Category: marketplace

Running an e-commerce marketplace is no joke. There’s so much to do, and so much you will bump into that; surviving becomes challenging. Pain points are a part of any business; all you need to know is how to handle them well.

Earlier the competition was between the offline and online retailers but today, it has become more of online v/s online as running an online business is the latest trend. But with the growing online market, efficiency is getting affected, and customers prefer to shop from a smooth-running online platform than any random one with many glitches.

In the race of online business, many are opting for free-to-use multivendor e-commerce solutions which is the main reason behind the drag in the efficiency of it. It may appear attractive, feasible, and easy-to-use at the beginning but later, many pain points will start appearing which may wash down your budget, resources, and time. So, investing in the right solution at the right time and manner is most important as it is such factors that affect the E-commerce marketplace’s operational efficiency.

Importance of E-commerce Operational Efficiency

If you are in a notion that an e-commerce business will run on its own once online, then we are sorry to break it to you – it doesn’t. How your e-commerce efficiently operates will decide the success of your business. What happens is; many of the e-commerce owners ignore the signs that indicate the drag in operational efficiency of the store due to lack of budget, technologies. Even over-confidence that the customers will buy from their store no matter how bad it is is a killer. What they don’t know is that e-commerce’s operational efficiency can take it to heights and even bring it down. So, what are the pain points, you may ask? Let’s take a look into it.

Pain Point #1 – Abandoned Carts

The most painful moment for any e-commerce store owner is when a customer abandons the cart. It is when a potential customer leaves the cart halfway without completing the payment. The average cart abandonment rate was recorded to be 69.57 percent and it is estimated that e-commerce brands lose about $18 billion in sales revenue each year because of cart abandonment. Therefore, it is a grave concern that has to be avoided at any cost.

Well, Mobicommerce can rescue you from such grave danger with its effective cart abandonment recovery feature in its multivendor eCommerce marketplace solution. Mobicommerce’s solutions are enabled with the ability to send push notifications, reminders, as well as personalized messages, prompting customers to finish the leftover purchase.

Pain Point #2 – Onboarding Vendors

Your marketplace solution needs both vendors and customers for it to survive for generations. So, just like you put all your energy into attracting customers, you need to distribute some of it in onboarding vendors on your store too; because it is the vendors on your e-commerce solution who will bring customers. So, you must attract reliable vendors first with necessary features like – simplified seller registration, individual storefront customization, manageable vendor subscription plans, omnichannel inventory management solutions, etc. on your multivendor eCommerce solution to lure them to sell on your marketplace. And, the answer to where to find such a solution is none other than MobiCommerce.

Pain Point #3 – Online Visibility

Today, more than having an online presence, its visibility is what matters the most. Every other person is opening up an online store, and hence, the competition is getting fierce day by day, and your store is likely to be unnoticed by users due to such a crowd. There, the importance of SEO comes into the picture.

You must get into the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) game if you want your store to top organic rankings in search engine result pages (SERPs). Very few are aware of the various benefits of SEO, and hence, approaching an expert in it like Mobicommerce will help you ace in your SEO, as well as, leverage its benefits for the success of your store.

Pain Point #4 – Mobile Commerce 

The majority of e-commerce sales take place via mobile phones today and if you are one with still no mobile solution for your store then you must stop doing business already. Because mobile is everything today. Nearly 73% of global retail eCommerce sales are generated through m-commerce which shows the significance of m-commerce in the present times. Therefore, it is becoming a necessity for online business owners to optimize their store for a mobile-first experience in order to serve a huge customer base.

Also Read: How Mobile Commerce Offers Retailers Huge Opportunities to Increase Sales and Customer Engagement?

Pain Point #5 – E-commerce Scalability

What many e-commerce owners do is head for a free-to-use e-commerce platform. They won’t even budge for updating or reforming their e-commerce store and also deny the implementation of a lot of important features fearing budget. Well as a business grows, one needs to scale the store as well to accommodate the growing traffic and sales or better pick up a scalable multivendor marketplace solution from the start to avoid such painful blockages later.

Pain Point #6 – Payment Preferences

Be it a customer or seller; the mode of payment is the prime focus for both. In this digital era, there are multiple ways to transact money and all possible ones must be integrated into your e-commerce solution so that the sender and receiver face no issue during transactions. An efficient fund transfer mechanism for timely payments and multiple payment options including debit/credit cards, COD, bank transfer, payment gateways for customers are the two things that can significantly improve operational efficiency and reduce the chances of cart abandonment of your store.

Mobicommerce: The Rescue Ranger

Pain points in e-commerce can do a lot more damage than one can imagine like, hinders marketplace growth, limits sale conversions, affects operational efficiency, etc., and to stay alive in the cut-throat competition you can’t take a risk with any of the pain points.

Mobicommerce, known to be the most trusted eCommerce service and solution provider for B2C and B2B businesses, as well as, multi-vendor marketplaces, have solutions to every hiccup of e-commerce. With our scalable, customer-centric, and customizable solutions, along with dedicated technical and customer support, agile development process, and experienced team, Mobicommerce never fails to impress whoever approaches it for a digital transformation.

Shopping earlier was what you want to buy, and sellers show it to you but today, it is more like sellers already know what you are looking for and they display it and you simply have to pay for it. Got the point? It is nothing but eCommerce personalization that is taking over traditional commerce.

 

eCommerce has revolutionized the shopping experience so much that now, shopping offline feels like a challenging task with no fun. Although there are various features in eCommerce that are making it a preferred mode of shopping, personalization is something that is winning hearts and luring people more towards online shopping that we got to see more in the previous year not because it gained fame recently; but because of the deadly pandemic.

 

The year 2020 witnessed a major shift of everything offline to online from office meetings, social gathering, celebrations to the most important shopping. Hence, the adoption of digital commerce is not at all a new concept that sprouted in 2020. It simply accelerated due to COVID-19. Thus, in order to keep customers, continue with the online saga, retailers are now taking eCommerce personalization more seriously, and it seems that it will soon take over traditional commerce.

 

For a long period of time, eCommerce has been seeking the holy grail of personalization – a consistent, cross-channel experience that adapts to customer requirements and goals in real-time. To achieve this, retailers have started adding conversational commerce elements like messenger chatbots, artificial intelligence (AI), and customized information etc., to their online store. But, before we weave stories around it, let us understand what we mean by eCommerce personalization.

 

Also Read: 7 Steps to Prepare Your Ecommerce Business for Continuity and Unexpected Future Post-COVID-19

 

What is eCommerce Personalization?

eCommerce Personalization refers to the way of making customers feel special by creating personal interactions and experience on eCommerce sites and improving their shopping experience by showing them content, product recommendations, media etc., based on their previous actions, browsing behaviour, purchase history, demographics, and other personal data.

 

Personalization is becoming an important part of eCommerce as it is the best way to bring in more customers, achieve customer loyalty and repeat purchases, keep shoppers engaged, drive sales, increase conversion, and to boost growth and productivity.

 

eCommerce Personalization and Conversational Commerce

There are various ways to offer eCommerce personalization to the customers, and integrating top-notch technologies to the online platform is the first step towards it. Offering eCommerce personalization is becoming easier and attainable with conversational commerce that is nothing but an automated technology powered by rules and artificial intelligence (AI) that enables online shoppers and brands to interact through Messenger chatbots, RPA (Robotica ProcessAutomation) and voice interfaces like Alexa by creating an interactive environment that compensates for the missing human touch typical of a physical brick-and-mortar store.

