How to Successfully Launch Your Own White Label Marketplace

If the idea of launching your white label marketplace has long been on your brand’s to-do list, this is the time to consider the launch on a priority basis. 

Wonder why?

For starters, the current ecommerce landscape is poised for innovation and expansion. 

Secondly, buyers actively seek the convenience and diversity offered by marketplaces, presenting an ideal scenario to solidify your branding and market presence with your white label marketplace.

Need some facts and figures to validate your idea.

Here we go;

• $6.3 trillion spent globally on online marketplaces in 2023
• $8.7 trillion is the expected sales on multivendor marketplaces by 2025
• 35% of online businesses have switched to a multi vendor marketplace by 2023
• 48% buyers prefer going straight to a marketplace website when shopping online
• 62% of global online retail sales come through online marketplaces
• 75% of frequent online buyers wish their favorite retailers had marketplaces 
• 94% of b2B buyers use online marketplaces to source prodcuts/services
• 75% of B2B procurement spending is projected to happen via an online marketplace within the next five years

Source: Digital Commerce 360, Finextra, Bain & Co., Accel Partners, Gartner

Well the stats clearly underline that the marketplace model is the recipe for success for brands planning to solidify their market presence. With buyers flocking to marketplaces, adopting and implementing the marketplace model is a strategic move aligned with strategic growth for brands.

What is a White Label Marketplace?

A white label marketplace is an online multi vendor website built and customised by an enterprise brand using the technology, services and tools provided by a third-party marketplace software provider. The enterprise brand can customize the multi seller software according to its unique requirements and re-brand as its own software solution. Such a rebranded software is commonly known as a “white-label marketplace software”.

So, in the context of a white label online marketplace the complete tech infrastructure is provided by one company and the products and services sold on the marketplace website are offered by another enterprise business.

The enterprise business ( selling the products and services online) brands the tech services and the online marketplace solution in the name of its brand. To the end customer, the services and products as well as the tech infrastructure appear to be custom-made by the enterprise marketplace brand from whom they are buying.

For example, StoreHippo provides SaaS marketplace software for enterprise businesses. Brands can use StoreHippo’s enterprise marketplace software and re-brand it for their brand name by using the whitelabelling feature offered by StoreHippo. 

Roles and Responsibilities of A White Label Marketplace Brand and Its Marketplace Solution Provider 

Here is how the roles and responsibilities are shared in the context of a white label marketplace software between the user business and the service provider.

White label marketplace software makes it easy for enterprise businesses to digitise and modernise their sales channel while still having their branding across all communication channels. Leveraging the battle-tested solutions developed by expert marketplace software builders enables the enterprise brand to focus on its core competencies and strategies for business growth.

What are the benefits of using a White Label Online Marketplace Software?

When enterprises use a marketplace solution developed by a third-party provider and rebrand and customise it as per their requirements they not only build a future-ready marketplace website but also get many other benefits. 

Here is why enterprise brands should opt for a white label marketplace platform to launch their multi seller marketplace:

Time and Cost Savings

Turnkey marketplace solutions come loaded with features and are battle-tested under various live scenarios. Since enterprise brands do not need to build the marketplace from scratch it saves a lot of time and budget involved in development, design, and testing.

Customization and Branding

White label online marketplace solutions are designed for easy customizations and quick branding. This makes it easy for enterprises to build their tailored solutions by tweaking the frontend and backend of the SaaS marketplace builder.

Advanced marketplace solutions usually come with easy design tools which make it easy for enterprise brands to add their logo, color scheme, and other branding elements to white label the marketplace platform and make it look like their brand’s bespoke solution.

Quick Go-To-Market

Turnkey multivendor marketplace solutions which can be rebranded significantly reduce the go-to-market time and quicken the launch time for brands. Going to market faster gives a competitive advantage to brands.

Freedom to Choose Best Software

Thanks to the competition to outpace other solution providers, each white label marketplace software provider keeps its solutions updated with market trends and brands get a plethora of choices to choose the best-fit technology and service provider for their business.

Scalability

Future-ready multi seller solutions, especially the white label SaaS marketplace are inherently scalable and designed to accommodate business growth. This saves enterprise brands from performance issues or ecommerce migration pains.

