What Is a Marketplace?

How will a marketplace help me grow my bottom line?

You can increase revenue without spending on additional inventory, warehouses, or shipping, because you are not stocking the additional products that sellers add to your site. You make a commission on the products sold by your marketplace sellers and increase site traffic for products you do stock.

How will I be able to track the impact my marketplace is having on my e-commerce?

You will be able to track your marketplace e-commerce performance within the MarketPush technology. You can also pull reports from the MarketPush technology into a business intelligence suite.

How do marketplace administrators manage supplier pricing?

Pricing models for marketplaces depend on the underlying business model. MarketPush can work with you to explore different pricing models, and their impact. Our technology gives marketplace operators complete control over whichever pricing model they choose.

How can a marketplace help to alleviate supply-chain shortages, which are directly impacting my customers?

A marketplace provides greater access to suppliers and inventory because you are not limited to the constraints of a core supplier model (e.g., inventory, warehousing, core legal agreements, long acceptance criteria). Some marketplaces work with suppliers to create “low-inventory” agreements, in which marketplace supplier distributors back-fill low inventory for the marketplace..

I’ve heard that the beauty of a marketplace is you don’t need to carry added inventory. How does that work exactly?

You onboard manufacturers, resellers, or distributors with the product lines you’d like your customers to access. As part of your marketplace terms of service agreement, that seller will then list the product offerings they’d like to sell on your site and commit fully to shipping it to the end customer directly from their warehouses after an order is placed. They choose the price by configuring the shipping settings within your marketplace technology, and use their own packing materials and shipping carriers to move the product to its ultimate destination.

How scalable is my marketplace? Are there limits to the technology?

The beauty of a marketplace is that anything that can be done with traditional e-commerce can be done on your marketplace. This includes product configuration, BOMs, custom builders, design services, rentals, installation and assembling services, and quoting tools. The purpose of the marketplace is to create new possibilities for exposure and revenue. We expect to see even more use cases in distribution, as marketplaces continue to grow in popularity.

Some limitations may occur outside of the technology — for example, the product information that sellers make available. Consider this factor when you are vetting sellers and the products they choose to sell on your site.

In what ways can a marketplace help me expand my customer base, perhaps to new markets?

The ability to test out adjacent markets is a huge benefit of a marketplace. You can do this essentially risk-free by adding sellers and products you would not typically offer, without needing to purchase and stock their inventory. If it goes well, you might grow that market within your site. If not, no real loss is incurred.

Can a marketplace help me diversify my portfolio?

Yes, one of the core values of a marketplace is that it allows for the diversification of suppliers and products, widening access to new markets, buyers, and solutions.

Can a marketplace help my Google rankings?

A marketplace with more suppliers and products, and all the accompanying information, is crawled by Google. As a result, your Google rankings will improve.

I’ve heard a lot about millennial buyers. How would a marketplace help me capture a greater percentage of this demographic?

Millennial buyers are much more likely than traditional buyers to do their research and make purchases online. A well-run marketplace provides millennial buyers with more suppliers and products to consider and compare in one place.

Today, 97% of millennials actively use marketplaces to make purchases. They have a strong preference for the digital marketplace buying experience, and that translates into their work for those who hold positions in the B2B purchasing divisions.

Do marketplaces create more opportunities for upsells (e.g., “You may also like this”)?

Marketplaces provide for more cross-selling, upselling, and kitting of solutions (e.g., different products creating one solution). Having more suppliers and products gives buyers more options and reduces the number of “zero option” scenarios.

Are marketplaces only product-based?

Marketplaces can have multiple offering models, including services such as bidding, to build out a solution for a buyer.

Are there enhanced finding tools that can be built into the marketplace?

Yes, MarketPush provides multiple types of product-finding tools, including configurators, product builders, quoting tools, search tools, and wizards.