 

In short, conversational commerce and eCommerce personalization are like two sides of the same coin but, their purpose is similar i.e, to provide a personalized shopping experience to the customers. In fact, conversational commerce act as a medium to provide a personalized experience to customers that is now slowly overtaking the traditional way of commercialization.

 

Thanks to the latest technologies, data collection, understanding customer behavior, providing them with what they need or are looking for, giving them an individualized shopping experience, all have been possible due to the duos.

 

Personalized Commerce Is the Next Frontier

Customers love personalization, and with online retailers competing with each other, they are implementing personalization strategies better from one another in order to please customers. Moreover, with personalized customer experience being something that customers do not get in any traditional commerce; it is quite natural for them to bend towards online shopping more than offline. After all, a salesperson asking you what you like and displaying products is better than a technology showcasing what’s on your mind based on the data collected and stored from your past interactions with the store.

 

So, what can be done to give a personalized shopping experience to the customers? Well, here are some of the strategies that you can implement on your online store and see the magic happen.

 

1. Create Personalized Homepages – Homepages are the first impression, and hence you got to do it right. Greet them in the way that you get to win a position in their heart. If gathering their information via cookies, make use of it in improving their shopping experience.

 

2. Offer Personalized Guides – Like, in traditional commerce where a salesperson assists you in shopping, you too can offer a personal shopping assistant for every customer on your online store. Take a quiz about their taste, style choices, size, and budget, and provide on-site assistance when they shop next time.

 

3. Display Recently Viewed Items – Not necessarily everyone visiting your store will shop, but while browsing, some may like a particular product of yours but forgets to wishlist. Hence, with the “Recently Viewed” section on the homepage, you can remind and urge them to make the purchase.

 

4. Personalize Product Pages Based on Location – Knowing where your customers are by asking them directly or via cookies, you can provide a more accurate shopping experience for customers that they will remember forever.

 

5. Create Special Campaigns Based on User Behavior – No two visitors are the same, and hence offering the same to everyone doesn’t make any sense. Personalizing your on-site messages will attract customers more than you can imagine.

 

6. Get Personal in Email Marketing – There’s no limit to the personalization you can do on emails. Starting from the subject lines, wishing your customers on birthdays and anniversaries, offering discounts up to reminding them about completing a purchase, you can personalize emails the way you want.

 

7. Make More Personal Recommendations – Personalized recommendations have emotional value. If done right, they can directly hit the customers at the right spot.

 

Now, let’s understand various benefits one can achieve with eCommerce personalization

 

1. Improve Customer Experience – Of course, a personalized shopping experience means a customer’s interest in your online store will double up, leading to more sales and conversions.

 

2. Save Time & Resources – Messenger chatbots are the real time saver. From providing a personalized shopping experience to pulling leads, as well as engaging customers with conversations, they can handle all freeing you for other important tasks.

 

3. Know Customers Better – With personalized interaction via chatbots, you will get to know your customers better to serve them the best.

 

4. Increment in Sales – The more personalized experience a customer receives from your end, the more it will keep coming back to you which means; a boost in sales.

 

5. Be Unique – The online competition is tough, and to stand out, you need to have some unique elements in your store that can be personalized for attracting customers. So, build an app using eCommerce mobile app builder that allows you to create a user-friendly environment with unique elements.

 

Summing Up

With incremental shift happening in customer’s behavior due to growing digitalization and the pandemic effect, an online presence with personalized experience is becoming a necessity more than just a trend. And, if you are in a notion that only big brands can afford classy technologies like AI, chatbots, messaging apps, PWAs, native mobile apps, voice assistants, etc., then guess what? They do not come at a fancy price that a small business cannot afford, in fact, one must gear it up all if one really wishes to survive the competition and the future ahead.

 

Need expert advice? Mobicommerce – an eCommerce solution provider in the Middle East and other countries is at your service!

A marketplace indeed survives due to customers, but it is the vendors who give life to it in the first place. Since vendors have hundreds of marketplace options today, you as a marketplace owner got to have something uniquely striking to offer which will lure them to your site. What? Let’s take a look

Vendor vs Customers

We all have talked a lot about how to attract customers to an online store and how to woo them but hardly do we focus on attracting the retailers who are the prime source for the survival of a marketplace. Attractive design, smooth navigation, and all; will work for customers but to encourage vendors to list their products or services on your eCommerce marketplace, you need to work upon something else. Remember the strategies to attract vendors is entirely different than the ones you apply for customers.

Why Attract Vendors to Sell on Your Marketplace?

Just like it is difficult to convince consumers to shop from the online stores instead of offline shops or shopping malls, convincing the vendors to sell their products on the marketplace is strenuous too. But why convince them? Well; it is the vendors who will bring customers, and it is they who can convert a simple e-store into a multivendor eCommerce marketplace. Therefore, not only you need to convince vendors to sell on your marketplace, but you also need to put continuous efforts to keep them stay with you for the long run as well. Before we begin, keep in mind that some strategies to attract vendors differ as per the marketplace, and here we are going to focus on how you can onboard vendors for a grocery marketplace. So, let’s begin.

1. Work on the look and feel of your marketplace

Indeed, the look and feel of the marketplace is beneficial in attracting customers more, but it is equally advantageous in onboarding vendors too. Start by designing and developing an excellent online grocery store that looks and feels great. Approach an experienced online grocery store website builderto make it eligible in every way for anyone to sell and buy.

2. Understand what vendors want

For a vendor, achieving a good sale is the prime focus. Also, there might be a few things on their mind regarding how they want to sell that you need to understand first before pulling them in. Since there are various categories of a vendor like small, medium, large, startup, experienced; narrow down your vendor segment by building a detailed picture of their personalities, professional characteristics, and expectations first to present themselves as to their customers.

3. Show off your marketing skills

Vendors are out there in large numbers, and more than they need you; it is your marketplace that needs them. So, you must effectively market your marketplace. Reach out to the vendors directly and in every possible way i.e. both online and offline methods. Find them on existing platforms or approach their offline shops, hunt them on Facebook groups or online forums, share informative and promotional posts on social networks, run a google search and display ads campaign, create ads for the vendors to register on your online marketplace as a seller etc. to grab their attention. In short, leave no stone unturned in promoting your marketplace for the vendors to give you a position in their mind and heart.

4. Simplify the transaction process

Many vendors are still habituated to cash payments and are unaware of the benefits and ease of online transactions. Hence, you can lure vendors by educating them about the safety and advantages of using online transactions for their sales. Make them understand; how today’s customer is tech-savvy and hence; how vendors can achieve a large customer base by starting selling online. How with multiple payment options in your marketplace, vendors can get paid on time and at the very instant from the customers.

5. Be clear about all the benefits they will get

Of course, for a vendor to sell on your marketplace, the first that will come to their mind is the benefit. How selling on your marketplace is going to benefit them is all that matters to them. List out all benefits to them starting from the wide customer base, good sales, cost reduction, to the commission they can get by selling on your grocery marketplace.

