A multi-vendor online marketplace is typically a platform where multiple vendors come together to offer products and services under varied categories. Today, these marketplaces can cater to B2C, B2B, and wholesale customers alike. Vendors are selling anything and everything ranging from lifestyle, books, automobiles, consulting services, and more on these websites. According to a survey, more than 21% of eCommerce companies are now listed on a multi-vendor marketplace. This opens up a new channel for sellers and customers, and it is a convenience-driven model to provide everything under the same roof.
Before deliberating on the best features for your eCommerce marketplace to thrive, let us look at what these marketplaces are about and why they rise in popularity.
What is a Multi-vendor Marketplace?
An online multi vendor marketplace is a digital commerce platform that empowers vendors to offer their products and services to the vast base of ready-to-buy website visitors from a single storefront. Usually, it provides an extensive catalog of products for the customers, including similar products from different vendors at the same or various prices. In a gist, it is like a spoiled choice for sellers and buyers.
Now, we have established in very brief the ultimate benefit of a multi-vendor marketplace. The following is, of course, how to reap these benefits and yield the best features to build a successful multi vendor marketplace.
Must-have Online Multi-vendor Marketplace Features
So, what are some critical multi-vendor marketplace features that you should consider for running a scalable marketplace? First, let us check out the top ones.
Marketplace Features on the Owner-side
- Facilitate Quick eCommerce Sales
Try to include product management under your umbrella to facilitate quick operational time. Also, crucial tasks like online merchandising, payment processing, and preliminary customer support should be the responsibility of the marketplace. In contrast, warehousing, order management, and return handling can be on the marketplace’s vendor side.
- Focus on the Online Traffic
The total ownership of customer acquisition, customer outreach, SEO, promotions, and advertising must lie with the marketplace. This makes managing the vast customer base easier and facilitates focused and clear efforts toward increasing online traffic.
- Focus on Unmatched Customer Experience
The marketplace’s responsibility is to create a flawless customer experience with a seamless customer journey. Most of it lies on the storefront to render impeccable UX. At the same time, smaller touchpoints like the checkout journey, seamless and elaborate navigation menu, product catalog, detailed product descriptions, special features like price comparison, etc., all contribute to the CX.
- Customized Commission Management
The owner will manage the vendors and so will have to work the commissions. Now, every vendor might be on a different contract or commission. So choose an eCommerce marketplace platform that inherently aids you in vendor management and customized commission for your various vendors and product categories.
- Extensive Reporting Dashboard
The owners of a marketplace must have a comprehensive analytics dashboard that reports all primary metrics like the GMV, customer acquisition cost, online traffic, average order value, etc. These metrics can be tailored to suit your business needs, pertaining to your product catalog, categories, and the market.
- Personalization and Product Recommendations
Another essential factor to consider while running a marketplace is that a customer is a B2B, B2C, or wholesale customer who needs the personal touch when shopping online. Therefore, delivering relevant content and personalized product recommendations based on customer behavior and preferences is imperative for nudging the customer to purchase on your marketplace.
Marketplace Features on the Vendor-side
- Dedicated Vendor Dashboards
Vendors should have dedicated panels and dashboards for order, product, catalog, inventory management, business operations, warehouse management, tracking payments, and related analytics. In addition, the vendors should be able to generate detailed reports about their operations and sales.
- Bulk Product Uploads
This particular feature can save time and effort for the vendors and reduce human error in terms of wrong product uploads. The vendors must be able to upload the new and updated products in bulk to speed up time to market and ease the burden on data entry executives.
- Integrating Social Media
Social media promotions are the need of the hour. Vendors need to be able to integrate their social media presence to nurture brand loyalty in omnichannel customers. This will also give the customers a sense of the brands they are buying products from.
- Unrestricted Access to Product-related Customer Generated Content
This one is very peculiar. This feature lets the owner and the vendors get feedback and reviews on the products, gives direct access to reply to queries, and caters to seamless after-sales support. The vendors must be able to go through customer feedback and questions that are related to their products.
Marketplace Features for the Customers
- Multilingual/Multi-currency Support
For marketplace catering to local markets or markets in multiple geographies, this feature enables them to target the native audience and render superior CX. Also, multi-currency support goes a long way in reducing the abandoned cart rate while simplifying the checkout journey.
- Layered and Faceted Navigation Menu
The customers should be able to navigate the product catalog showcasing the classifications based on categories, sub-categories, and sellers wise. A comprehensive menu facilitates seamless navigation and enhances the product discovery process.
- Concurrent Checkout
This one is a no-brainer. The customers should be able to purchase items from different sellers in a single checkout journey. Customers do not like complicated checkout processes, which might result in cart abandonment.
- Dedicated Seller’s Page
The customers should easily access the seller’s page for detailed brand information and an entire product collection. This usually attracts brand-loyal customers to purchase from your marketplace.
And the list goes on…
But now that we know the must-have features for initiating professional marketplace trading, you can choose the best eCommerce platform for a multi vendor marketplace to create unique shopping experiences and give scalable digital transformation to your business. Magento 2 is one such platform that stands out in the market for its in-built features and agility.
Magento 2 eCommerce Platform for Multi-Vendor Marketplaces
Adobe (Magento) Commerce platform can serve as a multi-vendor marketplace platform with a ready-made, out-of-the-box Magento 2 marketplace solution. It is a scalable, agile platform to counter the challenges and advancements of tomorrow’s industry. The flexible and customizable marketplace platform allows businesses to align their operations with digital consumers’ fast-paced, ever-changing demands. According to Gartner and Forrester, Adobe Commerce has the status of sixth-time Leader in Digital Commerce in the market.
How can you Jump the Bandwagon of Digital Marketplaces with Magento 2 Multi-Vendor Marketplace Solution: RocketBazaar?
Our magento marketplace solution is the epitome of rich, out-of-the-box commerce with unlimited scope of customization. It stretches the boundaries of what is possible with the Adobe Commerce platform. Enhancing the capabilities of your eCommerce business to attract more customers and allows marketplace owners to render superior customer experiences consistently.
This Magento 2 multi-vendor marketplace solution is built to deliver rapid and cost-effective development, combining feature-rich commerce with enterprise-level performance. This digital;l transformation will help you stay ahead of the curve.
To incorporate the above-mentioned features in your eCommerce marketplace, or build a Magento 2 marketplace from scratch leveraging our ready-made solution, contact us to expand your eCommerce business.
