What You Need to Know Before Creating a B2B Marketplace?

B2B is an online marketplace where one business sells goods or services to the other. The ways of running this type of thing are similar to a B2C business model with some differences. Here, individual clients don’t make purchases; all payments are carried out via bank transfers.

A client usually contacts a seller and discusses the terms of purchase (pricing policy, bonuses, deadlines, and other terms).

Before creating your own B2B marketplace, you should keep in mind that a good platform should come with a variety of features, such as detailed products catalogs, advanced filtering, invoice processing, etc.

You can find more detailed information about B2B marketplaces in this article or ask our experts in this niche to consult you.

Want to create a B2B marketplace but have no idea how to start? Today, there are more than 40 global B2B marketplaces with more than 4$ billion in revenue. So it is a good niche to invest in.

The process of creating a B2B marketplace is not easy. However, if handled properly, you can easily tackle that challenge. A powerful B2B marketplace should meet the needs of your clients, run smoothly and help buyers and sellers find each other. Look through the review “What to Know Before Launching a Marketplace” and you’ll learn everything about this niche.

AN ONLINE MARKETPLACE WITH CS-CART MULTI-VENDOR

Have you noticed that sweeping tendency of traditional online stores being gradually stamped out by marketplaces? This, indeed, happens if you look a bit closer. And multi-vendor commercial grounds, many of which managed to gain their initial popularity and reputation back at the beginning of the 2000s (LookFantastic, FeelUnique, iHerb, etc.), will live on for years to come. Monobrand online stores, in turn, are threatened with real-deal ‘extinction’. Commercial web resources that are relatively new on the market and their owners aren’t ready yet to spend huge money on focused marketing efforts risk being stamped out overboard without even reaching a somewhat renowned status.

Fortunately, there is a way out and it’s not too late for now: turn your monobrand e-commerce with CS-cart Multi-Vendor into a marketplace. This is the main topic of discussion in our article: CS-Cart&Online Marketplace>

Niche E-Commerce Marketplace

There are several global marketplaces in the world that managed to practically monopolize the market of online retail - these are Amazon, Aliexpress, eBay, Etsy, Rakuten, and some others. Trying to compete with such huge names on initial stages of your business development would be senseless. On the other hand, due to a colossal number of offers they provide, it can be difficult to find exactly what one’s looking for if the search request isn’t precise enough (e.g., a green coat).

You can use this flaw as your new marketplace’s efficient competitive advantage: go deeper into the niche you’re operating in and many users will find your solution more convenient than that of even the most renowned competitors. Find out more about the reasonability of creating narrow-focused marketplaces:/130-how-niche-e-commerce-can-let-you-build-a-space-of-profit

11 Best E-Commerce Marketplaces

A comparison of the best solutions for creating your online marketplace

The development of marketplaces has been a turning point for the e-commerce industry. More and more online merchants, especially smaller ones, are deciding to publish all or part of their catalogs on e-commerce marketplaces like Rue du commerce, Priceminister and Amazon, in a bid to gain more visibility for their merchandise and boost sales.

But we’re now also witnessing the opposite phenomenon: more and more online merchants want to evolve their business models by creating marketplaces of their own.

Inviting other merchants to sell their products on your e-commerce site allows you to offer your visitors and clients a more diverse product range, and to earn extra revenue in marketplace commissions. Unfortunately, though, some hosted e-commerce solutions, like Shopify and Squarespace, don’t allow you to build your own marketplace.

For that reason, Roobykon Software wants to introduce you 11 highly efficient and well-constructed solutions that can transform your e-commerce site into a real marketplace.

#1 Marketify theme for WordPress

Most of the marketplace solutions we’re going to talk about are extensions (‘plugins’) to install within your e-commerce theme. In contrast, Marketify, designed for the WordPress environment, is a theme in itself. Made by Astoundify, the Marketify theme costs $63 and is intended for a single purpose: building marketplaces in WordPress.

It is both very elegant from a design standpoint and very rich in terms of functionality, with the ability to sell all kinds of digital downloadable products – themes, plugins, audio, video, eBooks, and so on.

Marketify allows partner vendors to easily set up their subscriptions via a registration form. After that, it’s a breeze for them to add their own products.