Explain how their workflow and management of everything from inventory, sales, orders, payments, delivery etc. becomes streamlined and effective via your marketplace that will save them time, cost and their resources.

6. Make your grocery marketplace policies transparent

The reason many vendors don’t want to get into online sales is the fear. The fear that people won’t notice them and nobody will shop, fear that they won’t gain much by selling online, and other security fears. Therefore, make it clear to them before their onboarding everything from your demand and supply policies to avoid any confusion later.

Tell them about your USPs and make them feel they are important for you. List out what all services and benefits they will get from your marketplace like marketing assistance, delivery support, management scenarios, easy subscriptions, payment options, customer data, and connectivity. Before making a deal, come into terms with each other regarding the demands, payment plans, commission, detailed catalogs, deals, and offers to be advertised. Avoid hidden charges and shake hands on a clean and sorted agreement.

Wrapping up

The act of luring and convincing vendors is not a one-time thing; you need to do it continually and improvise as per the needs and requirements. Remember, running a multivendor marketplace doesn’t mean you have to be only customer-focused; you also have to pay attention to the needs of your vendors as well. And, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the competition among online groceries have doubled up and so, make sure you get your marketplace built with the right planning at the hands of an experienced grocery delivery app builder like mobicommerce to avoid any kinds of pitfalls.

Horizontal or vertical which marketplace will you choose? Wondering what’s with the types? Well, that is a serious decision to make for which you must understand both well. 

The Battle of Ecommerce

eCommerce is nothing like the way it started. It has evolved and is blooming further in more and more innovative ways that are beyond our imagination. With new entrants sprouting every now and then, the competition is no less than a battlefield today; where already giants like Amazon and Walmart are ruling the eCommerce kingdom. The only way to survive in the present online market is by levelling up in some ways and continue wooing your customers than your competitors so that they stick to you rather than getting attracted to your rival. 

Ecommerce Business Models

You must indeed keep an eye on your competitors but, you should not become completely competitor-focused. Staying customer-focused is the right and smart thing to do if you want to both survive and succeed in the online business. Take, for example, Amazon, whose success is purely attributed to its customer-centric approach rather than competitor-focused despite being a horizontal marketplace. Now, what does that mean? 

Well, multivendor marketplace development is not an easy nut to crack as you will be surprised to know that there are different types of marketplaces, and your success depends on the type you choose. Horizontal and vertical are the two trending marketplaces right now but, entrepreneurs are falling for vertical more than horizontal. Why so? Let us get into the details but before that, understanding each marketplace is important so, scroll down to know more. 

Horizontal Marketplace

In simple words, a horizontal marketplace means – sell everything, focus on nothing. If your e-commerce idea is to sell multiple categories of products and reach the broadest audience possible, then the horizontal model is what you must choose. 

The horizontal model is about catering to a broad range of goods or services that are widely used and in-demand to a larger market. In short, it can be defined as a digital one-stop-shop where customers can buy anything under one roof. The best explanation is a live example, and we have one – Amazon where anyone can buy literally anything from a pin to plane (maybe soon in the future). 

Vertical Marketplace

Unlike horizontal, vertical marketplace asks you to focus on one thing and ignore everything. If you want to dominate in a specific industry, then vertical marketplace must be your choice as it allows you to cater to a niche market. 

The vertical marketplace model is all about offering the finest goods and services specific to a single market sector/category with a set targeted audience. The vertical model helps you in becoming the best in your industry at the expense of target group limitation. In short, it can be best defined as a category killer since the entire focus is upon providing the best services in one particular scope. The best live example is Etsy – one of the leading marketplaces for handcrafts & vintage items.

Also Read: 5 Key Aspects to Know Before Developing Multivendor Marketplace in 2021 

Strengths & Downsides of Both Horizontal and Vertical

Of course, before choosing a marketplace, the first and common concern that comes to mind is benefits. So, let’s breakdown the most substantial benefits and dreadful nightmares that both marketplaces can bring to your business.

The Benefits

The horizontal model means wide exposure to diverse businesses and customers. It also gives you immunity to market volatility as if one product sinks, you have others to sail through. 

While the vertical marketplace helps you become a master of a specific eCommerce market sector. You can be the king of that sector by applying excellent marketing strategies as you will be having only a product or two to focus upon. You can deliver the best purchase conditions to a small audience and rise among the crowd. 

The Nightmares

The horizontal model is like becoming the jack of all trades, but master of none as the only focus is on expansion than gaining expertise in one. 

Whereas the vertical model is the exact opposite of the horizontal; the only drawback is it adds some risks to your business. Since you have only one sector to serve and hence; a market fluctuation can make your business dull. 

Don’t miss: 7 Steps to Prepare Your Ecommerce Business for Continuity and Unexpected Future Post-COVID-19

Then, why is Vertical Becoming the Crowd-puller? 

Where marketplace giants like Amazon or eBay are dominating the eCommerce space with their horizontal marketplace models, you might wonder, why new entrants are preferring vertical model? Is there still room for niche-specific marketplaces? Well, guess what? Prominent vertical marketplaces like Airbnb, Uber have emerged and grown in the last decade or so; transforming the dynamics for the rental accommodation market and ride-sharing services entirely with their customer-centric approach.  

Therefore, the reasons behind the popularity of vertical marketplace model are as follows: 

1. Limited Targeted Audience

You don’t have to target the entire world in order to sell your wide range of products like in the horizontal marketplace model. Your target audience is set and well-defined in vertical that gives you an ample opportunity to grow and even dominate with time. As far as customers are concerned, they enjoy it even more because a specialized niche-specific marketplace simplifies their shopping process. 

2. Minimal Marketing Investment 

The time, money and resources you need to invest in the vertical marketplace are way less than you need in horizontal. Since you will have only a handful of registered sellers, single and centralized advertising will be enough. 

3. One Policy for All

The more the products, the more will be the responsibilities. Unlike in horizontal marketplaces, you won’t need to implement broader policies to cover a wide range of product categories; a single/centralized policy for all selling needs will get the job done and you can focus on the growth and development of your marketplace than wasting time behind all these. 

4. Specialization

Since a vertical marketplace allows you to dominate in a particular industry, you can focus more on perfecting it by delivering specialized solutions, better customer support, and clearer policies.  

5. Fewer Rivals

Competition is cut-throat in eCommerce for both horizontal and vertical marketplace but compared to the prior on; there is a good scope of establishing yourself as the ruler as there are still several niche-markets with no dominating leader. 

The Better Method

It is not that vertical marketplace is superior to horizontal or there is something wrong with one, as both have equal potential and are effective when implemented correctly. Their efficiency depends upon the need. Like if you want to serve a larger audience with fewer risks – horizontal is for you and if you want to prosper and dominate in a particular segment then go for vertical. The only reason why entrepreneurs are eyeing vertical is because of less dominance in it at present. Still if you are facing problem in making decision, then you can consult anmarketplace development company who provide multivendor marketplace solution for both horizontal and vertical marketplace.

Remember the success of any marketplace is not just depended upon the business model you choose, various factors like eCommerce platform development, multi-vendor marketplace software, customer service, branding, marketing, acquisition cost, e-commerce marketplace development company etc. matters and hence make sure you approach the best like MobiCommerce for your future endeavours.  

