Everybody loves marketplaces, right? We can’t imagine our world without Amazon or Aliexpress anymore. More and more people are using e-commerce stores or platforms to buy anything from groceries to a Dyson. In fact, Amazon can sell more than 4,000 products per minute (!!) in some countries, and this number only increases.
Do these facts say that there is no room for new small players? Absolutely not! You can reach for the stars with your own idea of a marketplace. It is obvious that you have to create a smooth journey for the buyers, but what about the vendors? Even big players lack some facilities and benefits for vendors because their main focus is buyers. But if you don’t treat your vendors well, you can lose your customers as well.
And we have a few obvious and not-so-obvious features that could make your sellers happier. So here we go.
Payments handling
The first and really important thing is the handling of payments. The system should cover it totally and give a supplier the most benefit from it. Also it’s a place where your fee might be applied 😉. Vendors should forget about income management headaches and focus on their businesses.
Clear analytics
It should be easy for sellers to understand what of their products are demanded and what are not. How much they earned. And if it's even worth it to use your marketplace as a selling channel. It should be fair and informative without additional hassling. Being able to export these statistics and play with the numbers outside of the system could also give you a positive karma point from your sellers.
Products management
Adding and managing products must not be a pain in the neck. Help your sellers add them quickly, emphasize all the benefits, and kick it off to the storefront ASAP. Don’t force people to fill out hundred-field-long forms to add a single product. It’s really annoying. It should be like a game: click here, save there, and boom, you've got your first sale. Everybody is happy.
Having the ability to connect to some third-party product management systems might also be a plus. Because a seller could have a few sales channels and might want to manage products from the one place
Promotional tools
If anybody wants to promote their products, why not let them do this? It could be another source of income instead of fees increasing. Often, vendors want to get a better listing position for some specific periods, and everybody can win in this case. But you should be careful with the balance. A group of sellers who take all the promotional opportunities and don't give a chance to the rest of the sellers might appear.
Fair and obvious listing
Let the business work, and it will balance itself. So all the sellers should understand how products and vendor listings work. If a product of good quality has a higher rating in reviews and many purchases, it definitely meets customers needs better and should be listed higher than other products. So your suppliers should understand that they should pursue the quality of their goods to get more sales.
Give an opportunity to newbies
If a seller doesn’t have any sales or reviews yet due to being newly registered, do they deserve a chance not to stay in the shadow of well-rated players? Yes, they do! The competition for customers attention may be tough. And if you support newly created vendors to let them show their full potential, you will get more loyal suppliers.
Flexible fees
It might be a good idea to have a few different tiers for your vendors. Everybody has different sizes of businesses and might be treated personally. It might vary in the amount applied per sale, for different subscriptions, or for any other fee flexibility you can provide. It’s up to you.
Allow to develop customers loyalty
Many big marketplaces lack this feature, and you could benefit from it. Allow your providers to make stronger connections with their customers and develop their loyalty. By the end, you will have recurring purchases, better-quality goods, and a stable seller. Win-win again 😊
As a conclusion
Even huge marketplaces could underestimate sellers satisfaction with the system. But they deserve more. Because not only buyers make this marketplace business sustainable, but the natural balance between buyers and sellers. Both of these groups are your customers, and they should be respected and served well.
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