Marketplace Bites #3 - Marketplace Channels

When you come to the Microsoft Marketplace, you find three channels: the web channel, the Microsoft channel, and the reseller channel.

The web channel is the storefront we all see, consisting of AppSource and the Azure Marketplace. What's the difference between them? The Azure Marketplace focuses on a technical audience, providing solutions for IT decision-makers and developers, and is integrated into Azure. On the other hand, AppSource offers solutions more geared toward business engagement, targeting Business Decision Makers, with integrations into the Microsoft Teams app. Altogether, these two storefronts combined have over 4 million monthly active users—quite a significant number. The best part? This is an in-market audience, meaning that users who access both platforms already have a need in mind and are looking to solve it. The web channel is particularly relevant for the corporate and enterprise segment, as Microsoft educates its customers to make purchases on the Marketplace. These customers are familiar with the mechanism and are willing to buy your solution.

Next is the Microsoft Channel. Microsoft has a global sales force of over 15,000 sellers and a customer base of a billion. It's truly a powerhouse. Through this channel, you can engage in 'co-selling', which means joining forces with Microsoft to sell your solution. At WeTransact, our sales approach is deeply integrated with third-party collaborations, offering unique incentives for the sellers. This is a partner-led approach, fostering an ecosystem where sellers, partners, and customers thrive together. Notably, Microsoft is the only provider that rewards customers, its channel, and sellers for doing business on the marketplace. However, co-selling with Microsoft is limited to the corporate and enterprise segments.

Lastly, there is the reseller channel, where you can find over 90,000 cloud solution providers capable of directly reselling your solution from the marketplace. It's a diverse and expansive network of partners, and the marketplace has evolved to enable these partners to resell solutions just as they would with Microsoft licenses. Navigating this channel requires an understanding of the rules and potential of indirect providers, indirect resellers, and direct CSPs, also known as resellers. If you want to sell to SMBs, this is the channel for you.

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