramatically shortening seller time-to-first-sale. Enterprise marketplace platforms like Mirakl can help retailers operationalize seller onboarding, product catalog expansion, and marketplace governance at scale. 

2. Multi-currency payout infrastructure 

With cross-border sellers making up 34%+ of Walmart’s base and accelerating at other platforms, local currency settlement with real-time FX is no longer a premium feature — it’s table stakes. But for modern marketplace sellers, the need extends beyond simply receiving payouts. Sellers operating across multiple marketplaces increasingly require wallet-based financial infrastructure that helps them consolidate receivables across channels while managing broader business operations in one place. Solutions like the Payoneer Account enable sellers to hold multi-currency balances, withdraw in local currency, pay suppliers, manage VAT obligations, cover card and software expenses, and access working capital solutions — transforming payouts from a transaction endpoint into a centralized operating layer for global commerce.  

3. Assortment curation and quality control 

Bigger isn’t always better. The retailers winning at 3P are those that define a curation thesis and enforce it. Invitation-only models trade raw scale for trust, higher conversion rates, and stronger brand alignment. 

4. Retail media integration 

Build retail media into your marketplace architecture from day one. The advertising revenue layer is directly tied to the depth and quality of your 3P inventory. Treating it as an afterthought means leaving your most scalable revenue stream on the table. 

“To scale effectively, marketplaces must invest in technology and infrastructure that makes cross-border commerce feel local, seamless, and compliant. Tools that simplify seller onboarding and payouts are no longer optional — they’re essential.” 

— Ya Wen, SVP Global Marketplace, Payoneer 

Action plan: Evaluate your marketplace readiness 

Track your readiness across these three operational dimensions — and be honest about where you fall short:

The marketplace swing is reshaping retail economics 

The pivot from 1P to 3P is becoming an important growth consideration for many retailers. The retailers that succeed won’t necessarily be those with the largest product catalogs. Victory will go to those who prioritize curated supply, frictionless seller onboarding, localized payment capabilities, and trusted customer experiences. 

By focusing on seller empowerment, cross-border scalability, and compliance-ready infrastructure, enterprise retailers will not only capture new GMV — they will redefine what excellence looks like in the marketplace economy. 

Don’t wait for the swing to pass — become the driving force of its acceleration. 

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)