It’s worth noting that Marketify perfectly integrates with the free plugin Easy Digital Downloads for the implementation of e-commerce functionality. Particularly useful is this plugin’s automated sharing system for revenues from partner sales, and its powerful calculation and configuration tools for determining what commissions to charge for different vendors and products.

Marketify is a versatile theme that can also be used to create an ordinary, single-vendors e-commerce site.

Advantages of the Marketify theme:

• + Operates within WordPress, one of the best Content Management Systems.

• + Its automated payment management system enables very easy management of partner sales.

• + Very professional design.

• + Affordable price.

Disadvantages of the Marketify theme:

• – Only designed for sale of digital products

• – Only available on WordPress 

#2 Magento, and its Marketplace plugin

Magento’s marketplace plugin (or ‘module’), offered at the price of $349, lets you create a marketplace inside the Magento environment.

Remember that like WordPress, Magento is open source – so it’s free and very modular, but also dedicated to the creation of e-commerce sites. There are many plugins in existence to create an online marketplace within Magento, but this one is undoubtedly the best.

The Marketplace plugin for Magento lets you turn your site into a marketplace platform at any time. You just need to buy, download, install and configure the plugin.

It gives you the ability to create different vendor accounts, letting your partners manage for themselves the products they sell on your site. Vendors can customize their presence on your site with their own logo, images, multimedia, client reviews, and so on. Plus, you can set custom commission levels for each vendor.

Advantages of the Magento Marketplace plugin:

• + Very easy installation (compared to competitor solutions).

• + Ability to set individual commission levels for each vendor.

• + Separate profiles for each vendor.

• + Great quality HTML markup.

• + Easily reachable and pretty responsive support.

Disadvantages of the Magento Marketplace plugin:

• – Relatively high price

• – By design, the plugin cannot be installed on sites not based on Magento

#3 Prestashop with Agile Multiple Seller

Prestashop hails from France and is the main competitor to Magento – these two are the main free, open source solutions entirely dedicated to the creation of e-commerce sites.

Agile Multiple Seller is one of the best Prestashop plugins for building a marketplace, thanks to the flexibility of its functionality. Costing $144, it provides all the features expected from a marketplace solution – both for vendor profile management and commission configuration.

This plugin allows vendors to customize and manage their online store interfaces independently, setting a logo, choosing a URL, and even putting in place a totally custom theme.

As for payment management, the plugin offers three different possibilities: you can authorize vendors to collect payments themselves, manage payments yourself, or make use of the co-management interface.

Advantages of Agile Multiple Seller:

• + Ability for each vendor to manage the whole of his shop configuration on your marketplace, from catalog and design, to payments.

• + Option to manage vendors’ access and payments if you prefer to keep more tightly in control.

• + A very agile solution, both in terms of shop management and management of payments.

Disadvantages of Agile Multiple Seller:

• – Each vendor can only manage one shop configuration.

• – Available only to Prestashop-based sites.

• #4 Mirakl

Mirakl was created in 2012 by a French tech startup, and represents a ‘top-of-the-range’ marketplace solution – notable users include Darty, Boulanger and Auchan.

After raising 18 millions euros last year, its parent startup has recently launched a vast internationalization strategy, with particular focus on the US market.

Mirakl offers the richest functionality of the solutions looked at here – but it comes at a price. Mirakl is one of the most expensive solutions on the market.

Advantages of Mirakl:

• + Overall quality is well above most of of its competitors.

• + Track record: Mirakl is the platform of choice for Darty, Galeries LaFayette, Auchan, Boulanger, and Rue du Commerce.

• + Feature-rich functionality.

• + Automation of customer-related communications (with automated responses), simplifying the management process for vendors.

• + Vendor management tools (the ability to suspend accounts, for example).

• + Can be integrated with any e-commerce ecosystem – Miralk is not a plugin, but a freestanding SaaS application.

Disadvantages of Mirakl:

• – High price (set individually for each user) – this is the only big disadvantage of Mirakl.

• – Mainly targets large e-merchants, though Mirakl aims to expand its coverage.

#5 Drupal with Ubercart Marketplace

Ubercart is a free module which allows you to transform a Drupal e-commerce site into a marketplace. It offers a full range of functionality, but does require coding skills and web development experience.

Ubercart is very flexible, allowing each vendor to manage their shop independently; vendors can track orders and access activity reports for their shops. Payments are handled by PayPal Mass, which allows semi-automated distribution of payments to vendors.

