Building An Online Marketplace

Why Building An Online Marketplace Is An Idea Worth Considering

Building an online marketplace is the idea which has gained huge popularity in recent years. Globally marketplaces account for more than 50% of online sales. 95% of all the online buyers have shopped from a multi-vendor platform and they say this experience has changed their shopping habits.  

The above facts and figures clearly indicate that a multi-vendor set up is a beneficial business model for entrepreneurs. The huge success of multi-vendor ecommerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart, Alibaba etc. has inspired many entrepreneurs to adopt this model.  It not only lets them earn a commission on every order on their platform, but it can also grow substantially without any investment in stocking inventory. 

What is the shortcut to building an online marketplace in India

Indian ecommerce space is redefining the rules of online business with the success of a host of multivendor online stores like Nykaa, Zomato, Food Panda, Indiamart, Unnati etc. Entrepreneurs are coming up with out of the box and disruptive business models which need unique solutions. These futuristic business models need future-ready multi-vendor marketplace software. 

While building an online marketplace from scratch can be an option for corporate bigwigs, a new business idea needs a shortcut to this approach. For this they need a turnkey, fully hosted and managed multi-vendor marketplace solution like StoreHippo. With inbuilt multi-vendor functionality that does not need additional plugins or coding, we offer a shortcut solution for building, launching and growing B2B and B2C marketplaces for any industry.

This is how you can build a multi-vendor marketplace in the shortest possible time with StoreHippo.Let’s get started: 

Phase 1 

• Do extensive market study and come up with a few marketplace ideas
• Check the viability of your ideas by listing the customer base, revenue, vendors, logistics etc.
• Validate your idea by doing a problem-solution analysis and long term growth prospects
• Narrow down and finalize the best suitable idea for  building an online marketplace

Phase 2

• Decide your brand name and register a domain for your venture
• Get all the paperwork, company registration etc. in place
• Choose a subscription plan and start building an online marketplace for your idea
• Choose a beautiful theme and design the look and feel of your website

Phase 3

• Start onboarding vendors, distributors, retailers and brands on your multi-vendor portal
• Set up vendor commissions, payouts, taxes, payment and shipping methods for vendors
• Integrate the CRM, social channels, live chat, notifications etc.
• Launch a registration campaign for your vendors and customers offering them early bird prizes

Phase 4

• Go a step ahead of building an online marketplace and integrate payment gateways
• Integrate the discounted shipping solution provided by StoreHippo
• Create social media pages and promote your business by offering coupons and discounts
• Test your multi-vendor ecommerce store and go live

That is it, a short and comprehensive 4-phase plan to start your online marketplace with StoreHippo. We have 300+ inbuilt tools for various requirements of a growing business. Our inherently flexible and scalable architecture makes it easy to grow to any number of users or products. 

Building An Online Marketplace To Tap M-Commerce

With close to 80% of online orders coming through mobile devices it becomes imperative to prepare your business for tapping the m-commerce market. StoreHippo has you covered here. Built grounds-up on the mobile-first principle, we offer a complete solution to create a mobile-ready multi-vendor portal.

Check out how building an online marketplace with StoreHippo helps you leverage m-commerce to grow your business:

Mobile-Optimized Themes 

Choose from a library of beautiful themes optimized for mobile devices. Customize the themes for various audience segments and devices with easy to use drag and drop tools. Mix and match themes to create new themes to add a punch to your marketing and promotions.

Android and iOS Apps

You can build mobile apps for your multi-vendor ecommerce store right from your admin. No need to do any coding or pay additionally to build your mobile apps. Reaching out to customers and doing targetted marketing becomes easier with mobile apps.

Progressive Web Apps(PWA)

Building an online marketplace StoreHippo means your portal is a PWA. to put it simply, you have a web application that looks, feels and works like a native app on all the devices. You do not need to create, test, maintain or update a mobile version of your website. PWA stores can be easily accessed on slow internet connections allowing you to reach tier 2-3 markets.

With such strong support for m-commerce we equip you with all the tools needed to create a niche.

Why StoreHippo Is the Best Ecommerce Platform For Building An Online Marketplace

We offer a one-stop multi-vendor marketplace solution for building B2B and B2C multi-seller stores. Along with a comprehensive vendor management module, we also offer order, product and inventory management modules. You can choose from 40+ domestic and international payment gateways and also avail integrated logistics solutions at discounted rates.

StoreHippo SEO friendly platform lets you optimize your marketplace for better SERP ranking and hence brinks higher organic traffic. You can plan a variety of marketing strategies using the inbuilt discount engine and marketing tools. What’s more, you can use the blog engine to promote your business.

Along with these, you can use the flexibility and scalability of the platform for building an online marketplace model that is disruptive and novel. We also have an inbuilt solution for multi-store and multilingual online portals.

Check out the various types of  Multi-Vendor Use Cases powered by StoreHippo and explore our platform by starting your 14-day free trial now.