Types of Multi-Vendor Marketplace and Features

A Smith
4 min readDec 21, 2020

The multi-Vendor online marketplace has been in existence for a long. After all, consumers don’t like shopping from just one retailer. Today’s savvy customers like options and prefer a single marketplace offering a broad range of products. Undoubtedly, this has resulted in the rise of an online marketplace, where everything is available under one roof.

Whether it is an electronic gadget or home furnishing, consumers can conveniently purchase items online at the convenience of their homes. The convenience of shopping has resulted in an online multi-vendor marketplace explosion.

Types of Multi-vendor Marketplace

Online marketplaces have completely transformed the eCommerce industry. There is quick availability of products and services aggregated from a wide array of sellers providing a wide range of selection and availability to consumers.

With a lucrative commission structure and competitive pricing, the marketplace provides viable options for processing transactions. For small-sized businesses and merchants, the marketplace gives an easy way to establish an eCommerce store quickly, at the same time eliminates huge costs, development time, and marketing efforts.

Essential Elements of Multivendor Marketplace

Easy Sign up

Easy signup is a key to success. Make the signup process hassle-free and simple. The important aspect is keeping forms short. No one has hours to fill up the sign-up form. It is about keeping the process concise and devoid of complications.

Remember the first impression matters. Customers don’t have hours to fill in detailed information. Remember the onboarding process should include alternatives.

Hassle-free Payment Gateways

Today’s savvy customers need options when it comes to making payments. Ensure that the marketplace includes various payment gateway integration. Be it net banking, debit/credit card, Paypal, Paytm, payment wallet, ensure payment gateways are globally compatible and carefully considered.

Quick Search & Navigation

Never underestimate the importance of the advanced search for marketplace platforms. After all, the platform offers products and services from different providers and needs a quick advance/quick search option to find products based on queries. The content has to be optimized for the screen size of different screens.

For Buyers

  • Product search and display
  • An easy the checkout system
  • Reliable order processing and tracking
  • Social Media Sharing options
  • E-wallet
  • Discount coupons and offers
  • Save Product as a Favorite and Shop as a Favorite.
  • Create lists and add a favorite product to a particular list.
  • Private Messaging with sellers
  • Save search criteria
  • Write Products Reviews
  • Add Sellers and Brands into their Favorite list
  • Social Media Sharing options
  • Option to Save multiple Delivery and Billing Addresses
  • Track Orders & Purchase History
  • Update Prole, edit personal
  • Request for refund and exchange

For Sellers

  • Onboarding for sellers
  • Product management
  • Order processing flow
  • Communication tools
  • Manage products including product info, stock, Pictures & Video, delivery
  • Product Shipping Charge & Tax Rate Applicable
  • Manage product attributes and options
  • Featured Products
  • Selling History
  • View all Orders placed by Buyers
  • Ability to manage Orders Status
  • Ability to manage return requests
  • Seller Payout Payment Details
  • Reports & Insights
  • Credit summary
  • Fund withdrawal

Admin Panel

Admin panel will control several aspects of the multi-vendor eCommerce platform from the backend such as the product inventory, payments, commission, new user registration, and profile approval, approving products, and more.

Features For Site Admin:

  • Dashboard
  • Manage Customers
  • Advertisements
  • Manage Product List
  • Ratings & Coupons
  • Review & Ratings of Products
  • Gift Cards
  • Coupons & Promo Code
  • Refer and Earning
  • Raffle and Draws
  • Manage Merchants
  • Payment Wallet
  • Product Returns
  • Location-Based Selling

Ready-made solution or custom development?

Ready-made solution

If you are in a hurry to launch a multi-vendor platform, you can get a ready-to-use solution. Several ready-made solutions offer quick scalability and save time on stages such as wireframing, designing, development to reach out to customers faster. However, it will regular optimization and maintenance for high performance

Custom Marketplace solution

When you decide to build your marketplace from scratch, be ready to travel the complex part of development involving coding, quality testing, and seamless launch. While the process might be time-consuming, it is more comprehensive with customization and integration.

Conclusion

Multi-vendor marketplaces allow customers to get great deals online from multiple vendors. However, its success depends on resources, domain knowledge, and technical expertise. It is important to be clear about the choice of the eCommerce platform. The right platform can take your online business to a new level of success.

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A Smith

Albert Smith is a Digital Marketing Manager with Hidden Brains, a leading enterprise web & mobile app development company specializing in IoT, Cloud & Big Data