Future-Proof Business

White label software providers have the experience and expertise to handle a variety of use cases. They are constantly updating and upgrading their solutions to suit the needs and requirements of a variety of clients across industries. 

This exposure to different use cases makes a white label marketplace platform future ready and enterprise brands get the latest technology solutions to disrupt the market.

Rich Feature Set

Since white label marketplace platforms have a wide clientele they come with a gamut of feature set that not only incorporate features to run the marketplace but also offer integrations, marketing solutions and payment and logistics solutions to streamline the business end-to-end. 

Easy to Experiment and Innovate

Since turnkey marketplaces have a host of features built-in to cater to a vast clientele it becomes easy for enterprises using these platforms to experiment, innovate and pivot to new hybrid business models.

Maintenance and Support

Fully-hosted white label SaaS marketplace solutions come with ongoing maintenance     and support which means that the enterprise brands keep getting an up-to-date, feature-rich and secure solution.

Reduced Risk of Outages/Security Breach

Since turnkey white label marketplace platforms are already used and tested by diverse clientele they come with features like peak load tolerance, multi-level security and built-in security features to ensure security and access roles within different teams of an enterprise brand. 

Such security features protect the business and its sensitive data from malware and security breaches. 

Among the various ready-to-use marketplace solutions, SaaS marketplace builders are best suited for enterprise brands as they offer inherent flexibility, scalability and security needed for modern, high-volume, fast-growing businesses.

Which type of businesses are best suited for using white label multivendor marketplace software?

A variety of businesses can use the marketplace solutions and white label them as per their requirements. 

Here are some businesses that can benefit the most by building their white label marketplace website:

Dealer-Distributor-Based B2B Wholesale Enterprises

B2B wholesale brands can build their white label marketplace, onboard their dealers-distributors and standardize, digitize and modernize their sales channels by rebranding a turnkey multi seller software.

D2C Businesses

D2C brands can set up their white label marketplace website to sell their products directly to end buyers thus bypassing the middlemen.

Multi-Location Franchise Stores

Franchise businesses can leverage white label marketplaces solution to onboard each location-specific store as a seller to the marketplace platform. Franchisees can maintain brand consistency and showcase and sell their products or services.

Hospitals and Diagnostic Chains

Healthcare and diagnostics brands can create a branded marketplace solution to connect all stakeholders on a common platform to offer telemedicine services, appointment scheduling, and sell health-related products. Offering a digital central platform will help these brands grow their reach and offer better services to patients. 

Hospitality and Tourism Businesses

Enterprise businesses such as hotels, tour operators, and travel agencies, can benefit by building their white label marketplace and app and sell accommodations, travel packages etc to the travelers and tourists. 

Gift and Flowers Brands 

Gift and flowers brands can bring hyperlocal vendors on their white label marketplace and solidify their brand presence and reach across markets.

Service Aggregator Enterprise Startups

Service aggregator businesses like food delivery, personal care services, cab hailing etc. can also customize marketplace software with their branding and use it for better business management and growth.

Educational Intitutions and EduTech Companies

Educational institutions EduTech brands and  can adopt white label marketplaces for selling courses, educational materials, and merchandise and reach a broader student/professional learner base.

The multi-seller model is versatile and can be adopted easily across industries by enterprise brands. All they need to grow their business is a feature rich white label marketplace platform that is easily customizable, inherently scalable and comes with a gamut of features and tools to take care of end-to-end business requirements.

What are the key features to look for in a White Label Marketplace Ecommerce Software?

While a white-label solution is good for your branding, it is important to choose the right ecommerce software that not only caters to your brand’s current requirements but also takes care of future needs.

Here are key features to consider when evaluating your white label multi vendor marketplace solution:

Cutting Edge Technology

Your marketplace platform should be built on next-gen technology that makes your business future proof. Go for a turnkey platform that is built using headless architecture that gives you better creative control, flexibility and scalability. 

Also, look for mobile-ready solutions and ease of building multiple white labelled touchpoints like PWA sites, marketplace apps, integrations with marketplaces and social media platforms etc. Do look for a solution that comes with a host of built-in features and does not require additional paid apps or plugins to run the marketplace and manage the sellers.

