What is a Multi-Vendor Marketplace Website and How to Build it?

If you search Google for the greatest revenue-generating eCommerce stores, you will get names like Amazon, Airbnb, Walmart, eBay, etc. Though these stores look to have different business models, they are all multi-vendor marketplace.

Considering the fame of multi-vendor marketplaces, many ambitious entrepreneurs now wish to launch similar stores like Amazon.

Due to the high internet penetration all around the world, the eCommerce industry has come out remarkably.

An interesting fact here is that popular multi-seller eCommerce companies Amazon, eBay have nearly captured 60% of the US eCommerce market. Similarly, in other countries the market share of Amazon, eBay, Etsy, third-largest high.

Some Interesting Facts:

• Taobao is the most popular online marketplace in the world based on gross merchandise.
• Amazon is the third-largest marketplace in the world
• In 2019, more than 350,000 third-party sellers began selling on Amazon.
• A better price is the main reason why people choose to buy on online marketplaces.
• 31% of first-time shoppers favor buying on online marketplaces.

WHAT IS MULTI-VENDOR MARKETPLACE?

The multi-vendor marketplace solution allows the vendors to sell their products by setting up an exclusive storefront. The sellers can now manage most of the prime activities of the marketplace right from product addition to the product delivery at their end(Logistics-Inventory). The owner of the marketplace can earn a commission on the sale of every product or by the other revenue generation models.

Types Of Multi-Vendor Business:

There are 2 types of multi-vendor platforms:

B2B Multi-vendor business:

For bringing transparency and staying competitive, several B2B commerce firms are investing in online marketplaces. Walmart and Alibaba are the well-known names in the B2B eCommerce sector.

How To Start A Multi-Vendor Website?

Before getting into the development process, try to answer the following questions right before investing in the multi-vendor marketplace platform:

• Will your ideas fill up the missing gap in the industry? If yes, then go on.
• Will you gain anything out of your marketplace?
• Is your niche highly fragmented?
• What types of products are you going to sell more often?
• What is the market size of the niche you have chosen?
• How easy is it to sell your products in the marketplace?
• What techniques will you use to improve the user experience?
• How will you manage the marketplace transactions?

Analyze the above questions, and you will be good to go. Remember that a good marketplace must provide better services such as good communication, openness, trust, and security.

B2C Multi-Vendor Business:

These days, lots of ambitious entrepreneurs choose to invest in B2C multi selling websites. Amazon, Airbnb, and Flipkart are the best examples.

HOW DOES IT WORK AND HOW TO ONBOARD SMALL BUSINESS?

How Does A Multi-Vendor Marketplace Work?

• Vendors register on the marketplace, it can be free or paid registration.
• Buyers can buy the products from their choice of the seller.
• The owner of the marketplace can charge a certain fee on each transaction.
• Payment is transferred directly to the owner’s real-time account. The owner after deducting his commission sends the remaining payment to the vendor’s account.
• Both admin and seller can manage the product delivery activities.
• In case of a defective product or any issue, the buyer can complain directly on the online portal or to the seller.

How To Onboard Small Businesses?

• Grow sellers network through collaboration and development.
• Do smart marketing.
• Connect with existing sellers.
• Take less or zero commission in the beginning.
• Provide the best customer support.

Revenue Generation Channels On A Multi-Seller Marketplace:

Here are some top revenue generation models of a multi-vendor eCommerce marketplace:

• Google AdSense Ads
• Side banner ads
• Commission on every sale
• Subscription like Amazon Prime
• Promoted and features products on home page
• Monthly and yearly subscription fee from sellers
• Affiliate partnerships

ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF A MULTI-VENDOR MARKETPLACE WEBSITE:

Have a look at the features that your B2C or B2B multi-vendor mobile app or ecommerce website should have:

Multi-Vendor Website Features From Buyer’s Viewpoint

• Mobile optimized
• High website speed
• Easy order processing
• Seller’s reviews and ratings
• Multi-step checkout pages on a mobile app
• Coupon codes and rewards points
• 3-dimensional images and well-written product description
• Advanced search features on website and app
• Login and sign up with Social media profiles User-friendly dashboards for admin and sellers
• Digital wallet and multiple payment gateways
• Product reviews and ratings
• Multilingual and multi-currency
• Multiple levels of administrative access
• Bulk order feature for B2B marketplaces

Multi-Vendor Website Features From Vendor’s Viewpoint

• Product import/export
• Separate vendor panel
• Features products option
• Rating and review system
• Customer-to-vendor communication
• Shipment of products by vendors
• Push notification for vendors
• Informational pages for vendors
• Automated payment withdraw ( and many more )

Multi-Vendor Website Features From Owner’s Viewpoint

• Multiple revenue generation methods
• Upload an unlimited number of products
• Automated task processing
• Reporting and data analytics
• Customizations and scalability
• Integration with third-party tools
• Detailed product listing pages
• Registration pages for customers and sellers
• Product review management Search engine friendly
• Fully native IOS and Android apps
• Content management system for easy website management (and many more)

WHY MULTI-VENDOR MARKETPLACES ARE PREFERRED OVER THE ONLINE STORES?

Benefits For Sellers/Vendors

• Ready-made traffic.
• No website setup & managing cost.
• Better opportunities to market their products with a brand value.

Benefits For Customers:

• Wide range of products.
• Get the best deals.
• Best quality products and better prices.

Befits For The Marketplace Owner:

• Bigger profits over different revenue generation channels.
• No inventory management as the vendors takes the real-time care of inventory.
• As every vendor will be controlling their store by themselves, hiring people to do that is not mandatory.

Essential Features In A Multi-Vendor Marketplace:

• Product import/export
• Separate vendor board
• Rating and review system
• Features products option
• Fast search functionality
• Customer-to-vendor communication
• Shipment of products by vendors
• Push notification for vendors
• Automated task processing
• Reporting and data analytics for admin and sellers
• Registration pages for customers and sellers
• Detailed product listing pages
• Integration with third-party tools
• Digital wallet and multiple payment gateways
• Bulk order feature for B2B marketplaces
• Multiple levels of administrative access
• Mobile apps for customers & sellers
• SEO friendly platform
• Responsive Design

How To Start?

You can start a multi-vendor marketplace either by making it from scratch or getting the prefab solutions.

Building from scratch is time-consuming and can cost you thousands of bucks. You can now kick-start your online multi-vendor marketplace with business-ready solutions without any prior knowledge. All you have to do is to find out some top marketplace platforms to meet your needs such as Webnexs.

How Can Webnexs Help You?

When it comes to starting a multi-vendor marketplace, Webnexs ranks high. It is a steadfast multi-vendor marketplace platform to launch eCommerce marketplaces like Amazon and eBay easily. The platform provides you the following features for your marketplace with technical support.

• Multiple payment gateways
• High user interface & attractive design
• The real-time shipping cost calculator
• Fully customizable & scalable platform
• Product catalog system
• Customers to vendors communication
• RTL language support
• User-friendly dashboards for admin and sellers

If you have any questions regarding how to start an online marketplace website or want to hire online marketplace developers, feel free to contact us.