What does a marketplace integration provider actually do?

It connects the marketplaces you sell on to a single panel. Orders land in one list, stock and price changes propagate to every channel, and shipping and invoicing run from the same flow. The point is to stop logging into each marketplace's own panel separately.

What is the single most important question when choosing?

“When a sale happens on one channel, when does stock drop on the others, and what happens if the push fails?” The two must be asked together. Overselling almost always traces back to the answer.

Is a provider with more integrations better?

Not necessarily. A total count says nothing about whether the chain runs end to end on the channel you sell on. Naming your own channels and asking for the capability list there is the better measure.

Do I have to pay a setup fee?

It varies by provider: some charge for setup, some per channel, some take a share of revenue. Ask about all three separately and ask for a single annual total. Stokzone charges no setup fee and takes no sales commission.

Should I decide without a trial period?

We would not recommend it. A demo runs on clean data the vendor prepared; your catalogue may have missing barcodes and duplicates. The system's real behaviour only shows with your own data.

Buyer's guide

Marketplace integration providers: how to choose one

Almost every provider on the market writes the same sentence: “manage all your marketplaces from one panel”. When the sentence is identical, choosing gets harder. This page does not tell you which provider to pick; it tells you which questions to ask. You can put these questions to any provider — and at the end of the page we answer the same ones about ourselves.

Call checklist0/7

What can it do on my channel?
When does stock drop on other channels?
Where do I see a failed push?
Setup fee, per-channel fee, commission?
Can I export my own data?
Who answers support, and how fast?
Can I try it with my own products?

Below, each item comes with why it matters and how to verify the answer.

Seven questions to ask before the sales call

They share one property: the answer shows up on a screen, not in a pitch. That is why each question carries a “how to verify” line — ask to see it, not to be told.

Not “how many integrations?” but “what can it do on the channel I sell on?”
Why it matters
Integration count is a marketing number. Pulling orders alone counts as an “integration”, and so does running the whole stock–price–shipping–invoice chain. You should know which one you are buying.
How to verify
Name your two or three channels and ask, one by one, which operations are supported there: order sync, stock push, price push, product creation, shipping label, returns, invoicing. Ask for the screen, not a list.
When a sale happens on one channel, when does stock drop on the others?
Why it matters
This is the single source of overselling. If the delay is measured in minutes, fine. If the answer is “at end of day” or “in a batch”, you will sell the same unit twice and you will pay the penalty.
How to verify
Ask for the figure in writing. Then ask the follow-up: what happens if the push fails, is it retried, and where do I see it? Without an answer to the second, the first means nothing.
Am I told when a push fails?
Why it matters
Stock pushes do not always succeed: a barcode does not match, the listing is inactive, the marketplace returns an error. That is normal. The problem is when the failure never reaches a screen — the panel reads “sync complete” while the stock stays wrong. The most expensive failure is the one nobody notices.
How to verify
Ask “where do I see failed pushes?” and ask to be shown that screen. There should be a record: what was sent, what came back, and when.
Is there a setup fee, a per-channel fee, or a commission on sales?
Why it matters
The monthly price is the only figure on the page, but it is not the total. A setup charge, an extra fee per new channel and a cut of revenue are three separate line items; a quote carrying all three can land far above the listed monthly fee.
How to verify
Ask about all three separately, then ask for one number: what do I pay over a year? If any item scales with your revenue, find out now.
Can I get my own data out?
Why it matters
Your products, your stock and your order history are yours. If you ever move to another tool, you need to be able to take them with you. Without export, moving means rebuilding the data by hand, and that usually takes months.
How to verify
Ask whether you can download product and order data as Excel or XML. “We'll provide it on request” is not the same thing as a download button.
When something breaks, who do I reach, how, and how quickly?
Why it matters
In marketplace operations, downtime costs money by the hour. The phrase “24/7 support” on its own says nothing; what matters is who answers and how long it takes.
How to verify
Ask which channel support runs on (phone, WhatsApp, email, in-app) and what a typical response time is. During the trial, ask a real question and time it — that is the most honest test there is.
Can I try it with my own products before signing?
Why it matters
A demo runs on data the vendor prepared, and it always looks good. Your catalogue is messy: missing barcodes, duplicates, variants that do not line up. How the system behaves only becomes clear with your data.
How to verify
Ask for a free trial and whether a credit card is required. During the trial, upload your own products and genuinely connect one channel.

