Top 5 books Multi Vendor Marketplaces In India

Are you a bookseller? Do you have an offline bookshop? Do you want to open an online bookstore to grow your revenue? Then, you should definitely read this guide on how to open a book multi vendor marketplace in India.

Fact: Do you know? India comes on the top in the list of countries that read the most, a report by the NOP World Culture Score Index. The time spent (in India) on reading books is over 10 hours per week. Generally, readers between 15-44 years prefer reading and buying books online. 

So now you know which audience to target.

You must be questioning - Why do people search for and buy books online? Who are these people?

These people are generally book lovers(young and old), school students, college students, teachers and professors.

And they get 5 benefits from searching books online-

1. Original prices and discounted price
   
   
2. Exciting offers and cheaper deals
   
   
3. Better vendor Comparison

4. Reviews, ratings and detailed description of a book

5. Convenience to buy from mobile using marketplace app or website

So do I need a physical store to sell online?

No, not at all. The coolest thing about opening marketplaces is that you don't need a physical bookstore or any inventory. You only need to convince local book sellers to sell on your platform.

Before starting your own store, here are some prime examples that are doing great in terms of making revenue in bookselling. 

Let’s explore!

5 books Multi Vendor Marketplaces in India and their growth strategies

Here is the list of the top 5 Indian book-based online marketplaces and their impressive growth strategies:

1. Amazon

The first marketplace in the world that started with online book selling and delivery service. Now it sells everything from electronics to groceries but our focus will be on books. 

How did they skyrocket their online book sales through their website?

• Advanced book filtration which helps a buyer to quickly adjust the results by selecting preferred rating, book style, book format, author name, book awards winners, available discount, etc
  
  
• Marketplace app for mobile buyers and gives them the fastest checkout experience
  
  
• Use of categories like bestsellers, Amazon charts, best books of the month, new releases to catch buyers attention and trick them to purchase one. This also helped book authors in getting maximum sales
  
  
• Impressive product pages that include author biography, book introduction, reviews and ratings, price, book sample audio and other buyer-friendly elements

2. Flipkart

They started by selling books and ended up selling multiple electronics, apparel, etc. Following one year of launch, they recorded 100 orders per day for books. Currently, it has 7 million books out of which some are only available on Flipkart, a good strategy to attract buyers who need those.

How did they skyrocket their online book Sales through their website?

• Books category in the main menu, clearly hints the book lover to click and find out more
  
  
• After a customer clicks the books category, he is directed to a page. The page displays various categories of books. Like - children books, fictional books, study material, competitive exam preparation books, novels, biographies, etc
  
  
• Every single product page is embellished with book images, price, description, related suggestion, ratings and reviews, seller details, author name, call to actions. All these elements helped them in convincing the buyer to buy immediately

3. Snapdeal

A multi vendor marketplace that brings together all book sellers at one place to sell books of diverse genres and languages. 

How did they skyrocket their online book Sales through their website?

• Search widget on the homepage allows the buyer to easily find the books by simply typing ‘Books’
  
  
• By going to the menu > 'Books, media & music’, buyers can quickly view all books or can browse by genre or even by exam
  
  
• Different sorting and filtration options are given to buyers to refine the results and reduce the buying dilemma
  
  
• Multiple payment gateways are Integrated on the website to promote instant checkouts with less cart abandonment

4. Books Wagon

An online store that is dedicated to book fanatics and students. They have 50+ book categories for school students, college graduates, entrepreneurs, government exam aspirers, and others.

How did they skyrocket their online book Sales through their website?

• Interactive homepage that does an incredible job to attract and engage with new buyers. By using the navigation menu, categorization, and product sliders, they have left no reason for buyers to click and buy
  
  
• Classic product pages that display everything a buyer would want about a book. Like it’s reviews, price, publisher, author, summary, discount offered, etc
  
  
• To reach international customers, they have integrated multiple currency and global payment gateways on their website

5. Sapna Online

It is India’s largest book marketplace that sells international, national and regional books to 61k monthly website visitors. 

How did they skyrocket their online book Sales through their website?

• Their homepage is a complete guide for new buyers. It uses categorization of books like bestselling, deals of the day, teen classics, new releases, features author, shop by eam, etc. This enhanced the buying experience and pushed more order
  
  
• Smooth and faster website navigation increased the buyer’s time on site and even promoted easy discovery of products at a click
  
  
• The Advanced search widget lets the customer search by typing a book name or author name. This works best for buyers who know their needs

Build an online Book marketplace with StoreHippo Marketplace App and website builder

When they can do this, why can’t you? Yes, all you need is correct information and process to do the same. So here is a guide for you to select a marketplace builder and kickstart an online book store. 

To select the best, always look for these 6 critical features

1. Vendor Management

This feature will help in monitoring the vendors on selling on your website. You can even allot a unique dashboard to each vendor. With a dashboard, they can manage their orders, inventory, shipping and can update the order status.