Advantages of Ubercart Marketplace:

• + Feature rich functionality.

• + It’s free.

• + Very flexible management of vendor profiles.

Disadvantages of Ubercart Marketplace:

• – Requires development skills, and so not suitable for novices.

• – Only available for sites based on Drupal.

#6 CS.Cart Multi-Vendor

CS.Cart is an open source software package for building e-commerce sites. Out of the box, it doesn’t offer the option of creating a marketplace, but the company behind this software has now launched a version of CS.Cart that does support this goal: CS.Cart Multi-Vendor.

It’s not a plugin, and the price is on the high side: $1450 for a lifetime license, or an annual subscription of $590. But the software offers a very flexible platform in terms of usability, with an interface that can be customized by each vendor. In short, CS.Cart Multi-vendor is both functional and ergonomic.

Advantages of CS.Cart Multi-Vendor:

• + Marketplace features out of the box, so no need to install and configure a plugin.

• + Feature-rich functionality.

• + A unique interface for each vendor.

Disadvantages of CS.Cart Multi-Vendor:

• – Rather high price.

#7 Yo!Kart

o!Kart is a relatively little-known solution, despite its strengths. It’s not a plugin but rather an independent piece of software dedicated to building marketplaces. Its intuitive and fully-customizable interface is really rather remarkable.

The principle is simple: vendors manage their shops and catalogs themselves, but you are in charge of moderation. You are informed about each modification by a vendor before the change becomes publicly visible. This gives vendors a feeling of autonomy while leaving you in ultimate control.

It’s worth noting that, should platform-owners want to keep their own brand front and center, Yo!Kart also allows you to make some vendors anonymous – the name of the vendor is not displayed to people visiting the site.

Yo!Kart offers three prices: $250, $999 and $5999, depending on the size of your marketplace.

Advantages of Yo!Kart:

• + It’s a platform entirely dedicated to building marketplaces.

• + The interface is very pleasant to use.

• + Good balance between freedom for you and security for your site, most notably thanks to the moderation subsystem.

• + Option not to display vendor names on the front end.

Disadvantages of Yo!Kart:

• – Rather high price (for the most expensive ‘Go Custom’ plan).

• – Yo!Kart cannot be integrated into existing e-commerce sites based on other platforms.

#8 Sharetribe

Sharetribe is an e-commerce software package designed exclusively for the creation of marketplaces. This specialization explains its very rich set of supported features. Sharetribe lets you choose from several plans, depending on the size of your marketplace: you can manage anything from 300 to 100,000 vendors.

The monthly subscription fee varies from $39 to $239.

A little bonus is that Sharetribe not only allows your members to sell their products, but also to lease them. In other words, Sharetribe allows you to create service marketplaces.

Each member is free to customize their account according to their personal preferences.

Finally, it’s worth noting the great messaging functionality, which allows vendors to stay in touch with their customers.

Advantages of Sharetribe:

• + Designed especially for marketplace creation.

• + Feature-rich, letting members sell and lease both products and services.

• + Reasonable price.

Disadvantages of Sharetribe:

• – Cannot be integrated with existing e-commerce sites.

#9 X-Cart Multi-Vendor

X-Cart is an e-commerce solution that can work for all sizes of business. The Multi-Vendor plugin, sold for $1495, allows you to create a marketplace on X-Cart with all the functionality expected from this kind of platform.

Vendors can control their orders, modify delivery terms, and arrange their products into categories. X-Cart is designed to let the administrator retain complete control over all that happens in their marketplace: you can modify or remove any product on the site, and manage the registration of new vendors.

Advantages of X-Cart Multi-Vendor:

• + Administrator interface lets you keep control over products offered on your site.

• + Vendors can arrange their products into categories.

• + All-round rich functionality.

Disadvantages of X-Cart Multi-Vendor:

• – On the expensive side.

• – Only available on the X-Cart e-commerce content management system.

#10 OpenCart with Multi Vendor / Drop Shipper

Opencart is a relatively little-known open source software solution for creating small and medium-sized e-commerce sites.

To create a marketplace using Opencart you’ll need to use the Multi-Vendor / Drop Shipper extension. It costs $159.90, and provides each vendor with a secure management interface.

Vendors are sent a notification for each order they receive, and payout to vendor is performed automatically once per month. As an open source solution, Opencart requires solid knowledge of coding, so it’s not ideal if you’re a novice wanting to establish a marketplace by yourself.