Do you buy cloth on the spot? No one does. We all check out its colour, design, fashion, and the most important – defects before making a purchase, then do you think people will buy from your online cloth store if it has defects?

By defected we mean running your online store on a cheap platform, lacking necessary features and having no quality photos or designs. You may wonder who runs an online store like that but guess what? Many startups do make this mistake in order to save a few bucks.

Starting an online clothing store may be your dream and just because it is your startup; doesn’t mean you find the cheapest way to do it as it will, in turn, cost you a lot. The common mistake that many startups make is – compromises. “It’s a startup and we are low on budget so, anything will do,” mindset is what made many entrepreneurs fail before they even begin. Never ever go for cheap ways to run an online store especially when the competition is cut-throat.

Remember, unlike offline shops, online stores cannot give a live experience of clothes while shopping and hence how you create your web store becomes very important as that experience will decide the fate of your business. Which is why the selection of platform for your online clothing store is the most crucial decision you must make if you wish to deliver an experience that your customers will genuinely love.

For an online clothing store to be successful, its platform must be highly customizable with advanced shipping and CRM integrations, have all necessary features and should come with merchandising capabilities. Additionally, it must offer a secure payment gateway and a straightforward returns and exchanges policy as well as an efficient back-end system for your convenience. Since the market is flooded with various platforms like Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, Opencart, BigCommerce, Volusion, Stitch, 3dcart, WIX, and PrestaShop, it is quite normal to get confused and pick one that meets your requirements and budget. So, here’s a guide to picking the right eCommerce platform for your clothing store.

1.  Magento

When it comes to having a flexible and highly customizable platform, Magento is the name that appears the most and is the best. Many premium brands like Alternative Apparel, Paul Smith, and End Clothing are running on it as Magento serves everything that an online store requires to be successful.

It can handle significant traffic with ease and comes in various versions both; free and paid to suit different businesses like:

Magento Community Edition – a free, open-source platform, ideal for SMEs.

Magento Enterprise Edition – a paid version with advanced capabilities such as personal discounts, customer segmentation, and others, ideal for fashion giants. Some of the in-built features that Magento eCommerce platform offers you are:

• eCommerce SEO
• Mobile commerce
• Superb customer experience
• Multi-store management
• Persistent shopping cart
• Sleek and interactive template designs

 Also Read:Benefits of Building a Marketplace Using Magento

2. PrestaShop

A freemium, opensource eCommerce platform, currently used by 300,000 shops worldwide and is available in 60 different languages can work wonders for your online fashion store. It comes with a wide range of free and paid Prestashop Addons, extensions that you can integrate to improve the functionality of your PrestaShop store. Hire a prestashop mobile app builder if you want to unleash the complete power of it. PrestaShop gives you:

• More than three hundred built-in features
• Numerous integrations
• Wide collection of themes & modules
• Excellent support materials and documentation
• Strong user community

3. WooCommerce

An open-source e-commerce plugin of one of the famous content management system – WordPress, WooCommerce is not just successfully used by such brands as Poppy Barley, Thief and Bandit and Hackwith Design House etc., but over 3.8 million websites around the world are currently running on WooCommerce. By adding additional plugins and extensions you can make your PrestaShop even more capable for your online fashion store. With PrestaShop you get:

• A user-friendly back-end system
• The worldwide community of developers for the problem-solving
• Zero fees per sale
• Complete control over setting up, hosting, security, maintenance etc.

4. Shopify

One of the best eCommerce platforms for beginners, Shopify is simple to navigate and fast. Bead and Real, Baggu, Skinny Dip, Kylie Cosmetics, and Bootea are some of the brands that are doing great on Shopify. It comes in several additions to serve businesses of all sizes.

To customize Shopify, you don’t need any design skills. It loads faster and hence can easily help you gain a position in Google ranking. Some of the highlights of Shopify are:

• A comprehensive dashboard
• MailChimp integration
• Content, guides and 24/7 phone support
• 100+ free, fully responsive store themes
• Excellent shipping options
• Commendable SEO features

5. BigCommerce

Giving a tough competition to Shopify, BigCommerce is blooming and becoming the next favourite of entrepreneurs as it promises to serve as an excellent eCommerce platform. It has various pricing plans to choose from and comes with features like great analytics, hosting, amazing security, an in-person point of sale, social media selling capabilities, a considerable number of apps, and excellent design options. BigCommerce woos you with:

• A library of 80 free and paid themes
• Built-in shipping quotes, gift certificates, and product reviews and other components
• 24/7 Email or Chat support.
• Option to connect your shop with mega-marketplaces
• User-friendly admin panel
• 15-day free trial

Things to keep in mind while selecting a platform for your clothing brand

• Select your platform as per your target audience as the sole purpose of your store is to please them.
• Pay attention to your theme selection as it is the theme that does the job of attracting customers.
• Ensure the platform has customization options as you may have to customize shopping cart, checkout page, product detail page, and more according to your products.
• Lastly, check upon its integration capabilities. The platform must be able to integrate seamlessly with systems such as ERP, CRM, or others streamlines business processes and boosts productivity.

So, which is the Right eCommerce Platform for a Clothing Store? 

A definite answer cannot be given to this question as all the platforms are best in their own way and must be selected according to your business size, strategy and the number of products. All of the above is suitable for fashion eCommerce and hence focus on picking up the right magento development company who can build your online store in a way that it attracts and sells.

In earlier times, customers were there where your sales are, but today, the time has changed, and you have to be there where your customers are. Confusing? Let’s understand it better and deeper.

When the technology was not so much advanced, all you have to do was to open your offline store and customers approached you for shopping but now, you not only have to be there offline but also on multiple online platforms on which you can not even guess your customers are, therefore, multi-channel presence and retailing is today the key to survival.

Customers are becoming so tech-savvy that they now are very well aware of the range of options they have to shop before settling for anything that bumps into them. Therefore, for an online retail business to stay alive and running, retailers must think about multi-channel retailing right now. But, what exactly is multi-channel selling or retailing?

Multi-channel Selling

It is a good thing to start your selling journey with one platform like setting up a shop through a website or marketplace but, you don’t need to be loyal to just one platform – instead, you must spread your selling across multiple channels eventually if you really want to bubble up your sales.

Multichannel selling is simply the process of selling your products on more than one sales channel. You can put up your products for sale on various touchpoints like your website and shopping cart (e.g. Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce), online marketplaces (e.g. Amazon, eBay and Etsy), mobile marketplaces (e.g. Wish), social media (e.g. Facebook and Instagram), comparison websites (e.g. Google), and bricks and mortar (i.e. your high street store).

By introducing multichannel into your eCommerce business model means you can not only explore new channels and expand the company’s approach to marketing, but also provide multiple paths to purchase for your customers. In short, you can be where your customers are.

If you are sceptical about the need for multi-channel selling then look for yourself the stats that show the significance of multi-channel retailing:

• 66% of online shoppers prefer more than one channel for purchases.
• 74% enjoy shopping at large retailers, while 54% find eCommerce marketplaces the best for shopping, 44% choose web stores, and 36% reported shopping at category-specific online retailers.
• It was found that multi-channel shoppers have a 12% greater buying frequency compared to the traditional shoppers who rely only on a single channel.
• Tri-channel (retail, catalog, Internet) shoppers are more loyal customers than those who depend on just one or two channels for purchase.
• 73 percent of retailers agreed that selling across multiple channels is more significant and profitable to them while only 38 percent still stick to a single platform for selling.
• 76% of Prime Day shoppers visit other channels before purchasing from Amazon.

