How to Check the Flexibility of an Ecommerce Marketplace Website Builder

An online marketplace is a virtual goldmine. But are all marketplaces successful? 

Well, not all marketplaces strike gold.

A successful multi vendor marketplace requires careful planning, strategic execution, and a deep understanding of the target audience.

Also, building a successful marketplace necessitates finding the perfect software to support long-term, sustainable growth. Traditional approaches to store setup or choosing the wrong store builders can limit your growth and leave you with a rigid business model that cannot adapt to market dynamics.

Inflexible features can restrict everything - right from design creativity to business flow. As your business grows and expands, adding new functionalities can become increasingly challenging. This can hurt your marketing efforts and customer experience.

But with so many ecommerce marketplace website builders, how to get it right? 

With so many ecommerce marketplace website builders available, it can be overwhelming to choose the right one. 

The best solution then is to analyze the latest trends in ecommerce and ask your solution provider some simple questions to know if this is the one you are looking for. 

Let’s dive in and study the trends first.

Key Features To Look For In Your Ecommerce Marketplace Website Builder

Marketplace websites have garnered immense popularity in the past decade. Online buyers as well as enterprise businesses prefer the business model that offers variety and convenience of buying all on one single platform.

Here are a few trends highlighting the growing popularity of ecommerce website builders and the features buyers look for in their marketplaces:

• $8.7 trillion of sales forecasted via multi vendor marketplaces by 2025
• 62% of global online retail sales come through online marketplaces
• 48% of retail buyers begin their purchase journey directly on a marketplace website
• 75% of frequent online buyers wish their favorite retailers had marketplaces 
• 250% higher purchase frequency on omnichannel vs. single-channel brands
• 22%-30% higher sales lead on average for ecommerce brands offering multilingual content to their buyers
• 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase a brand that provides personalized experiences
• 28% of online businesses plan to expand internationally want to build a multi-store marketplace
• 38% higher revenue for companies managing multiple stores as compared to those with a single store

Source: Statista, McKinsey, Forbes

Well the trends clearly indicate that marketplaces are a much loved business model and building personalized marketplaces with multi channel presence  can be your enterprise’s ticket to success.

How to Check the Flexibility of an Ecommerce Marketplace Website Builder 

Here are a few questions to help you determine if your multi vendor solution offers the flexibility you need to build tailored solutions for your enterprise:

1. Can you Customize Themes as Per Your Niche?

Your jewellery multi-vendor store should look like one, not something that appears to be created for utensils or confectionery business. One way that makes customers get a feel of your niche is through the overall store design. 

A simple and straightforward theme that speaks for itself can do wonders for your brand. But at the same time, it should be relevant and functional. 

A good design means customers can; 

• Immediately understand what your business represents
• Find relevant products using the search buttons
• Easily navigate from one page to another
• Locate reviews, write testimonials, leave comments
• Checkout easily on your online marketplace
• Connect to your brand and engage with it

StoreHippo ecommerce marketplace website builder comes with a rich theme library and drag-and-drop features. You can change, mix or match various designs to suit the needs of your multi vendor marketplace. At the same time, you can enhance customers’ browsing experience through custom widgets, search filters, and more. StoreHippo also offers multilingual support for themes. 

2. Can you Create Unique Business Flows?

A multi-vendor business is a complex model that involves three different parties - the owner, the vendors, and the customers. Also, each vendor module can have various kinds of flows depending upon whether;

• It is a niche model selling one specific line of products
• It is a horizontal structure selling a range of items
• A service aggregator platform 

Whatever the case, you need specific admin and vendor dashboards to enable the owner to have complete control over the online marketplace and sellers have total freedom to add, edit, or manage their inventories and products. 

StoreHippo ecommerce marketplace website builder provides a systematic business flow under which you can have;

• Individual vendor and admin dashboards
• Separate seller pages
• Systematic approval flow
• Product and inventory management
• Commission set up

These features ensure that your multi-seller model is transparent and helps vendors to gain trust. It also helps you create an organized business process eliminating chaos, inventory or payment confusion, and helps your multi vendor marketplace deal with returns from customers. 