Advantages of Multi-Vendor / Drop Shipper:

• + Reasonable price.

• + Good notification subsystem.

• + Automated payment management.

Disadvantages of Multi-Vendor / Drop Shipper:

• – Getting used to it can be a steep learning curve.

• – Not suitable for novices.

• – Only works on OpenCart.

#11 IXXO Cart Multi-Vendor

IXXO is a plugin that perfectly integrates with open source solutions like WordPress, Prestashop and Joomla. But IXXO also allows you to create standalone marketplaces.

The price of IXXO varies a lot: depending on the features you choose, it ranges from $295 to $1495.

Vendors get a good deal of freedom, such as the ability to choose their delivery method, set their VAT status, and manage how products are described and their placement on the page.

Payment to vendors can be done via PayPal. Vendors can receive notifications for each new order.

Advantages of IXXO Cart Multi-Vendor:

• + Tight integration with WordPress, Joomla, Prestashop and other environments.

• + Numerous and flexible features.

• + High level of security.

Disadvantages of IXXO Cart Multi-Vendor:

• – Difficult to master, and using it takes some technical skill.

Earn Even More From Your Online Store

So, is it really enough to have a mere online store, where your customers buy things, whether physical or in the form of services? Why not aim higher and win the loyalty of a bigger public by really giving them a cornucopia of choices?

Perhaps you know what’s coming next – yes, that’s just how the biggest online sellers, from Snapdeal and Flipkart to Amazon went about reinventing e-commerce.

The runaway success of these buzzing forums of commerce has turned online retail on its head. Dyed-in-the-wool online sellers and startup kids alike now understand that a multi-vendor model is not just what people are asking for, but what our times demand.

E-commerce investors also understand this, preferring multi-channel business models but showing a particular liking for multi-seller marketplaces.

But what exactly allows an e-commerce store to call itself ‘multi-seller’?

Well, put simply, it’s when you extend your store so that it becomes a platform on which any number of people can sell their products – or services. More vendors means more choice and more customers flocking to the array of available price-brackets, delivery options, and so on.

Why are multi-seller e-commerce platforms receiving so much attention? Well, as any tech entrepreneur knows, innovation is the key to success – and that’s what’s allowing stores that support multiple vendors to pull away from their more traditional competitors.

After all, just look at all the advantages a multi-seller platform can offer:

• Selling an endless variety of things. Each new vendor you add to your store comes with its own range of products. This makes your store just like a thriving physical marketplace where vendors compete to give customers what they’re looking for. No surprise, then, that online stores often see sales multiplying when they go multi-seller.

• Seamless running. Managing an effective store means creating silky-smooth operations that will get the product or service to the customer as quickly as possible. But when you allow multiple vendors onboard, all this – from looking after inventories to updating catalogue listings – becomes their individual responsibility. Meanwhile, healthy competition ensures that only good service can flourish.

• Lower costs. Without the need to maintain the large teams that are demanded when you’re managing your own inventory, your overheads can be dramatically reduced. You can focus on driving your business forward and giving the best support to your customers. And dividing up the work in this way doesn’t just cut costs – it drives up quality and efficiency, too.

• Dump the inventory! The biggest headache in launching an e-commerce business is establishing the physical space to store your stock, and compiling the human resources needed to move it around. These costs can really hold your venture back, especially early on. Letting independent vendors do this work allows multi-seller platforms to focus on being great marketplaces.

• An easy path to additional income. You’ll be doing valuable work on behalf of your vendors, saving them time and resources by providing a great platform for them to sell their goods and services. In return, they’ll be more than happy to pay a commission on the sales they make on your platform – the exact amount can be adjusted according to the type of seller. The arrival of new vendors creates little additional work for you, but with each one comes another source of revenue.

• Be responsible for less, but control more. As a multi-vendor online marketplace you have the ability to pick and choose who can use your platform, and to remove unsuitable vendors at any time. Once a vendor is trading on your platform, it’s up to them to deliver the goods. This frees you from a world of daily hassle, while leaving you in total control of who trades under your ‘roof’.

Of course, none of this would work if there wasn’t an advantage for the vendor. Luckily, there are many:

• – More people see their store; traffic arrives right from the get-go.