Now, the next thing that comes to mind, of course, will be the benefits. After all, everyone wants to ultimately know the advantages of it and hence here they are:

Advantages of multi-channel selling

Being where your customers’ shop – Allow your customers the freedom of choice in where they buy from you.

Increasing your touchpoints and thus customer base – Customers never buy from the first platform they met you. They explore, research, read reviews, compare etc. before buying and hence increasing your touchpoints means more customers.

Reaching new markets (global coverage) – Even though you start small, make sure you expand your business may be worldwide as it gives you the opportunity to learn about different markets and customers.

Staying ahead of the competition – The competition is fierce in the online market and to stay ahead, expanding your sales on multiple channels is the only way.

Reduce/Diversify risk – Business is unpredictable. Loss can happen anytime. Therefore, depending upon a single channel for sales and profit is risky. Selling on multiple channels will reduce that risk and keep your chances of winning open.

Create a unified experience- By creating a unified shopping and selling experience on multiple channels, you can achieve regular shoppers who keep coming back to you.

Expanding brand recognition and enhancing product visibility – Your presence on multiple channels means people will recognise you and your products more and will subconsciously trust and shop from you.

Why online retailers must start multi-selling? 

Remember that customers never stay at one platform. They keep on exploring and migrating to others in search of offers, convenience, urgency, etc. In fact, before deciding upon a product for purchase they like to visit a range of channels and hence, being present at multiple platforms has become a necessity. Also, on more the channels you are selling, the more is the chance of sales which means more revenue. In short, multichannel selling is the future. When your customers are becoming tech-savvy, you got to up your digital game if you don’t want to be left out.

How to get started? 

You need to follow simple steps to get started with multichannel selling.

Step 1: Fix upon a framework

Various famous frameworks like Magento, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Opencart, etc. are available with excellent features that can work wonders if you are planning to multi-sell. You can either migrate your online store to any of these platforms or build your multi-channel business from scratch using Magento which is the best-suited platform for it.

Step 2: Select the desired platforms or marketplaces

Platform selection is one of the most important steps for multi-channel eCommerce while for marketplaces, consider the best and trending like Amazon, eBay, Walmart etc.

Step 3: Find a multivendor marketplace solution provider

After fixing upon what you need and how you will need someone to execute it efficiently. Approach an experienced marketplace development company who will help you with your multichannel eCommerce setup.

What to expect? 

With multichannel integration, you can achieve:

• Real-time integration between your online store and uppermost marketplaces in the world.
• Easy product listing on multiple marketplaces simultaneously.
• A single centralized and automated platform to monitor and manage the sales on multiple channels.
• Efficient inventory management
• Smooth order management
• One-click product uploads and deletes from your store to marketplaces in bulk.
• Cross-border business expansion

In a nutshell

Multichannel selling has undoubtedly become a necessity with customers exploring various platforms for shopping. Hence, you got to be there where your customers are in today’s time. If you don’t want to be a seller on a third-party platform, you can get your marketplace developed and get started with your multichannel selling easily by choosing the best platform like Magento which is perfect for multi-channel integration and whose experts you can find at none other than MobiCommerce.

Mobicommerce Introduction:

Founded in the year of 2014 by the renowned entrepreneurs of the DesignNbuy web to print solution provider, Mobicommerce has become a renowned name in such a short span as a trusted ecommerce mobile app builder. With the vision to serve non-IT enterprises and individuals, Mobicommerce aids enterprises in establishing a strong online presence with a powerful online stores and Mobile Applications without the hassle of IT and the knowledge of the Technology Industry’s nitty-gritty.

While it all started with end-to-end development services, Mobicommerce soon ventured into Multivendor marketplace software solution to empower enterprises in establishing their own Multi-vendor marketplace store in the least possible time and effort. No matter what industry or domain you wish to target, with Mobicommerce marketplace solutions, you can incorporate the power of automation, personalization and establish comprehensive e-commerce solutions.

Mobicommerce Marketplace specializations:

Whether you wish to create a B2B multivendor marketplace or you wish to create an open market marketplace or an On-demand marketplace, with Mobicommerce your Marketplace Development Company you can get an optimized solution from experienced and technically proficient e-commerce developers that has immense market exposure and who work with an entrepreneurial mindset.

With customer-centricity and user-friendliness as the base of all our services, Mobicommerce has managed to provide satisfactory marketplace development services to various clients from various countries and industries. To help you understand why Mobicommerce is preferred in the market by so many enterprises, below are a few of the capabilities of Mobicommerce’s Magento Multi vendor Marketplace Software Solution:

Capabilities of Mobicommerce’s Magento eCommerce Multi-Vendor Marketplace Software Solution that makes it “People’s Choice”:

1.  Omnichannel marketplace:

Whether you wish to have an e-commerce website or a mobile commerce application, Mobicommerce provides end-to-end marketplace solutions. Right from multivendor marketplace website to native applications to Magento Progressive Web Applications (PWA), Mobicommerce delivers omnichannel sales opportunities with a seamlessly integrated digital ecosystem. Whether yous is a B2B marketplace business model or a B2C marketplace business model, optimize your sales and establish a sustainable digital ecosystem with the fastest go-to-market Magento Multi-vendor eCommerce Marketplace scripts and extensions from Mobicommerce.

Don’t miss: Essential Features to Furnish a Multi-Vendor eCommerce Store in 2020

2. Feature-rich solution:

Since our vision is to serve non-IT clients with the best IT solutions, all the platforms that we deliver are feature-rich as well as user-friendly. Irrespective of whether you have tech-savvy users or not, Mobicommerce helps you make the most out of your multivendor marketplace with the following modules and its extensive features:

• Customer Storefront:

With features like advanced search, customer loyalty program, promotions and other such features, Mobicommerce empowers enterprises to double their revenue with an elaborated customer storefront module.

• Marketing and Promotions:

For extensive reach and optimum lead conversion ratio, your Mobicommerce multivendor marketplace solution comes with numerous marketing and promotions features such as Social media integration, discounts and coupons, Upsell and Cross-sell automation and other such amazing features.

• Marketplace Admin module:

Manage everything right from vendors to commissions to tax to product approvals and lot more right from the admin panel with just a few clicks.

• Vendor Panel:

Empower your vendor with amazing features like dynamic reports, personalized dashboard, bulk product upload, catalog and order management and other such features for seamless onboarding of vendors on your multivendor marketplace.

• Shipping and Payment module:

Leave no stone unturned with features like payment integrations, real-time and manual shipping timeline, multi-shipping and other such shipping and payment features for optimized sales and delightful customer experiences.

3. Dynamic Solution:

We as a pioneer marketplace solutions provider in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, understand that each organization and each industry has its own set of requirements and customer expectations. To ensure that all our clients can cater to all their vendors and customers, Mobicommerce multivendor marketplace software solution is completely customizable. Make your platform future-proof and initiate an innovation center to keep your platform ahead of the market competition with our dynamic marketplace solutions.

