Top advantages of running a multivendor B2C marketplace

1. Introduction

“The only option better than a multi-vendor e-commerce marketplace to showcase all your products and offerings and grow your business, is a multi-vendor e-commerce marketplace that is promising and is talked about more often.”

The age of smartphones, technology, internet and online ordering has completely dawned upon us in the twenty first century. What has appeared upon us consumers lately, and even more persistently, is our growing interaction and experience with multi-vendor e-commerce hyperlocal platforms.

So, what does that say about our behavior as contemporary consumers?

In the real sense of it, we all have been silently ‘technified’, to say the least. Well, you read that right. We all are ‘technified’, meaning we have been made to adapt to the technological changes and transitions, from time to time, either partially or completely, and thus technology now dictates our behavior, both as businesses and consumers.

But does that technification of both of us, businesses and consumers, provide mutual gains to us or not? It certainly, does. Perhaps, that is why the world of online delivery and multi-vendor B2C marketplace is getting humongous by the day.

The year 2020 saw a surge in ordering of online products and services due to Covid-19, thereby leading many e-commerce business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs to start exploring their own online multi-vendor B2C marketplace. It is pertinent to note that since the beginning of 2020, over 1150 marketplaces have emerged worldwide.

Holding onto the e-commerce marketplace, various multi-vendor and B2C marketplace software are making their presence felt and craved for, by all the established businesses as well as individual entrepreneurs and startups. Through the B2C marketplace software, not only the businesses are economically benefitted but consumers too are satisfied.

So, does that say it out loud and clear that hyperlocal multi-vendor marketplaces are a thing of not just the present, but future too?

In the recent few years, the world has witnessed the growth of existing marketplaces skyrocket, while more traditional e-retailers have partnered with marketplaces or launched their own platform. A case in point is of the popular denim retailer Madewell that came into a partnership with online consignment marketplace thredUP to sell a selection of pre-owned jeans.

While new partnerships and marketplaces have undeniably sprung up, existing marketplaces have seen phenomenal trend in growth. Walmart’s marketplace, for example, reported that the number of sellers on its platform more than doubled in July 2020, adding more than 50,000 new sellers since July 2019. Further, some experts predict that B2C marketplace sales worldwide could reach an estimated $3.5 trillion by 2024.

Let us see as to what a multi-vendor marketplace is and what factors are driving the expansion and adoption of a multi-vendor B2C marketplace.

2. Gainful Insights On A Multi-Vendor B2C Marketplace: How Do They Work?

A multi-vendor B2C marketplace is a platform that provides power to businesses to partner with multiple vendors or sellers in order to sell products from a single storefront. This allows the vendor to have a substantial base of customers who are ready to buy their offerings.

Moreover, the shoppers get the option to choose from a massive collection of product catalog. It is possible because a multi-vendor marketplace has the support of technical infrastructure to provide listings and sale of plethora of products that span an extensive range of categories through several vendors.

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The multi-vendor marketplace platform works as provided below-

1. A seller finds for itself an online multi-vendor B2C marketplace platform to make its products and merchandise available to the market.
2. The seller then registers its business as a vendor on the online marketplace platform.
3. When it is done, the vendor/seller is said to have come onboard with its marketplace owner/delivery partner and a dashboard is assigned to them so as to list and manage their products.
4. Now, when a customer orders a product from the vendor, the platform processes the payment and sends the order to the vendor.
5. The vendor then prepares and packs the ordered product and ensures the shipment reaches the customer as quickly as possible.
6. The marketplace owner charges a small percentage of commission, depending on the marketplace revenue model, and credits the rest of the sale amount to the vendor.
7. The marketplace owner further focuses on onboarding additional vendors to grow their product catalogue.
8. The vendor focuses on growing store sales to increase their profits and chances of economic growth.
9. Any complaints about faulty products can be conveyed to the vendor or the marketplace owner, following which the seller usually replaces the product.

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3. Factors Driving The Growth Of Multi-Vendor B2C Marketplace

A multi-vendor B2C marketplace follows the ‘bandwagon effect’, meaning with each passing day, the hyperlocal marketplaces are attracting even greater popularity. And there are substantial reasons and numerous factors for its steady growth. Several of them are mentioned below-

• Smartphone adoption and internet penetration: This is in fact one of the fundamental reasons why multi-vendor B2C marketplaces have picked up pace. With smartphone adoption and internet penetration touching new figures every day, the global users find it easy to sit back and enjoy the utilities of a hyperlocal marketplace.

• Growing digitalization and automation: Internet penetration and the need to go digitalized has left a large section of the global market automated. As and by business processes continue to get digitalized, an increased call for more automation comes into consideration. Now with businesses adopting more automated techniques in their operations as far as their online presence is concerned, the hyperlocal delivery industry is becoming a lucrative destination for start-ups and growing businesses.

• Presence of big players: Some noteworthy hyperlocal delivery companies have brought a revolution in the e-commerce delivery space viz a viz Swiggy, Dunzo, GrubHub, Grofers, etc. Their mere presence in an industry that is wonderfully flourishing catches the attention of other companies, too. This makes it a favorite destination for many.

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• Ease of conducting business: With the coming into being of B2C marketplace software, the hyperlocal delivery industry has been steadily moving up. Businesses with the help of a hyperlocal delivery app are able to neatly sort their products & services thereby making businesses simple to operate & easy to run.

• No inventory management: From the perspective of a hyperlocal delivery company, running an online marketplace requires no inventory. This is why it is also often called as a ‘zero-inventory platform’. The delivery company just acts as a bridge between the sellers and the buyers and hence has no liability of holding the inventory. This has pushed companies offering e-commerce marketplace solutions to businesses to get into the multi-vendor hyperlocal delivery industry.