Along with this, StoreHippo comes with extensible entities that can be tweaked to create your unique flows. The headless, API-based architecture and microservices enable enterprise brands to create their own multi vendor marketplace ecosystem easily.

3. Can you Tweak Content in Different Languages?

Do you know that the lack of a localized interface could be one of the main reasons your customers abandon you and turn towards another brand at the very first click? 

If you think that English-speaking customers dominate the internet, then for digital shopping, this is not the case. Day by day, more and more people from across the world are relying on online marketplaces, and not all of them speak English! 

A survey conducted by Common Sense Advisory reflected that 56% of respondents prefer reading the information in their native language. Hence, it is quite clear that if you want to drive more traffic to your multi-vendor store, then you need to speak to your audience in their local language. 

Perhaps, that is why StoreHippo’s multilingual feature is so important! The software allows you to translate your content into 100+ different languages along with auto-translation features. With our ecommerce marketplace website builder, you get bulk translations with CSV support. 

4.  Can you Create Multiple Location-Based Sub-Stores?

An enterprise business that personalized its offerings with diverse catalogs, pricing, and discounts for various geographical locations is always the first choice of customers. Providing location-based tailored sub-stores helps your business expand its growth and conversions across various untapped markets.  For instance, if you run a confectionary multi vendor marketplace, and you have not built location-based sub stores, it would be good to have multiple stores that give your customers exactly what they want.

Here are some unique advantages of having sub-stores for your business:

• Easily offer diverse catalogs by onboarding location-based vendors
• Experiment with different product-market mixes
• Implement different marketing strategies on each store
• Offer personalized checkouts and shipping solutions for each stores
• Analyze rich data collected on different stores for making strategic business decisions

To reap these benefits your business needs a next-gen ecommerce marketplace website builder that can easily create location-based multiple sub-stores for your multi vendor marketplace.

StoreHippo with 360-degree enterprise ecommerce solutions offers comprehensive multi store ecommerce solutions for your enterprise multi vendor marketplace. With StoreHippo you can build unique storefronts for diverse locations. Using the StoreHippo platform you can create multiple-location-based substores, each with unique URLs, store design, catalogs, etc.  You can onboard local vendors on each of these sub-stores.d You also get a common admin to centrally manage your ecommerce marketplace and oversee your vendors’ activities.

5. Can you Build an Omnichannel Presence? 

With customers present across multiple channels, adding multiple touchpoints to your online marketplace is no longer a choice but a necessity. If customers don't find your business on their preferred sales channels, they will quickly move to your competitors' websites.

With increasing mobile phone penetration, where 80% of online transactions are done through mobile devices, having a dedicated mobile app for your multi-vendor marketplace is a boon. To expand your business and reach customers on different channels, going omnichannel is the solution.

This is what going omnichannel means for your multi vendor marketplace:

• Your business offers multiple touchpoints to customers
• Your multi vendor marketplace has mobile apps and PWAs
• Your enterprise business can direct customers from your brand’s social pages to your marketplace website  
• You can make any new customer touchpoint commerce-enabled i.e- add a buy button for your customers

StoreHippo offers next-gen omnichannel solutions to expand your business growth across various sales channels. StoreHippo ecommerce marketplace website builder is built on headless architecture that enables you to add new touchpoints using the same backend logic and APIs. Also, built on mobile-first technology and offers built-in app builders. When you build your enterprise ecommerce marketplace on StoreHippo, you can create Android and iPhone apps for your website without any coding . Additionally, you can also convert your website to PWA stores to attract potential customers from low internet connectivity areas.

6. Can you Offer Customers Flexible Payment Options?

Digital discoveries have left customers with various options to make their payments once they are at your store. Depending upon the modes of payments, you can categorize your customers as those with;

• COD Support
• e-wallets Options
• Credit and debit card Payments

Knowing the percentage of customers within each category will help you learn your customers’ preferred mode of payment. It will also be effective in crafting marketing strategies for your online marketplace. Like for instance, if the majority of your customers use e-wallets, you can announce discounts and coupon codes revolving around it. 