4. Flawless solution that is tested periodically:

We understand the damage that happens to a brand image for every minor and major flaw that disrupts their online platform’s smooth functioning. To ensure that our Magento multivendor marketplace software solution helps our clients in establishing a strong brand image and create deserving tractions towards the platform, our marketplace solutions are launched only after they are fully tested and we also run periodic tests time and again to keep the platform flawless.

5. Ready-to-go solution with quick go-to-market:

Whether you require a full-fledged enterprise solution or a quick MVP, Mobicommerce developers have created marketplace solutions that can be launched in the shortest possible timeline and thus empower our clients with faster go-live. All you have to do is state your customization specifications which our developers will develop on our standard solution and handover the Magento multivendor marketplace to you in the shortest possible development timeline.

Embark on your journey towards success with Mobicommerce multivendor marketplace solutions:

Hundreds of clients have established a sustainable and profitable e-commerce business with our multivendor marketplace solutions and magento mobile app development & you can too! The company that has been referred to as People’s Favourite is just one mail away. Just state your requirements, get your multivendor solution and join the list of elite clientele that is disrupting their respective market.

Whether you wish to establish an e-commerce like Amazon and eBay that serves all types of industries and customers or you wish to develop a personalized e-commerce marketplace that serves customers and vendors of one industry or business vertical, your platform must be unique and relevant enough for your target audience. The reason for this is the growing popularity of the multivendor marketplace business model and thus, increased market competition.

While the majority of enterprises and businesses have already hopped on the bandwagon of digitalization, with the advent of the unprecedented global pandemic, the need for online presence has become almost inevitable for all those businesses who wish to survive and sustain their business and thus, the right time for creating a multivendor marketplace for all such businesses is right now!

But, as the competition is tough and businesses are looking for a platform that can complement their business with relevant features and extensive customer reach, you must ensure that your multivendor marketplace solution is ideal for your target vendors and their end customers.

When the terms personalized and ideal are attached to a Multivendor marketplace, the technology platform that has managed to stay on top of the minds of both enterprises, as well as marketplace solution providers, is Magento! No matter which industry or demography that you wish to target, the Magento will deliver the best possible ecommerce solution and MobiCommerce will be your best choice for ecommerce mobile app builder! So, if you are looking to make a fortune by creating a relevant and ideal multivendor marketplace, below are the features that your platform must have.

Features of an ideal Multivendor marketplace software solution of 2020:

1. Omnichannel Marketplace:

The best possible marketing strategy is to leave no stone unturned and the best possible strategy to make your multivendor marketplace a success is by leaving no channel untapped! Whether it is an e-commerce website or a native application for both iOS and Android, your multivendor marketplace must be present on all the channels. As the key is to leave no channel untapped, this is where Magento becomes an ideal choice for you!

Apart from website and native applications, when you choose Magento as your multivendor marketplace development platform, you can also create a Progressive Web Application (PWA) which is a lite version of websites that can function as a mobile application. PWA is the latest trend in the market and although the application cannot be listed in App stores, due to its lightweight and cost-effective nature, businesses prefer to have a PWA presence as well!

Also Read: PWA for Online Marketplace: A Right Technology Investment?

With Magento, you can not only make your multivendor marketplace solution available on all these platforms, but you can seamlessly integrate them and create an effective digital ecosystem for your vendors and customers.

2. Domain-Specific Stores:

Personalized solutions are one in demand and when you wish to serve nothing but the best in terms of digital experience, you ought to provide stores to your vendors that can compliments their business and help them make the best from your e-commerce platform. Each industry has its own set of standards and requirements and if you are targeting vendors and customers from that industry, you must provide them with online stores that are domain-specific.

When you are planning the categories of your Magento multivendor marketplace solution, just make sure that you incorporate all the necessary modules that are essential for a vendor and do it with thorough research and extensive competitor analysis. This will make you to keep your e-commerce platform on the top of the minds of your vendors.

3. Customization capability:

While you provide domain-specific modules and stores to your vendors, it is not essential that it will align with the culture and processes of all the vendors that onboard on your platform. Thus, it is essential that your platform empowers vendors to design their own supply chains, channelize their order and invoices, their product description and image options. You can also allow them to choose their desired payment methods and ensure that they get to serve their customers in the best possible way. When you provide such customization capabilities to your vendors, you not only ensure a delightful experience but can also earn by providing exclusive paid customizations.

4. Personalized experiences:

To deal with the problem of shopping cart abandonment, to optimize your sales and to boost your lead conversion ratio of the online multivendor marketplace solution, you must empower your vendors to deliver personalized user experiences to their customers. With the power of automation and personalization capabilities of the Magento e-commerce platform, you can easily introduce various modules and dynamic reports that can help vendors get actual consumer insights and based on them take informed decisions. Also, with the help of data analytics and marketing automation modules of Magento, you can boost sales with cross-selling and up-selling tactics.

5. Faster go-to-market:

While personalized and customized solutions are the need of the hour, so is the need for faster go-to-market. One of the top reasons enterprises adopt multivendor marketplace solution in the first place is because they are ready-to-go platforms where they can establish a digital presence and reach their target audience in the shortest possible time. Thus, whether it is the store setup or the on boarding process, ensure that vendors can easily set up their store on your Magento multivendor marketplace solution and quickly reach their customers with their products and services.

In a nutshell:
The multivendor marketplace business model is competitive but it also holds a lot of opportunities for those who wish to make a fortune out of it. Just ensure that your Magento multivendor marketplace software builder aligns with the industry standards and their customer expectations. Also, as it is one such industry where you would require continuous development and an innovation centre to keep your platform ahead of the competition, collaborate with a Magento multivendor marketplace solution provider in the Middle East that has a proven track record, rare pool of resources and impeccable IT infrastructure that is essential for a long-term partnership.

There’s hardly any corner left in the world where eCommerce business hasn’t taken over. Due to the ease and convenience of selling and buying in the eCommerce marketplace, the growth of it has been constant all around the world which is inspiring the left-out nations to dive into it one among which is the Middle East.

For the people of the Middle East, the only source of online shopping was the renowned eCommerce giants such as Ali Express, Amazon, and eBay until the domestic eCommerce began to flourish. While at first the big giants like Amazon started off in the Middle East by taking over small scale businesses like the Biggest M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions) deal that took place in the Arab world i.e. Amazon’s acquisition of Souq.com, today, many have started to stand up on their own.

The Saudi Arabian economy which is an amalgamation of SMEs, enterprise buyers, B2C businesses, retailers and many other players has now begun to realise the importance of the online presence which has knocked open the opportunities for many domestic businesses to step into the eCommerce marketplace and emerge as the new hub of online shopping.

If we take a peek into the statistics of eCommerce sales in the Middle East, you will be amazed to know how exponentially is the online business growing and capturing the attention of the Middle East consumers. Although both the B2B and B2C eCommerce marketplace sectors are booming, the market size of B2B eCommerce would be higher by 234.78% than B2C eCommerce and the market is expected to reach around $48.8 billion by 2021. Earlier, when almost 90% of online goods bought in the Middle East were shipped from outside countries, today, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are just a few steps behind from eCommerce leading nations like the UK and the US from becoming a full-fledged eCommerce marketplace hub.

