How to build a multi-vendor marketplace: Startup Guide

Veera S
5 min readDec 7, 2020

eCommerce is the industry that is keeping the business world afloat in 2020.

COVID-19 has been tough on every small, medium, and large business.

Eddie Machaalani quoted

By 2020, brick and mortar retail spaces will be little more than showrooms.

Retail business owners are moving towards a model that is simple yet gainful for their business.

It is a multi-vendor marketplace.

Multi-vendor Marketplace:

The Multi-vendor marketplace is a platform that enables customers to purchase goods from different suppliers under one roof.

This platform allows multiple vendors to display their products on the website.

how-to-make-a-mulit-vendor-marketplace-like-softsuave

And, the customers can search for products and buy them online seamlessly.

Vendors can focus on providing quality and relevant and quality products.

While, marketplace owners are responsible for attracting customers, handling deliveries, and assisting in payments.

Top 3 Business Models in Multi-vendor Marketplace

A Multi-vendor Marketplace has a few business models to follow.

It differentiates each marketplace from another.

Besides, you can classify the types of models based on the products sold and end-users.

The top three business models are as follows;

Top 3 Business Models in Multi-vendor Marketplace Soft Suave

B2B: — In this model, transactions happen between two different companies.

B2C: — This model allows a business to sell products to customers directly.

C2B: — In this model, the business transaction happens between customer and company.

5 Best Revenue Models for Multi-vendor Marketplace

The multi-vendor marketplace is the best business model to generate revenue in 2021.

But it has to be used rightly to generate a good amount of revenue.

Subscription Model:

This is the most widely used revenue model by the marketplace owners.

Vendors will subscribe to the model every month and upload products accordingly.

But the amount of subscription depends on the duration and volume of features.

Only reputed companies go for this model as they have to make sure there is a gain for both customers and sellers.

Commissions:

If you want to upgrade your grocery business to a multi-vendor app, this is the most suited revenue model.

You can set the commission rates and carry on your business seamlessly.

As an owner, you can charge your sellers for every transaction made on the eCommerce marketplace.

You can also set the type of commission based on your product or service offered — Fixed amount or percentage.

Delivery and Logistics:

This revenue model is the most profitable for marketplace owners.

The owner can offer logistics and shipping services to vendors and can make extra bucks at the same time.

You can also use a third-party to engage in the field and do the service for you.

Processing Charges on Payments:

This is the most comfortable form of revenue you can generate when you own a marketplace.

You can charge a fixed fee when any transaction is processed in your marketplace.

Advertising:

This revenue model is best suited for renowned eCommerce marketplaces.

You can allow vendors to advertise their products on the website to persuade your customers into buying.

This is a win-win model for customers, vendors, and owners.

Step-by-step Guide to Build Multi-vendor Marketplace: -

Developing a multi-vendor marketplace is simple.

How-to-Develop-a-Multi-Vendor-Ecommerce-Marketplace Soft Suave

Here are a few steps that will guide you to build a booming multi-vendor marketplace.

Find Target Audience

The first and foremost task is to find your target audience.

You need to know your customers and vendors before you start your marketplace development.

Analyze the market and understand your competitors for a brief understanding.

This will allow you to plan for the development easily.

Figure Out Your USP

Figuring out USP is the most challenging part of any business.

But making your marketplace different from others is the success factor for your business.

Find the best feature that will add value to your customer, and you will succeed without any doubt.

Choose the Right Development Company:-

Many business owners fail in this stage.

Not all companies can build an eCommerce marketplace.

You have to find the best eCommerce mobile app development company to bring your dreams and USPs into a marketplace.

The expertise and experience in the eCommerce industry will work handy while developing your multi-vendor platform.

Select Tech Stack:

Selecting the tech stack is the most critical step during multi-vendor platform development.

Tech stack used to build marketplace can be divided into two;

  1. Front-end
  2. Back-end

The front-end allows customers to interact with your eCommerce platform.

HTML and CSS are used to point a browser to display content on a web page.

Besides, ReactJS is the best technology if you are developing an eCommerce marketplace.

The back-end is the place where the logic of your marketplace is available.

The best tech for building a back-end for the multi-vendor platform is Ruby on Rails.

It helps your platform to be scalable, fast-loading, and secure.

Deploy, Market, and Upgrade

Deployment is the final stage of development.

Your eCommerce marketplace is ready to use by the customers if your product reached this stage.

However, you have to market your app and regularly update it to stay in the competition.

Final Thoughts: -

Now you have known the step by step guide to building an eCommerce marketplace.

It is upon you to get a consultation with the best eCommerce app development company like Soft Suave to build the right multi-vendor marketplace for your business.

It is now or never!!

So start today to succeed tomorrow.

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Veera S

I’m Veera S — who is working as a digital marketer. I love writing blogs and publishing blogs.