Selling with or without a marketplace integrator: how to choose

Three possible approaches

Manual management means working in the seller interface, an app or import files, depending on the options available for the platform and account. Amazon, for example, lets you create listings, change prices and adjust stock levels in its seller app. Amazon Seller app features.

Direct integration often uses an API, an interface for exchanging data between your system and the marketplace. Your team or a service provider develops and maintains it, using the functions and access available.

A feed management tool connects several channels through one tool. Mirakl Connect lists Excel files, e-commerce connectors and APIs among its connection options. Check which ones support your channels and operations. Connection methods presented by Mirakl.

Describe what your tools need to do together

Map the journey of a product and an order: creating listings, updating stock, preparing parcels, handling returns and responding to customer messages. Note the tool used at each stage.

For each piece of information to be sent, record its destination, how often it needs updating and the acceptable delay. Prices that change once a month and stock shared across several channels need different levels of monitoring.

You can then ask the supplier whether its connector sends only product data, or also orders, shipments and refunds. Ask who receives error notifications and how to resend the data after a correction. These answers should be included in the proposal.

When manual management or a direct connection may suit you

Manual management can work for a small number of products or channels, if the platform allows it and updates are infrequent. Someone needs to be able to enter the data, check it and make corrections. Measure the time this takes and arrange cover for absences.

Direct integration may suit specific requirements if your software is well organised and a team can maintain the connection. It lets you define the data exchanges, but you also need to budget for testing, alerts and fixes after it goes live.

The platform may also require changes. In June 2025, Amazon announced the retirement of older feed formats and asked affected integrations to move to JSON. This example illustrates the work to plan for after launching a connection. Amazon technical announcement, 25 June 2025.

When to consider a feed management tool

A feed management tool is worth considering when you have more channels and rules to manage, or when repetitive tasks take too much time. Compare its features with the data exchanges you have mapped, then test the operations your team needs.

Ask for a demonstration using a product with variants, an out-of-stock situation and a problem with an order. Also check what still needs to be done elsewhere: some messages, documents or returns may require you to use the marketplace’s own interface.

Your team still needs to approve product categories and delivery times, and know who steps in when something goes wrong. Choosing the software should go hand in hand with assigning this work.

Compare the full cost over twelve months

Compare the three options over twelve months, including your team’s work. A subscription appears on an invoice; the hours spent entering data and correcting errors also deserve a line in the calculation.

Consider two hypothetical sellers with 200 product references each. The first uses one channel and rarely changes the catalogue; the second shares stock across four channels and adjusts prices frequently. Although their catalogues are the same size, they have different data exchanges to manage.

Shortlist two options and test them with a few products and orders. Compare the time spent and errors remaining, then decide what would prompt you to change your approach, such as adding a channel or the workload becoming too high.

Our marketplace agency can review your tools and daily tasks to help you decide what to automate. Our software tracks sales, fees and profitability; it does not replace a feed management tool. Let’s discuss how you manage your marketplaces.