How to roll out Amazon like multi seller online store in no time

Multi-seller online stores are one of the hottest ecommerce business models. You just have to take a look at your mobile phone and you can find at least half a dozen marketplace apps where you are ordering regularly. Right from getting your everyday supplies to booking healthcare appointments, hailing cabs or ordering food, we are dependent on one marketplace solution or the other. 

To understand the popularity of the all-pervading multi-seller model, let’s check how multi vendor marketplaces perform in terms of purchase share when compared to other channels.

Source: Statista

Source: Digital Commerce 360

There is a clear shift towards buying from multi seller websites. But why is it so? What attracts online shoppers in hoards to these portals having multiple sellers? 

Let us evaluate why there is a buying shift towards multi seller ecommerce sites

Why Do Customers Prefer Online Marketplaces Over Regular Online Stores?

Well, to understand this let’s draw a comparison from the real world. Suppose you plan to go shopping, which place would you prefer to go, a standalone shop or a shopping mall?

The answer is clear, you would prefer a mall anyday. And why not? It offers so many options, so many products and such a range of prices to opt for.

The same logic plays out for online shopping. Online buyers are spoilt for choice while buying on a multi seller online store. They get so many different items on the same platform, have the assurance of the marketplace brand and can compare prices of various products. Also, marketplaces have customer-centric refund and returns policy which goes a long way in building customer trust.

Why Multi Vendor Marketplace Is A Winning Business Model?

We know that multi vendor stores are a proven way to get better traffic, conversions and ROI for your online business.  With the online marketplace having a clear cut advantage over a regular webstore, this business model is gaining popularity.

The model gives a winning edge to business owners due to following reasons:

• No need  to invest in inventory, it is taken care by vendors on your marketplace
• Expand to new markets or product verticals just by onboarding new vendors
• Complete control of what is sold over your multi vendor ecommerce platform
• Easy commission on every order placed on your multi seller portal
• Multiple revenue streams to earn more from your marketplace

With these many advantages, aren’t you convinced to build a marketplace website of your own? You certainly are! So let’s get you started.

Related Read: An Introduction of Indian E-commerce Logistics providers

What is the best solution to build a multi vendor marketplace?

While you might think of building your marketplace website from scratch, this, ideally isn’t the best choice. Writing the code from scratch would require setting up an experienced team of developers and testers. Developing and testing the code end to end would require an iterative development cycle and cost you considerable time and money. 

The overall process will require considerable investment in terms of time and money. Even if one has the resources at their disposal there is no guarantee that they can easily create the perfect multi seller online store suited for your unique requirements.

Building a multi vendor store needs advanced technology and understanding of various live scenarios of such a set up. Even if the development team hired by you is experienced enough they might not have handled all the different cases and scenarios of multi-seller management, accounting, commissions etc.

This means that you will have to fix the issues as and when they crop up rather than having a battle tested solution. Well, this certainly isn’t the ideal scenario. 

So what other alternative does one have?

Turnkey Multi Vendor Ecommerce Platform: The Shortcut To Launch Your Marketplace 

Luckily, you can bypass the tedious process of building a marketplace from scratch and use a modern turnkey solution to get started. StoreHippo is one such marketplace software that helps you  create a multi seller site in no time. 

The comprehensive multi vendor solution is built ground-up on the mobile first principle.  It offers a variety of modules to take care of the end to end functionality of a marketplace set up. You can easily register and onboard vendors and offer them a separate dashboard to manage their business. With the comprehensive vendor ledger at your disposal  you can take care of commissions, payouts and other activities on your multi vendor marketplace.

In a nutshell, the StoreHippo marketplace solution gives you a feature-rich, fully-tested and ready to use solution to build, run and grow your business.

Related Read: Top 10 Ecommerce Trends That Will Continue in 2021

How to create multi seller site instantly with StoreHippo

Ready to roll out your own multi vendor marketplace?

StoreHippo makes it easy to launch your vertical, horizontal or service aggregator marketplace. You can also plan a custom marketplace model to disrupt the market with your innovative idea. 

If you already have an online store with us, StoreHippo offers you a no fuss, simple way to convert your existing ecommerce store into a multi-vendor store. You just need to choose the right subscription plan. You can then incorporate the multi-vendor feature and extend your online store into a full-fledged online marketplace.

The advanced features of our backend gives you complete control of vendor management and allows you to set up and moderate vendor and product profiles easily. It keeps you informed by sending email and SMS notifications for every addition, deletion, sale or upgrade of product by the seller. It also offers easy seller ledger management taking away the burden of cumbersome and complicated accounting.

5 simple steps that instantly convert your online store into a multi vendor marketplace like Amazon, Flipkart etc

1. Drop a mail at [email protected] requesting to add marketplace functionality to your online store.
2. One of our team members would contact you to confirm your requirement and brief you about the additional   payment  for activating the feature.
3. As soon as we receive the payment your store will be upgraded and you can create multi seller site instantly.
4. Add sellers from the admin panel and ask the sellers to register.
5. Define the seller ledger rules, commissions etc.

Related Read: 5 tips that bring better traffic and sales from FaceBook to your webstore

That’s it and you are done! Ask your vendors to upload their products and you have a fully functional marketplace. Now, focus on business expansion and earn commissions from multiple sellers using your marketplace.

The exclusive features of StoreHippo multi seller ecommerce platform

Have a look at some of the unique features of StoreHippo that promise to give you an edge over your competitors:

• Mobile first technology allows to tap potential buyers from every channel
• Inbuilt mobile app builder to create your marketplace app at no additional cost
• Easy vendor and product management features give full control over marketplace
• Flawless reporting gives your quick insight into multi vendor ecommerce website business
• Customization and flexibility allow to give the best user experience to your customers
• Headless commerce helps you create multiple customer touchpoints to have an omnichannel presence
• Scalable and extensible multi vendor marketplace platform allows for unlimited expansion
• SEO ready platform allowing better visibility and brand building
• a host of marketing tools to grow your business 
• Completely secure and reliable platform hosted on cloud infrastructure
• Smart technology that gives seamless user experience
• Integrated with 60+ payment gateways and a host of logistics partners
• Go global features like multilingual, multi currency payments etc.
• Full suppose for GST and a powerful tax engine to calculate multi-tier taxes

Conclusion

Multi vendor marketplace is a virtual goldmine for businesses planning to foray online. With the right technology solution and a well laid plan, this business model has the potential to pay rich dividends in the long term. StoreHippo offers a comprehensive marketplace solution along with marketplace apps to build a variety of use cases of B2B and B2C multi vendor online stores.

Ready to explore the amazing features of your very own multi seller online store with StoreHippo? Don’t have a store with us yet? Get started right away by starting your 14-day free trial.