One important thing to look for in an online website builder is its ability to provide maximum options of payments to your customers. StoreHippo integrates your multi-seller store with several payment gateways from all across the world. Through our multi vendor marketplace solution, you can also generate flexible invoice templates for your online marketplace, come up with custom quotes, and accept payments in different currencies to create opportunities for global trade. 

7. Can you Expand the reach of your e-commerce marketplace to Global Markets?

With $8.148 trillion forecasted revenue from international ecommerce by 2026 (source: Global market estimates),  taking your enterprise website to global markets can do wonders for your business. Choose an ecommerce marketplace website builder that offers advanced solutions to expand your enterprise marketplace into cross-border geographies.

Expanding your multi-vendor marketplace for a global audience means:

• Customers can browse your website in their native language
• You have country specific vendors for each international geo-location
• Your website is integrated with multiple local and international payment gateways
• You have a pool of integrated international shipping partners for smooth cross-border deliveries
• Customers can make payments in their country’s currency

You should be looking for an ecommerce marketplace website builder that offers all the features to incorporate the above features in your marketplace. StoreHippo multi vendor ecommerce platform comes with comprehensive go-global features to help you take your business to global markets. 

When you build your multi vendor marketplace with StoreHippo, you can add 100+ local and international languages to your multi vendor website. StoreHippo’s automated translation tool helps you provide global customers with content in their native language. StoreHippo offers multiple international payment gateways and logistics solutions to acquire, engage, and convert global customers. StoreHippo also supports payments in multiple currencies and offers a powerful tax engine to implement country-based taxes. With all these tools at your disposal you can set up your brand to thrive in the global market

8. Can you Cater to Various Shipping Needs?

Logistics holds considerable importance for digital shopping. Your online marketplace success can be defined by how well you serve and retain your customers through timely and appropriate delivery. 

A lot of aspects including product handling, packaging, billing, inventory management, etc are part of the logistics experience you provide to your customers. But its significant impact lies in how well you deliver goods to the doorstep. 

StoreHippo ecommerce marketplace website builder caters to this need by offering 30+ pre-integrated shipping partners. You can extend your shoppers, facilities such as real-time tracking, partial fulfilments, and so on. You can also enhance your customers shopping experience by tieing up with different carriers to optimize your delivery timings and minimize costs. 

Besides, StoreHippo comes with built-in tools that help you with bulk order uploads, systematic logistics flow, and scheduled pickups. 

StoreHippo Ecommerce Marketplace Website Builder - Helping you Create a Flexible Multi-Seller Store

Choosing a flexible enterprise ecommerce platform helps your business reach new customers and increase conversions. In this ever-changing ecommerce landscape, every business needs a technologically advanced and flexible solution that helps their multi vendor marketplace align with changing marketing dynamics.

StoreHippo with 300+ enterprise-grade features and 120+ built-in integrations, helps you achieve next-level flexibility for your location-based multi vendor marketplace. Using StoreHippo-powered enterprise solutions, you can add multiple touchpoints to your enterprise marketplace. StoreHippo offers built-in mobile app builders that enable you to create Android and iOS apps. It also offers built-in apps for vendors, delivery boys, and admin. 

Thanks to the headless architecture, you can tweak your multi vendor marketplace inside out and build tailored solutions for your business. StoreHippo’s ecommerce marketplace website builder also comes with native support for a  variety of business models like B2B, D2C, B2C , B2B2C, hyperlocal commerce or any other hybrid business model of your choice.

Built on API-based architecture, StoreHippo helps you easily integrate your online marketplace with your preferred tools and software. With a gamut of built-in marketing tools for your business, StoreHippo enables your business to hack growth with strategic marketing. 

Conclusion

Equipped with modern-day tools and features, StoreHippo multi vendor marketplace marketplace website builder is a technologically advanced and auto-upgradable platform that provides your business with the flexibility it deserves. 

Using a gamut of comprehensive features offered by StoreHippo’s Ecommerce marketplace website builder, you can create your desired vendor module and build a systematic workflow process. This ensures that your primary goal- gaining customer satisfaction and earning credibility is achieved. 

Checkout StoreHippo’s flexible features with a 14-day free trial store or drop us a line below to know more.