The three most common mistakes buyers make

Reading integration count as quality

A bigger total is read as broader coverage. But the gap between two providers' counts usually makes no difference at all to the channel you actually sell on. What matters is not the total, but whether the chain runs end to end on your three channels.

Not questioning the words “real time”

The phrase has no technical definition; everyone writes what they mean by it. In one system it is seconds, in another “a scan every 15 minutes”, in a third an overnight batch job. Ask about the interval and the failure behaviour, not the phrase.

Forgetting that setup happens once and use happens daily

Decisions often turn on the setup promise: “we'll do it for you”. But setup lasts a week and the panel will be used for years. Work through the daily flow yourself during the trial — the order list, a stock correction, a return.

The same questions, answered about Stokzone

If we are going to write these questions down, we have to answer them ourselves. What follows is either a commitment already published on this site or a screen you can see in the panel.

Which channels, with which capabilities?: Every platform has its own card on the integrations page, and the card states which operations are supported there. We suggest reading the card rather than the count — and where something is still coming, we say so plainly.
What if a push fails?: Sync records are kept: what was sent, what the platform replied, and when. For a push to count as successful in the panel, the platform has to accept it — “we sent it” is not enough.
Setup fee and sales commission?: We charge no setup fee and take no cut of your revenue. There is no line item beyond the monthly figure on the pricing page.
Can you take your data out?: Product data moves in and out via an Excel template, and the catalogue can also be exported as XML. You do not need our permission to download your own data.
Do you have to decide without trying?: There is a 7-day free trial and we do not ask for a credit card. During the trial you can load your own products and connect a channel.

See the integration list

One last note

We named no provider on this page and made no claim on anyone else's behalf. That is not politeness: any sentence we cannot verify about a competitor would also lower the value of what we tell you.

Put the seven questions to us, and put them to others. Once the answers sit side by side, the decision tends to make itself — and if it does not go our way, you working with the right tool is the better outcome for us too.

Frequently asked questions

What does a marketplace integration provider actually do?: It connects the marketplaces you sell on to a single panel. Orders land in one list, stock and price changes propagate to every channel, and shipping and invoicing run from the same flow. The point is to stop logging into each marketplace's own panel separately.
What is the single most important question when choosing?: “When a sale happens on one channel, when does stock drop on the others, and what happens if the push fails?” The two must be asked together. Overselling almost always traces back to the answer.
Is a provider with more integrations better?: Not necessarily. A total count says nothing about whether the chain runs end to end on the channel you sell on. Naming your own channels and asking for the capability list there is the better measure.
Do I have to pay a setup fee?: It varies by provider: some charge for setup, some per channel, some take a share of revenue. Ask about all three separately and ask for a single annual total. Stokzone charges no setup fee and takes no sales commission.
Should I decide without a trial period?: We would not recommend it. A demo runs on clean data the vendor prepared; your catalogue may have missing barcodes and duplicates. The system's real behaviour only shows with your own data.

Put the questions to us as well

During the trial, load your own products and connect a channel. Compare the answers by looking at screens, not by talking.

Marketplace integration providers: how to choose one

Seven questions to ask before the sales call

Not “how many integrations?” but “what can it do on the channel I sell on?”

When a sale happens on one channel, when does stock drop on the others?

Am I told when a push fails?

Is there a setup fee, a per-channel fee, or a commission on sales?

Can I get my own data out?

When something breaks, who do I reach, how, and how quickly?

Can I try it with my own products before signing?