Top Multi-vendor eCommerce Features For A Successful Online Marketplace

• By Ramesh Lal
• 08-02-2022
• E-commerce

The eCommerce space is evolving rapidly. Businesses now have the opportunity to tailor an online platform with ease. They can provide the right set of ecommerce features that leverage the business proposition of an online store..

Etsy, an online marketplace for handicrafts and other unique products successfully built a business that serves 10 million plus users. They achieved this by purpose-building the website to offer domain specific multi-vendor eCommerce features to its target sellers and users.

Likewise, taking a cue from Etsy’s book, and similar other successful eCommerce businesses, startups can analyze their target market, and offer features that give users reason to onboard the marketplace or online store.

In this blog, read about important eCommerce features of Amazon or Etsy like businesses that can propel an online store to success.

What is a multi-vendor eCommerce marketplace

A platform where multiple sellers can sell to their customers online is a multi vendor eCommerce marketplace. The owner of the marketplace typically reserves admin authority on the platform, and invites both the sellers and buyers to transact on the platform.

Buyers get to choose from the product range of various sellers.

The sellers get an ecosystem wherein they have the opportunity to sell to an established customer base.

The marketplace owners can own an online business without the need to maintain an inventory themselves.

Amazon is at the top of the pyramid, for multi vendor marketplaces It has a revenue of 386.06 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. Other notable examples are eBay, Walmart, Etsy, Tesco, AliBaba, and others. Each of these marketplaces are similarly structured, but they differ in multi-vendor eCommerce features and what they have to offer to sellers, and buyers.

How to develop a multi-vendor marketplace

The straightforward approach would be hiring a team of developers to build an eCommerce marketplace. The marketplace will be developed from scratch. The right multi-vendor marketplace features would be identified and included. But the Achilles heel of this process is that it requires significant time and resources.

The other option is to use an eCommerce multi-vendor marketplace software. Depending upon the solution opted for, a business can launch an eCommerce business with out of the box marketplace features that come in-built with the software.

The rest can be customized into the platform by availing of eCommerce customization services.

This process requires significantly lower time and resources than coding the website from scratch.

Moreover, by using a solution that has proven reliability in the market, a startup can bypass the need for rigorous testing. They can launch a marketplace with assurance in the quality of the eCommerce software.

Must-have multi-vendor eCommerce features for a successful online marketplace

The success of multi-vendor marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Tesco, and others have laid down a framework of how online marketplaces can operate. The customers, and sellers are accustomed to this way of working.

The same experience can be provided by way of eCommerce features in the marketplace. Let’s understand how that happens with marketplace features discussed below:

Features that enhance buyer’s shopping experience:

Convenient sign-up: A smooth sign-up will enable buyers to get on with the shopping, reducing bounce rates on the website. Social log-ins enable buyers to sign-up with the website in quick time with a few clicks. Similarly, log-in with a phone number aids in user experience.

Efficient search: An accurate search bar integrated within the system, amplifies shopping experience for the buyers. The sellers also benefit by increased visibility of their products, provided they use appropriate product tags.

Seamless UI/UX: eCommerce websites have to be built to provide a seamless user experience. Removing friction at all customer touchpoints throughout the buyer journey can lead to higher conversions. Ease of navigation, clarity in information, and placement of buttons are some of the other factors that affect the shopping experience of the website.

Product reviews: Social proof of reviews can make a big difference in the shopping experience of the users. The customers are able to better judge the product and it helps them to interact with other buyers by reading through reviews already posted and to be able to post reviews themselves.

Additionally, product reviews can also help the admin of the marketplace to gauge performance of products on sale on the marketplace and watch out for fake or unwanted products that may tarnish the brand image of the marketplace.

Wishlist: The ability to wishlist products gives customers the flexibility to invest time in search, and save products to be bought in the future.

Additionally, wishlists can also give sellers and the admin the data that can help drive future marketing schemes and analyze product pricing on the platform.

Multiple payment options: Customer preferences with regards to payment can vary. Online multi-vendor marketplaces can offer multiple payment options to buyers to minimize conversions at the bottom of the funnel.

Progressive Web Apps: PWAs are lightweight apps built with the same underpinnings as websites but they function just like native apps, giving users the best of both worlds. They can also be installed onto the user’s device.

Features to assist in smooth business operations:

Individual customizable vendor storefronts: This multi-vendor eCommerce feature helps sellers to grow their brand by offering the end customers a personalized store within the multi-vendor marketplace. In essence, sellers get additional incentive to onboard the marketplace.

Product catalog: Product catalog can give sellers more control over listing the product information. Detailed product description helps customers in virtually visualizing the product, an important eCommerce feature.

With product catalog, sellers can add products under categories that can be edited themselves. The more detail they can add along with editable meta tags and product photos, the better shopping experience can be offered to the customers, driving conversions on the platform.

Shipping services: Shipping fulfillment, and package tracking information, can give buyers a satisfying experience after they have made the purchase, fostering customer retention.

Inventory management: eCommerce businesses can work smoothly with inventory management. Low or out of stock product alerts can help sellers avoid losing out on sales.

Customizable Invoices: Automated customizable invoicing with the option to tailor information can help businesses comply with the varying requirements of product categories, tax laws, and others in inter state sales.

Features to add revenue streams to a multi-vendor marketplace venture:

Multi-vendor specific allied revenue streams: eCommerce marketplace can scale making it possible for the owner to add to the revenue earned with the sale of products. Some of these income streams are as follows:
● Sellers can be allowed to post advertisements and charged with the Pay Per Click system.
● Sellers can be charged a subscription fee in addition to or in lieu of commissions charged on the products. This revenue model also helps in price sensitive markets wherein sellers might be comfortable paying an upfront subscription fee to keep the product prices competitive.

Features that help online marketplace scale their business:

Location based services: Information like taxes, or product prices can be displayed based on the location of the seller or the buyer. This helps online marketplaces conduct business across borders.

Multilingual support: Language can be a barrier for eCommerce operations. If the online multi-vendor marketplace supports language translation, the business would be able to transcend borders and offer their services beyond linguistic boundaries.

Multi Currency functionality: Another important multi-vendor eCommerce feature is allowing buyers to transact in their local currency. Multi currency functionality will allow businesses to offer services to international customers.
Features to help market the business venture:

Analytics: Analytics can give business owners the necessary tools to drive operations with a data-driven approach. An analysis of consumer behavior through the customer touchpoints can help catalyze future business decisions.

Marketing tools: Tools such email newsletters help online businesses connect with customers.

Recommended products: This is another important multi-vendor eCommerce feature. Product recommendations during buyer journey help in cross selling and up-selling.

Affiliate marketing: Affiliates can be paid to bring traffic onto the platform via commissions for conversions.

To sum it up

Startups now have the opportunity to start their own multi-vendor marketplace businesses by offering a slew of eCommerce marketplace features much like popular eCommerce websites such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and others.

Customisable multi-vendor marketplace software fast tracks the process and allows businesses to purpose engineer their platform in line with the business vision to best meet the target market.

Leading multi-vendor solutions such as Yo!Kart, CS-Cart, Shuup, and others come with an impressive list of features out of the box that help startups to launch a contemporary eCommerce marketplace in quick time.

The cost per solution may vary but still its significantly lesser to developing the marketplace from scratch.