2. Attractive Themes

Theme is the base of your website. StoreHippo offers 100+ customizable themes that are easy to use and are made to convert your buyers.

3. Payment Gateways

Storehippo has 40+ integrated payment gateways that can be activated on your website at a single click.

4. Commission Management

To ensure the timely collection of commissions from multiple vendors, StoreHippo lets you set commission rules, either fixed or percentage-wise.

5. Seller Ledger

To view transactions, pending orders and invoices of each seller, you need a seller ledger support. StoreHippo lets you do the same, along with the option to set up ledger rules, manage payouts and overlook seller activities.

6. Marketplace app

79% of smartphone users have made a purchase online using their mobile device in the last 6 months. It is evident that everyone prefers fast browsing, otherwise they would leave a site. StoreHippo gives you the option to build mobile apps right from the dashboard with no extra cost. 

StoreHippo also offers integrated shipping solutions, vendor comparison, marketing tools, analytics, a dedicated seller page, admin support and 400+ features.

Final Takeaways 

It is the best time to take your offline business online or say, start a new online bookstore. We have laid everything on your table which is needed to open an online marketplace. The final step to be taken is - sign up for a marketplace builder. 

And then, follow the steps mentioned below.

1. Buy a domain name and SSL certificate (BTW StoreHippo offers a free SSL certificate)
   
   
2. Choose a theme from your website builder
   
   
3. Integrate website themes with payment gateways, shipping solution and social media
   
   
4. Create and design your products pages, company pages and homepage
   
   
5. Once done, check and publish it. You are now ready to sell books online

Want to try a website builder for free? Get access to StoreHippo rich features by signing up for a 14 days free trial and begin your journey to sell online.

FAQs

1. How quickly can I launch my books multi vendor marketplace?

You can launch your books multi vendor marketplace in just a few days with StoreHippo. It offers a comprehensive Saas-based 360-degree ecommerce marketplace solution to help you quickly build, run and manage your marketplace app.  

2. Can I offer personalized deals and offers on my books marketplace app?

Yes, you can offer personalized deals and offers to the customers on your books marketplace app with StoreHippo’s built-in dicount engine. It enables you to implement multi-level discounts and offers based on their order value, purchase history etc.

3. Is it complex to build a marketplace app?How much time will it need?

No, building a marketplace app is not a complex process with StoreHippo. You can seamlessly build Andriod or iOS apps directly from your admin dashboard with StoreHippo’s built-in mobile apps builder. You do not need to incur additional cost or go for extensive coding to develop a mobile app. The stores powered by StoreHippo are Progressive Web Apps (PWA) that look, work, and feel like mobile apps, and run seamlessly even on entry level devices. 

4. How can I ensure quick deliveries of books ordered on my multi vendor marketplace?

To ensure and streamline quick hyperlocal deliveries of books orders on your multi vendor marketplace, StoreHippo comes with 30+ preintegrated shipping providers and automated shipping solutions. You can seamlessly manage your own fleet of delivery boys and integrate your own delivery partner with StoreHippo’s delivery management system.   

5. Will I be able to grow my book business to new or global markets in the future? 

Yes, you will be able to seamlessly take your book business to the global markets with the help of StoreHippo’s go-global features. StoreHippo offers 60+ domestic and international payment gateways along with support for multiple currencies from across the globe. You can also easily connect with your global customers in their native language with the multilingual feature. The powerful tax-engine by StoreHippo also makes it easy to calculate locations-based taxes and generate invoices in multiple currencies for your global customers and sellers. 

6. How can I offer multiple payment options to my customers?

StoreHippo helps you to offer multiple payment options to the customers on your books multi vendor marketplace, like COD, and various online payment methods like net banking, debit or credit cards, digital wallets etc.  

7. Does StoreHippo offer marketing features to promote my books online marketplace?

Yes, StoreHippo offers a wide range of in-built marketing tools to help you market your books online marketplace to your customers. You can boost your conversions with quick and smart marketing tools like powerful discount engines, coupon codes, personalized notifications, abandoned cart recovery, SEO tools etc. 

8. I need to offer enhanced search to my customers. Is it possible with StoreHippo?

Yes, it is possible to offer enhanced and faceted searches on your online marketplace with StoreHippo. You can offer flexible filtering, define the category-level groups and create multiple groups based on the search criteria for any given category. 

9. How can I target book lovers across all touchpoints like marketplace store, marketplace apps, physical store etc?

You can easily target your customers on multiple channels with StoreHippo and boost your conversions. With the next-gen omnichannel solutions from StoreHippo, you can quickly create multiple customer touchpoints using the same backend logic and APIs.

10. Can I set up multiple locations based stores for my books multi vendor marketplace?

Yes, with StoreHippo, you can easily create multiple sub-stores for multiple locations to cater to various needs and demands of your customers. You can become a local favourite by offering customized services and quick delivery with the comprehensive location based ecommerce solution from StoreHippo.