How to Build a Marketplace App for your eCommerce Business

With the launch of digitization, the whole brick and mortar businesses have revamped themselves into eCommerce where consumers have started shopping online with the ease of mobile devices from the very comfort of their home.

In the recent times there has been a huge rise in the demand for building marketplace mobile apps. Day by day more and more companies are getting into eCommerce business and they are targeting mobile-first and website-second!

Even inside the physical store, 80% of the customers use their Smartphones to search for a product and look for reviews, price comparison, and also find other locations of the store.

And, here comes the importance of having an ecommerce mobile app.

Why do you need to have a marketplace app? How is it different from a regular eCommerce app? The key difference between a marketplace and a regular online store is the ability of individual vendors to list their products/services. A marketplace app works as a platform to help trade multiple items – like physical products such as clothes, electronics, furniture to services like coupons, apps, etc.

Making it short, if you’re an aspiring businessman and wanted to start a multi vendor marketplace software for your eCommerce business, you’ve reached the right destination. Being an avid marketplace app development company, we constantly keep an eye on how the landscape is changing and what are the things you need to stay on the competitive edge.

Let’s Begin with Some Success Stories of Marketplaces:

Your idea of building a marketplace is not new as there are plenty of businesses entered into the market. Some of them were successful and gained a huge potential with a pool of customers through their high-level services.

Some of the successful eCommerce marketplaces are as follows:

• Amazon – One of the most popular marketplaces till date. They’ve spread across North America, Europe and Asia and sell almost everything that you can imagine to trade.
• eBay – Popular since mid-90s, offers a great option for shopping online. Begun with online marketplace, they have now opened for holding auctions, selling personal used items, and also renting accommodations.
• Etsy – offer unique handmade products and vintage stuff from manufacturers around the globe.
• AliExpress – Started as B2B service has later developed to a P2P platform which mainly deals with selling of cheap products coming from China.
• And the list goes on.

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How to Create a Marketplace App?

Building a marketplace app includes a lot of research and investigation. To start with, it is important to define your business goals, what type of tools and technologies do you require to outshine your competitors, features to consider for a successful venture. Below are some of the aspects to look before creating a marketplace mobile app.

Analyzing the Market & Audience:

The very first thing you will require to do is to analyses your target audience, their behavior, likes and dislikes. It all deals with determining the buyer persona.

Business Model:

This serves as the foundation for your company’s profitability. A solid business model help sellers and buyers understand the segmentation that leads to a successful customer acquisition and revenue generation. It involves charging the vendors and customers. All you want to focus is on the payment methods and more.

Choosing Right Technology:

Get to know the ins and outs to decide on the technology needs of your business. Have an eye on your budget, inventory, database, CMS and framework required to build your app. Set up your marketplace using readymade platforms made of Magento, OpenCart, Drupal or go with Saas based solutions like Sharetribe, Marketplacer, etc.  You may either go for a native app or hybrid app based on your market sustainability. Similarly, you have to decide on the platform you need to launch the app such as for Android or iOS devices.

Building your MVP:

Once you are done with market analysis and buyer segmentation, you have to get into building your MVP (Minimum Viable Product). Make sure to integrate functionalities and features required to build your marketplace app based on your idea.

App Features:

Here comes the most important phase of developing your marketplace app. Buyers are hugely influenced by the features which plays a huge role in revenue growth. Features are segmented into three panels for customers, vendors and admin to give better user experience for the end users.

Third Party Integrations:

Making use of 3^rd party APIs like payment gateways, help desk, chat systems, personalized emails, GPS services, etc. ensures trust for a successful marketplace app.

Scaling and Expansion:

Once you are satisfied that your app is doing well, you have to move forward with improvisation in order to stay adept with latest technologies in comparison with budding competitors. Try to target multiple platforms to reach diverse mobile users and enhance the existing functionalities for a more engaging user experience.

How Much Will It Cost to Create a Marketplace E Commerce App?

The cost of making a multi vendor marketplace platform depends on the technology you decide to go with, the platforms through which your business reach your customers and the features you need to equip for the betterment of your eCommerce application. Say for example, the basic version of a marketplace app can start with a cost of $60000 and go with $80000 to $120000 for advanced features with high-end performance.

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We hope the above tips can provide you with insights on how to build a marketplace app for your eCommerce business. In order to create a fine scalable marketplace eCommerce application, get in touch with a renowned digital eCommerce development company that can offer you with customer-centric solutions in building your platform.

It is not too late to say, even the future of eCommerce is way too sharp, this is the right time for you to think about starting your eCommerce journey.

Would you need some additional information or assistance on eCommerce development? Contact us and we’re happy to assist you!