• Infinite possibilities: Several industries limit possibilities for businesses. Contrary to this, the hyperlocal delivery industry has a lot of potential to be unleashed by businesses. Given its adoption rate among businesses and consumers across the world, it is not stopping anytime soon. The industry is highly promising and hence more and more businesses are willingly laying their hands onto it.

• Sedentary consumer habits: Transforming lifestyles have its sets of changes to deal with. The growing sedentary habits of consumers has pushed the need for ‘convenient’ delivery orders at their doorsteps. This has kept the hyperlocal delivery partners on its toes. Perhaps, this is a contributing reason as to why this industry has picked up pace, in the last few years.

• Covid19: Attribute it to the pandemic, year 2020 saw people getting locked in their homes and finding ways of food and other essential household items safely reaching their homes. Had it not been for safety and convenience, the delivery statistics wouldn’t have been as much as they are today. Covid19, therefore, to a certain extent has significantly contributed to the growth of multi-vendor B2C marketplaces.

• Need for online business expansion: Many businesses venture into an industry in order to expand their area of operations. The multi-vendor B2C marketplace, by virtue of its character to provide multi-vendor marketplace solutions to businesses, attracts a lot of businesses regardless of the industry they are in, viz a viz food or restaurant businesses, groceries, medical supplies, stationary items, etc. Since the marketplace promises growth, many businesses try to make an entry in order to grow and expand themselves.

4. Advantages Of Running A Multi-Vendor B2C Marketplace

Some of the benefits associated with having a multi-vendor B2C marketplace are as follows-

• Access to multiple products: As the nomenclature ‘multi-vendor’ reveals, its marketplace is home to multiple vendors resulting in having a variety of products under one roof. This allows customers a plethora of products to choose from and provides ease of access to them which results in increased sales and profits for the business in B2C marketplace.

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• Cost efficient: Selling through a multi-vendor B2C marketplace is a cost-efficient option for businesses as it allows them to sell their products efficiently to a much larger segment of the market. The operations of a multi-vendor marketplace platform are better streamlined to bring cost efficiencies. They also go hand in hand as sellers are better able to sell their products to an increasing number of customers.

• Draws a large traffic: Multi-vendor marketplaces, by virtue of their growing character, are able to find a massive influx of users on their platform on a regular basis. As and by they have become popular, they have drawn immense traffic. Increased traffic means increased visibility for the business therefore, resulting in improved chances of achieving sales and growth figures.

• Scalability: Multi-vendor B2C marketplaces are highly scalable; meaning that they have great possibilities in store. Since the costs accrued to managing a multi-vendor marketplace are not much and a large number of sellers and buyers are naturally drawn towards them, their chances of scalability are higher than any brick-and-mortar business.

• Few financial risks: Operating a marketplace is easier in the sense that several marketplace owners do not have an inventory to manage. They just act as a bridge between the vendor and buyer, thereby, reducing the risk of managing a complete inventory base. Besides, financial risks for vendors are also reduced as they have increased chances to sell through multi-vendor B2C marketplace platforms than any traditional physical store thereby helping ease their financial burden of managing and warehousing the unsold inventory.

• Provides customized experiences: By marking its presence in the multi-vendor marketplace, businesses can also provide customized experiences to their sets of customers. For instance, your marketing or delivery efforts can be aimed at a specific niche or a particular category of customers in a certain geographic area, while for others it may be accordingly, different. Processes like data analytics, etc help in bringing more personalized experiences.

• Digital first consumerism: Digitalization has picked up pace so much so that it has become a lifestyle component for many. In the world of digital consumerism, multi-vendor marketplaces have become the first stop for product searches and discovery. According to eMarketer, 53% of U.S. adults said they began product searches on Amazon when planning to make a digital purchase. The wide array of product options in marketplaces make it convenient for consumers to find the products of their need and choice and uncover the best prices before making a purchase. Moreover, as digital shopping trends continue to gain pace and climb, so has the need for consumer reviews as part of the purchasing journey. Marketplaces, by virtue of their widespread global presence, make it easy to read the opinions, feedbacks and experiences of other consumers prior to making a purchase.

• Improved business decision making: Because such platforms are technology driven and highly automated, they provide access to features like- having a detailed dashboard of customer statistics, number of visits, customer preferences, customer searches, etc. in fact, they offer a categorical set of data about customers. All this enables businesses to make more informed business choices, an advantage that is denied to many.

5. Why Is A Multi-Vendor B2C Marketplace The Best Solution For Contemporary Businesses And Customers?

A multi-vendor marketplace can turn out to be the perfect solution for people who are busy as a beaver and who want to avoid the hassle of shopping physically. It is a one-stop shop for buying products of their need. Moreover, by enabling online purchase transactions, a multi-vendor marketplace saves a customer’s valuable time, offers them a large variety of products to choose from, thereby making it a bang for your buck.

From the perspective of a vendor, getting onboard with such platforms can be the most viable and a profitable option because the marketplace gives them a larger audience to sell their products and thus eliminates the need to develop and maintain a web solution from scratch.

It is a great option for small businesses/e-commerce newcomers/aspiring entrepreneurs to get acquainted with the multi-vendor hyperlocal delivery industry as soon as possible and successfully reach out and trade in the global market.

Because, even though an average thinking business might not realize, with each passing zeptosecond, it is losing a fierce battle of which it is not even aware or treated to be a part of.

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So, would you prefer being brought down on your knees by the competitors onboard, even though when you choose not to fight that battle?

Would you try coming onboard a multi-vendor B2C marketplace platform, and prefer showing your business’ might to outcompete all those who, when you didn’t start, apparently seemed to be influencing and dominating the marketplace? The decision is all yours to make. But it is wise to remember the following saying that is less popular but is often correct- “Better never than late.”

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