As mentioned before, since some players have started their eCommerce game in the Middle East, we have listed out the top 10 multi-vendor eCommerce app development companies in MENA with a proven track record, who are currently ruling the eCommerce market with their outstanding eCommerce software solutions. Let’s take a look at them.

1. Mobicommerce

Known for developing scalable and feature-rich marketplaces, eCommerce websites, mobile apps, and Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) built over Magento 2, industry’s most advanced eCommerce platform, Mobicommerce is an Indian Magento app development company that has won millions of hearts around the globe with its bespoke eCommerce solutions. With more than 15 years of relentless service focusing on quality, security, and customer service, Mobicommerce is now helping budding entrepreneurs in the Middle East especially in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar to establish their online presence in both the B2C and B2B channels and thus help the domestic eCommerce to rise above the ground giving tough competition to other international eCommerce giants like Amazon, eBay etc.

2. IdeatoLife

Standing true to their name, next on our list is IdeatoLife, a top-tier eCommerce development company that offers cutting edge and scalable eCommerce and mobile commerce solutions that are scoring high in the eCommerce market among other biggies. Their collaborative approach by the best-in-class technical team is creating people-centric custom software solutions that can fit business needs today and tomorrow.

3. The NineHertz

One of the top-rated shopping cart and eCommerce mobile app development companies serving in the Middle East, NineHertz gained its popularity due to the impressive plugins and module development solutions that it offers at affordable rates. Having expertise in various frameworks such as Magento, OpenCart, Shopify, WordPress and WooCommerce, the statistics of NineHertz vouch for its performance while its ranking speaks volume about customer satisfaction. Their Agile development methodology and seamless UI/UX implementation are what they are known for.

4. QBurst

The Middle East operations of QBurst from 2010 until today has helped them achieve a glorious portfolio with its custom business apps that have served both world-renowned brands as well as local startups to establish an online presence. From enterprise integration to AI chatbots and personalization among other features, the QBurst team is known for delivering ROI oriented eCommerce solutions which can be re-architected into microservices for an omnichannel experience.

5. Panacea InfoTech Private Limited

The rich and extensive experience in developing state-of-the-art applications for businesses and enterprises has helped Panacea Infotech extend its services in the Middle East which is going strong till today. With their wide range of services and proficiency in Magento, OpenCart, WooCommerce, Joomla and Shopify, Panacea has achieved attention in the Middle East for its remarkable eCommerce solutions that make a difference.

6. AdoxSolutions

An award-winning company with operations in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, US and Australia, AdoxSolutions is known for creating online experiences that are designed to last. It is the creative and result-driven 360° solutions of Adox that helped it gain international appeal in no time. The Magento multivendor apps created by them are breaking records in the eCommerce market, the credit of which goes to their ability to tailor perfect strategies for each business.

7. VOCSO

VOCSO, a creative marketing agency is one of the most trusted professional mobile and web development companies having the presence in India, USA and UAE, approached repeatedly for their custom shopping cart development solutions on various platforms such as Magento, Joomla and WordPress. From developing basic eCommerce websites to comprehensive marketplace solutions, VOCSO has helped many businesses and startups around the world to attain the true value of their investment in the digital space.

8. VSOURZ Digital

Offering end to end technology, design and marketing services, VSOURZ Digital is a top-notch eCommerce consultancy and B2B and B2C eCommerce software builder services provider whose Middle East operations are worth praising. Well-versed in the latest technologies and frameworks, the team of VSOURZ Digital are known for creating customer-centric mobile commerce, seamless integrations, engaging marketplace solutions, B2B eCommerce and B2C eCommerce solutions that can beat any competition.

9. EtailerSouq

Offering a complete suite of solutions and services to build up a live store at a stunning speed, EtailrSouq is known for opening untapped channels of business for new eCommerce ventures and startups with its cost-efficient eCommerce solutions. From eCommerce website development, eCommerce software builder development, store management, catalogue management, eCommerce mobile app development to others, EtailrSouq caters all and builds complete future proof store with all rich features of a Magento eCommerce web designing, development and delivery.

10. Indglobal

Known to be one of the best e-commerce app development companies in Dubai, Indglobal with its combination of world-class solutions and services in eCommerce make the digital transformation, simpler, faster and affordable. Their experts in Magento, WooCommerce, Prestashop, Shopify, OpenCart and BigCommerce can develop eCommerce solutions that can withstand any challenges and beat the competition in any form.

In a nutshell

Middle-East is witnessing a shift towards digitization at a fast-pace due to various factors like high-per capita income, internet penetration, young demographic who are spending more time on social media platforms, the readiness of Arab consumers to adopt new technologies, enhanced logistics, the government encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation etc. which proves that soon the Middle East will boom in terms of eCommerce. Therefore, if you have any plans of stepping into the Middle East eCommerce market, now is the time. Hire Mobicommerce who is known as the best Magento multivendor app development company in UAE to get started right away.

Be it an eCommerce website, mobile app or a multivendor ecommerce marketplace solution, the success of each lies in the way it is developed and when there are options available in developing them, it is natural to face confusion. So, before you scratch your head more, allow us to make it all clear for you.

Online shopping is no more just a trend today. It has become a habit for all. For any product or service, we wish to acquire, the first thing we do is to look online which is why, as per the statistics, the total amount of retail online sales is growing steadily and is likely to reach almost $5 billion by 2021.

But, even in these online businesses, one that is gaining the limelight is a multivendor marketplace website not just due to buyers and sellers but even budding entrepreneurs too. Reason? It is the most convenient medium of shopping and sale of multiple products from one site for customers, because it is capable of generating high profits for sellers, and for owners – it can be efficiently managed. In short, an online e-commerce multi-vendor website is a win-win situation for all.

Now comes the tough part. A multivendor ecommerce marketplace solution may be a great way for a startup or an e-commerce company wanting to explore new opportunities but, it has to be developed such that positive outcomes are guaranteed. Now, you may think how is that possible? Well, there are two main methods of multi-vendor marketplace development – using a readymade e-commerce platform or building a custom solution from scratch. Since both have their pros and cons, we have our experts’ suggestions portrayed here to clear all your confusion in picking up the best.

Scratch Vs. Ready-to-go Solution

Scratch or Custom-made solutions are the ones that are developed according to a client’s specific requirements like marketplace software solution for wholesalers or a marketplace software solution for distributors, while a ready-to-go means Software as a Service (SaaS) which is available to use for a minimum monthly subscription fee or a one-time purchase.

Recommended Blog: Multi-Vendor Marketplace – Benefits and Challenges

Now, let’s see which one is better?

1. Implementation

• The ready-made multi-vendor solution is all like switch on and go. It offers quick implementation and gets your storefront up and running in a short span of time.
• While a custom-built multivendor ecommerce marketplace solution has to be developed from scratch, building the front end as well as the back end as the client desires, hence; its design and development takes time but is worth it.

2. Cost-effectiveness

• When it comes to developing something, the first and the foremost concern that strikes the mind is about the cost. A ready-made multi-vendor solution is indeed less expensive with lower monthly costs compared to a custom-built and some even come for free but with limited features.
• On the other hand, a custom-built multivendor ecommerce marketplace solution does cost more due to months of development & designing it takes to build it from the ground but, the wait and cost both justifies by all means in the end.

