Today everything is digitalised! From that fitness watch you wear to the gadgets you shop online.
When was the last time somebody from your family went to a service provider or an Apple store to buy a smartphone? Or any other appliance for that matter. Seems like eons ago? Well, like you and your family, the majority of people have realized that purchasing electronics online is a smart and convenient thing to do.
According to Statista, in 2020, the number of smartphone users worldwide is projected to reach 2.87 billion. This means that there will be more shoppers flocking at your web store if you happen to launch one for gadgets and mobile phones. It also means that if you have a store up and running, a large number of people will access your store from their smartphones! Whether it’s the chicken first, or the egg, under any situation your e-commerce business is going to thrive.
Unlike traditional shops, online stores do not restrict buyers with the limited choices they offer. Shoppers can check out several options, compare prices, search for existing deals and make a smart purchase decision. The only thing about e-commerce is that customers need to check several web stores before deciding where to buy the gadget of their choice.
But what if you solve this problem and make their online shopping easier through a multi-seller? A global survey reflected that the most popular online shopping categories at multi-vendor stores are entertainment, apparel and electronics.
By hosting vendors that ace selling different products and mobile phones on your online multi-seller setup, you can attract a lot of customers, especially those who are inclined towards online shopping. Since millennials and Gen X buyers are more tech-savvy, that is the segment of the audience group who would be more interested in your products. Thus attracting high-quality vendors can drive more traffic and make your multi-vendor marketplace famous in a short time.
Are you on the edge of your seat already and keen about launching your model soon? Well, then let’s get going and see how to create a multi-seller store for gadgets and mobile phones.
Table of Contents
1. Do your research
Over the last few years, multi-seller online stores have turned out to be effective business models. If you search Google for the highest revenue-generating e-commerce models, it wouldn’t surprise you that Amazon, eBay, Airbnb, etc. are at the top of the list. Seeing the success of these popular multi-seller websites, many e-commerce entrepreneurs are going for a similar setup.
Creating a multi-seller online business will allow you to sell appliances and cell phones without any hassles that e-retailers generally face. You need not worry about managing the inventory or take the responsibility of shipping on your shoulders. A multi vendor marketplace keeps you free from routine chores, unlike the owner of an online store where you have to constantly deal with orders, returns, payments, etc.
But read a couple of articles online and kickstart your multi-vendor e-commerce? Unfortunately, it does not work that way. Though relatively easier to manage and run, a multi-seller web store is a complex model.
So what’s an ideal way to go about it?
It is always better to do thorough research before you plan to start a multi-vendor online store for your electronics and mobile phone business.
You might want to check out similar business models and see how they function. By reading their case studies you can get all the information about how these players created a giant business.
Your next step should be to gather vendor information for your multi-vendor marketplace. Online forums, groups on social, business networks, etc. are good starting points for touch base. Think about how you would attract vendors and strategize how you would convince them to sell their products on your platform.
Finally, ask yourself, who is this set up for? You need to peek into your customers’ minds and determine who will come flocking to your multi-seller store. Creating a customer profile will help you design your model better.
Doing your research is like a roadmap for your online gadgets and mobile phone multi-seller website. You need not take the road less travelled. You can walk in the footsteps of other successful giants in your niche. Then apply the researched information to strategize your way forward.
2. Tie-up with vendors for multiple product lines
By deciding to sell electronics and mobile phones, you have already defined a niche vertical model for your business.
Buyers don’t usually fix their minds on one brand when it comes to appliances and mobile phones. Under this category, where technology changes quickly off the mark, they would want to explore a dozen options before they finally buy one.
From a customer’s perspective, your vertical model will simplify their shopping process for gadgets and smartphones. It will also offer them a business that specialises in serving their specific needs.
When you have a niche vertical set-up for appliances and cell phones, your vendor search process will also be clearly defined. You will be able to bring together finer products and a better range for your customers under one roof.
So your next step should be to tie-up with high-quality vendors and offer multiple product lines for electronic items and smartphones.
Vendor partnership is an important step for this business model. High-quality vendors with greater variety will fetch more traffic to your multi-vendor marketplace. Good traffic will ultimately enable you to tie-up with new vendors consistently.
The right kind of vendor partnership under a vertical model set will help you enjoy near-term success as a business owner.
3. Stay in trend
You are selling something that involves technology and tech changes like the weather. Literally! Flexing your multi-store’s tech muscles is probably a good idea to keep it well maintained functionally as well as aesthetically.
Make sure that your vendors offer customers what they come looking for. As an admin, it's your responsibility to make the multi-vendor store easy to navigate and simple for customers to browse for gadgets and search for vendors of their choice. This will require you to look for features that help you roll out a smooth set-up through a good e-commerce platform.
Coming to aesthetics, your multi-selling website should give out a professional feel to the shoppers. You can’t be having a mundane design and expect to attract tech-savvy customers. Maintain your store using the latest technology and let it’s ambience speak for what you are selling.
You might want to constantly remind yourself that the majority of your customers will be millennials. They would like to navigate a trendy and well-maintained store. Designing attractive product and brand pages for gadgets and smartphones, convenient search filters, etc. are some ways through which you can do this.
4. Render support to vendors
When you open a multi-seller online store, your vendors’ goals are very much aligned to yours. Vendors play a huge role in driving traffic to your business. Hence, you need to be transparent and provide them with the opportunity to grow. Offering a convenient, flexible and transparent system is one way to render long term support.
Providing vendors a dashboard of their own is a great way to start this. This helps them maintain individual inventories and order statuses on the multi vendor marketplace. Likewise, product management and setting up an efficient commission set up is also a good way to develop a transparent business and help generate faith among the vendors.
While you should go ahead and do the things that come under owner responsibility like marketing inputs and store maintenance, you should also offer your support with the right choice of e-commerce platform.
5. Choose a smart e-commerce platform
How can you be an all-rounder? How can you satisfy your vendors and customers at the same time and create a successful model?
An efficient e-commerce platform is the best way to start your multi-selling store for gadgets and mobile phones. You should be looking for a modern-day e-commerce solution equipped with in-built features;
- To help you create different sections and web pages for vendors, payments, admin management and more.
- To beautify your multi-vendor store by letting you choose from several ready-to-use themes
- To give you a mobile-first approach for easy access from smartphones
- To gear up your marketing efforts with unlimited features including unified notifications and discount engines
- To support your logistics needs by integrating your multi vendor marketplace with a good shipping aggregator platform
- To help you grow your business and enabling you to reach the global market by providing multi-store, multilingual and multi-currency options
Final thoughts
The multi-vendor marketplace is an ideal business model for e-retailers to capture a bigger market at one go. Since it offers a competitive advantage of a single platform for a vast range of products to shoppers, multi-seller models help you earn a better ROI at minimal start-up costs.
StoreHippo multi-vendor e-commerce solution has considered this approach and added features that help in setting up and running a full-fledged marketplace without any complexity. It also helps your vendors carry out smooth logistics by integrating your marketplace with its shipping aggregator platform, ShipKaro.
StoreHippo marketplace solution has been battle-tested. It has helped in creating a variety of successful use cases across several industry verticals.
Want to check the functionality of our multi-vendor e-commerce platform live? Opt for our 14-day free trial or drop us a line below to get in touch!
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