Marketplace Platform Advisor: Answering the Most Popular Questions

Each online marketplace we created contributed to us gaining experience in this field. Based on our experience of creating multi-vendor platforms, we updated Roobykon software to the point where our Marketplace Platform Advisor almost substitutes a real person. Marketplace Advisor is a unique software that helps you to pick and create the best type of online marketplace for you and your business.

How to Choose the Type of Marketplace

Picking the type of your future marketplace is crucial since you need to provide vendors and customers with the best service and arrange flawless communication between them. There are six eCommerce business models:

• B2B (business-to-business). A simple business marketplace;
• B2C (business-to-customer). A business sells to clients;
• C2C (customer-to-customer). A client sells something to another client.
• mCommerce. A platform for buying and selling goods via handheld wireless devices, or a service marketplace with the same principle.
• Crowdfunding. A platform that helps to raise money for a project.
• Auction. A platform where a seller sets the initial price for the item and potential buyers can suggest their price.

Here are several examples of already existing marketplaces and their business models:

• C2C – OLX, Etsy, BlaBlaCar;
• B2C – AliExpress, Booking.com;
• B2B – Alibaba.

You can also use some combination of the types to have a project multi-vendor platform suitable for your needs. Combine B2C with mCommerce, and you are good to go.

Creating a Marketplace: From Scratch or Head Start?

The easiest way to start your business is to build a new e-marketplace from scratch. In this case, you can hire a team of professional developers and work on your project step by step. With creating a new space for customers and sellers you will grow your business from your cart.

You can build an eCommerce website from already existing presets on the internet, but we recommend making a unique one.

The other way is to create an online store is based on your already existing website. You can convert the website into a marketplace when needed. For example, if you have a simple internet store you can turn it into a multi-vendor marketplace. This step will bring you more customers and more profit.

The main difference between a marketplace and your own eCommerce platform is that with the first option you have many vendors on your platform, and with the second option you have only yourself. You need to set goals to turn the website to the marketplace.

This model will be useful if you want to expand your business and sell more without increasing your expenses and risks.

The Choice of CMS for a Marketplace Is the Choice of Opportunities

There are plenty of different CMS for your marketplace, and our Marketplace Platform Advisor will help you to pick the best one.

• WordPress for E-Commerce Marketplaces

WordPress is the CMS that can be used for pretty much everything. With the right combination of plugins, tools, imagination, and the best team you can create the marketplace of your dreams. It is much cheaper to create or update your marketplace with WordPress since this CMS has all the necessary and easy tools for that.

• Magento for E-Commerce Marketplaces

Magento can help you to turn your store into a multi-vendor marketplace. This CMS has all the necessary tools for your business such as moderation, unified cart, commissions, and others.

• OpenCart for E-Commerce Marketplaces

The biggest advantage of this CMS is that you can download, purchase and install modules in your store without leaving the admin panel. It has a convenient dashboard and very user-friendly interface where you can check all your customers and their transactions.

• Custom Ruby on Rails Sites

Custom made marketplaces are always more expensive and it takes more time to create them, but they bring a unique flavor to your business. You can do everything you want and adjust everything in a way you want. Ruby on rails is comparatively low cost, fast, and pretty popular so you won’t have to search for a developer for a long time.

• Custom PHP for Marketplaces

Each CMS is made to ease your business experience. PHP has many frameworks that will come in handy when creating a marketplace.

CMS marketplaces help both owner and vendors to manage the products easily. Vendors can manage photos and information from their personal dashboard and communicate with the buyer easily.

Open Source and Problems of Customer Settings

You can create a marketplace with open source code.

Open source can help you to get access to the code much faster, thus it helps you solve any possible problems much faster. And solving problems fast when it comes to big sells is crucial. You can lose lots of money while fixing a problem with the enclosed code, and it will be hard to change anything or add new features to your code.

Marketplace Platform Advisor can help you to solve these problems. We recommend picking an open source marketplace since it’s easier to manage. With this, you can change the type of order moderation you need, add coupon codes easily, set IP geolocation, and other.

When discussing your project with a developing team, escrow functionality of the marketplace, and make sure that they can fully customize their storefront of the marketplace.

How to Earn the Money on E-Marketplace

Business revenue can happen in three ways:

• Commission paid by customers;
• Commission paid by providers;
• Subscription fee.

The first two options are self-explanatory; in case of the subscription model, the vendor pays a set amount of money for a set amount of time.

Resume

When it comes to creating a multi-vendor platform, you should discuss all the fundamental questions with your team in advance. Write down every step in as much detail as possible. This will help you a lot later. Our Marketplace Advisor can help you with that for sure.

If you are not sure about the right steps, choice, and the entire process, just contact us to help you create a marketplace for your business.