3. Compatibility

• It is difficult to find a ready-made multi-vendor solution that is compatible with other software as it comes with either none or limited compatibility.
• While a custom-built multivendor ecommerce marketplace solution is tailored to be integrated with any software you are planning to use.

4. Customization 

• It is not that a ready-made multi-vendor store comes with a stock template, which can only be used as it is. Nowadays, many of them do provide some tweaks that make it easy for entrepreneurs to undertake design changes and even feature upgrades but, to certain limitations.
• With custom development, you have full freedom to set up the marketplace as you like. With its wider customization options, you can build beautiful and perfectly functional e-commerce websites as per your requirement.

5. Functionality

• A ready-made multi-vendor eCommerce solution comes with extremely user-friendly features that the users do not need to have immense technical knowledge for implementation and management. Some of them are even of no use to the store owner.
• On the other hand, a custom-made solution is built with specific and required features and functionalities which you can manage on your own.

6. Support

• A problem can arise anytime with a ready-made solution to tackle which, you can either contact the customer service department or community support of the solution and seek the solution from its tutorials, articles, blogs etc.
• While a custom-built multivendor ecommerce marketplace solution by a marketplace Development Company have their support team always at your service to help you out anytime you need.

7. Scalability 

• As your business grows you may require to scale up your website as well which at a nominal cost can be done in a ready-made multi-vendor eCommerce solution but can be time-consuming and offers limited scalability with a rigid structure.
• With a custom-built solution, the scalability options are fully under your control. You can scale your system as much as you wish depending on the load and your changing business environment.

8. Intellectual Property

• You will own no intellectual property when using a ready-made multi-vendor eCommerce solution as you are going to reuse the solutions developed and created by others. No matter how you customize it as per your requirements, the IP will still belong to the platform provider. Also, you will have no advantage over your competitors, as you will not be able to offer a unique product.
• While a custom-built multivendor ecommerce marketplace solution is solely designed and developed for your business and your company hence; you will hold the intellectual property of the custom software so you will have a competitive advantage.

Summing Up

As we said before, both have their pros and cons hence the choice of development method for a multivendor ecommerce marketplace solution may be rather difficult and can be affected by multiple factors. However, if you have a time issue and cannot afford a huge expense then you can go with the readymade marketplace script as it is very cost-effective and user-friendly but, if you wish to stand-out in the market and create a multi-vendor marketplace eCommerce solution that will become your signature and your statement with its uniqueness then, investing in custom software development is the right thing to do.

If you need a more detailed consultation on creating a multi-vendor marketplace or are looking for an experienced Magento marketplace software builder, MobiCommerce is the name, remember it.

Building an online store is not something you can just Google up and do it yourself for free. No, there are things needed to be done right using the right tools in the right manner. So, if you are Googling how to develop an online marketplace then you might come across one name – Magento and might be wondering why the name Magento is everywhere? Allow us to break it down to you.

Websites or online marketplaces, Magento is now a household name for businesses and entrepreneurs due to its popularity. Magento has already wooed website developers which in turn have attracted people to get their site developed on Magento and now even marketplaces are after Magento platform to stand out in the competition. Reason? With more than 250,000 active eCommerce sites powered by Magento as of 2020, there is no doubt why it is called the best e-commerce platform till today.

The magnetic effect of Magento multivendor ecommerce marketplace solution 

It is quite natural to wonder why Magento eCommerce multi-vendor marketplace is gaining popularity. Well, why not as it comes with a win-win situation for both customers and the store owners. Moreover, one needs not to be tech-savvy to understand and operate it and comes with a truckload of other features which we will discuss in detail below and which are the reasons why investing, selling, and buying in Magento multivendor ecommerce marketplace makes it worth for all, the store owners, vendors, customers. Let’s understand why is Magento so desirable?

1. 1000s of curated extensions and themes

Magento marketplace has thousands of free and premium relevant themes and extensions designed by over 450 developers to revolutionize any digital business. It can cover the tip to toe of customer interaction online – between identifying the consumer need to fulfilling it – and aims to provide a safe, smooth and satisfying shopping experience. From optimising the website, smooth browsing, secured payment gateways, easy, prompt, and constant customer support, ethical marketing practices to partnering with trustworthy shipping partners, Magento eCommerce’s extensions and themes are perfect in all terms. With the host of Magento plugging; to bring a new level of personalization in Magento multivendor marketplace store become possible.

2. To the point product search and dashboard functionality

The organized product search functionality with intuitive product categorization and collection of Magento eCommerce is worth praising as it makes product search easy and within a snap of a finger. Talking about its dashboard, its centralised purchase system makes it easier for store owners to manage their extensions and developers to avail of comprehensive metrics to evaluate sales.

3. Highest standards of quality

Magento marketplace has quality as the top priority hence; it is very much trustworthy because its extensions undergo a 3-way review process wherein they are assessed for business, technical, and marketing guidelines which include plagiarism, coding standards, compatibility, and security etc.

4. Product reviews and customer ratings

Magento very well knows how much the ratings and reviews matter in a marketplace, which is why it provides a new-and-improved rating platform where customers can leave their genuine reviews about the products they purchased. It also provides editorial content that features products that stand out for their quality and uniqueness.

5. Clean design and attractive UX 

Design and user experience are the two most important things for any online business which is taken care of in Magento marketplace solution. With Magento, you can have a simple, smooth and clean design and UX that is easy to navigate and please the viewers also helping them to explore products much quicker and efficiently.

How does Magento marketplace solution benefit multivendor ecommerce business?

• Store owners can rejoice as multiple sellers mean more products, more sales and thus higher revenues all of which will boost traffic to your store, taking your site to a higher rank in the search engines.
• Setting up a Magento marketplace will be a piece of cake unlike other platforms because it is no complex or tedious process. Magento addresses all the special hosting needs and is also highly scalable having an effective support system, maintenance, and reliability to add more.
• Magento eCommerce lessens a load of responsibilities from the store owner’s shoulder by freeing them from the need to take care of everything right from the logistics and product addition to inventory and pricing as the sellers can do it all on their own.
• Magento marketplace is eligible to handle a wide range of products and multiple orders as well as sites at a time; therefore the software can be configured to be device-friendly
• Magento multivendor ecommerce marketplace solution supports third-party plugins as well as multi-lingual and multi-currency feature thereby giving a global exposure to the vendors.

How to set up a Magento Marketplace? 

There are a lot of things to be done right as we mentioned before hence; it is advisable to approach an expert Magento marketplace software builder or a Magento multi-vendor marketplace development company as a whole to get a market-ready Magento multivendor ecommerce marketplace solution developed in such a way that you greet success in every step.

Wrapping up

You might have now got a clear idea about how Magento eCommerce multi-vendor marketplace solution is beneficial to not only owners but sellers and customers as well hence; investing in it is undoubtedly going to give you more than you expect. However, don’t try to do it yourself or hire someone not well-versed with it in order to save cost because by getting it developed at the hands of an experienced Magento multivendor marketplace development company will help you either find the right extension that meets your business needs or better get a custom-build extension developed as you need. So, quit wondering and go get it now!