• – Less can be spent on marketing, and vendors benefit from the platform’s brand.

• – Far less time and money is spent than would be to set up a store from scratch.

• – The vendor benefits from the knowhow and data gathered by the marketplace.

• – All the technical stuff is taken care of by the management of the marketplace.

• – The vendor can focus on what they do best – offering great products and services.

So, which are the services and industries best placed to benefit from multi-seller platforms?

Well, in fact, virtually every industry vertical out there can enhance its operations with multi-vendor e-commerce. Here are just some of the cases in which this business model fits:

• Selling home-cooked food; multiple chefs and home cooks can offer their dishes. The buyer thus gets to choose from a huge variety of cuisines.

• Chains of food retailers with different locations – they get the ability to give their customers a ‘local’ feel online.

• People in search of doctors and medical professionals – multi-seller platforms let the mind just the right specialist.

• Sending flowers and gifts to other parts of the globe – the gift-giver can choose a store near the recipient’s location.

• Large franchises with multiple locations can add more outlets to a single marketplace.

• Technology products, clothing, cosmetics, and almost any other e-commerce vertical can benefit from the increased choice and competition of multi-seller marketplaces.

• Community and not-for-profit organizations can increase their impact by uniting on a single platform.

With opportunities and advantages like this on offer, the only real question is: “why wait?” The world of multi-seller e-commerce has already proven its worth on a big scale, but there are doubtless still bigger successes to come – here’s to getting out there and tracking them down!

5 Solutions To Create An Uber Or Airbnb In 10 Minutes

There are plenty of ideas that can make a top business, and every top business needs a platform so people could use the service.

There are several services able to help small business to overcome the popularity of Uber and Airbnb. When there is a need to start fast and see where it will take you, use this list to pick a platform. Here are five ideas for every type of business popular in 2019: food delivery, taxi, job offers, sales, etc.

1. TaxiStartup

This is a platform that unites all taxi drivers who don’t have Uber in their country. Let’s be real, Uber was a game changer in the world of services, so it is clear that more and more people want to recreate the experience.

TaxiStartup is a startup from Belarus that connects drivers. Its application has everything you need for a nice ride: geolocation, trip booking, and drivers’ ratings.

It costs more than $150,000 to develop a taxi application for iOS and Android, but TaxiStartup provides a pre-made solution for $299/month. There are several extra features that can be added for an extra price.

It is easy to start with TaxiStartup, no technical team needed to set it up. However, the business depends on this hosting and it can be limiting on business development.

The Freecab and SayTaxi services use the TaxiStartup platform for their business.

2. Sharetribe

Sharetribe was made for creating marketplaces for goods and services like Ebay, Etsy, Drivy, etc.

It is a simple yet powerful platform with fast implementation. Different products, rentals, and service marketplaces can be launched within 24 hours. Sharetribe has two forms: a SaaS version with different customization options, and an open source code version.

Sharetribe costs from $79/month with a free trial month.

It is a perfect platform for startups that want to start a marketplace as soon as possible and don’t have deep technical knowledge.

3. InDemand

This platform offers a SaaS solution for food delivery services, supermarket shopping, house cleaning, transportation, and more. It helps to launch a service marketplace within minutes. It has many handy functions and features, such as control system, the app for delivery, fleet and content management, notifications, and ratings.

InDemand works in 14 countries so far. It costs $119/month with some additional costs for installation and modules customization.

It is an affordable solution for startups but it doesn’t provide access to the code so that can be a headache in the future when the business grows.

4.Contact page, mailing list, and payment gateway

To create a working space for freelance web developers, the Crew (formerly Oomph) uses a contact page on Wufoo, a MailChimp mailing list, and Stripe to process payments. This is a simple combination of available tools to run a business.

It is the easiest way to start a business with already existing tools for a small amount of money. Just think over the combination and get ready to go.

5. Facebook

Facebook is a page where you can offer services and goods without spending money and a lot of time. When Uber got banned in Austin, Texas, the Arcade City started a private group where people could arrange their trips and find a companion to share expenses or to find a driver.

However, there is no possibility to customize the platform or to control a social media-based marketplace at all. It is a good way if you want to start fast with something and see how it goes.

So when an idea for a marketplace pops up, pick one of the solutions from this list to take your startup to life. There are plenty of cheap and fast solutions that don’t need much effort to start and grow.