Customization and Branding

The whole reason for going with a white label solution is its ability to let your brand customize their platform inside out and let you match the final marketplace website with your brand identity.

Go for a multi vendor white labelled solution that comes with easily customizable themes, drag and drop feature for quick design changes, scope for rebranding your communication channels etc. 

Scalability

You have to factor in scalability right from the start. Your marketplace platform should have the ability to offer high-performance even when you grow to million of products, sellers, transactions, geo-locations etc. 

White label SaaS marketplaces are most preferred solutions for enterprises planning to go for aggressive growth and high-volume business. 

Use-Friendly Interface for All Parties

A successful marketplace is one where all the corned parties, i.e, the admin(s), sellers and customers find the platform easy to use. Go for a marketplace solution provider that makes it easy for your internal teams, sellers and buyers to use the website for selling, buying and managing their respective businesses. 

Go for a white label marketplace solution that comes with intuitive admin dashboard, easy website navigation and search filters for customers, marketplace app for buyers, separate vendor mobile admin for each seller, a catch all central admin for the admin teams and a smooth learning curve.

Comprehensive Vendor Management Solutions

While white-labelling is the key concern you must not sideline the vendor management solutions offered by the software you are choosing to build and manage your marketplace website. 

Opt for a multi vendor platform that comes with feature-rich vendor management solutions which include, vendor pages, separate vendor admin dashboards, product and order management, shipping management, commissions and payouts as well as an adaptive payment solution to handle multi-seller orders’ payments.

Solutions to Support Different Business Models

Enterprise brands are no longer following a rigid business model. To accelerate their growth and match pace with changing market trends brands need to experiment with a few business models and implement hybrid models that have the potential to disrupt the market. 

To give your enterprise brand the freedom to experiment with hybrid commerce you should look for a marketplace platform that not only builds whitelabel solutions but also supports different business models like B2B, B2C, D2C, B2B2C, hyperlocal ecommerce etc.

Seamless Integrations

Your business and your vendors must be already using many third-party software and service providers for running their daily operations. It is essential that the multi vendor solution you choose seamlessly integrates with your existing ERP, marketing, accounting, delivery, payment and other solutions/software.

Go for a white label online marketplace solution that comes with seamless API-based integrations and enables you to easily integrate with your existing or new software and services.

Security

Building your business on a secure white label platform is important to build seller and buyer trust and to protect sensitive customer and transaction data. 

Go for a marketplace solution incorporating multi-level security measures to ensure robust security. Look for PCI DSS and ISO-compliant white label SaaS marketplace platforms. 

SEO and Marketing Tools

Just building a branded multi seller marketplace is not enough, to make it popular you need a variety of SEO and marketing tools that help you build consistent branding and make your marketplace the most loved website of your buyers.

Check if your chosen white label marketplace website builder gives you an SEO-friendly platform which has built-in marketing tools like a discount engine, abandoned cart recovery, blog engine etc. 

Integrated Payment and Shipping Solutions

Having frictionless payments and streamlined shipping is the key to success of your marketplace brand. Giving your customers a variety of secure payment gateways along with other payment options like net banking, UPI, digital wallets, store wallets etc.  ensures frictionless checkouts and hence more purchases. Similarly streamlining fulfillment makes it easy for your vendors to deliver orders on time thus building brand reputation. 

Go for a white label marketplace solution provider that comes pre-integrated with a  host of payment and shipping solutions and helps you create a distinct brand value. 

Analytics and Reporting

Data is modern-day gold. To make strategic business decisions for your white label marketplace brand you need to have an in-depth understanding of how your products, sellers, and different markets are performing. You also need insights into customer buying behaviour so you can pitch the right products to the right audience and via the best suited channels.  

Opt for a white label marketplace software provider that easily integrates with the best-in-breed analytics and marketing tools and also offers a variety of reports right in the dashboard to keep you on top of the performance of your marketplace business.  

Upgrades and Update

Your relationship with your white label marketplace platform provider goes beyond the launch of your website. As your business grows you will need ongoing technical support so your platform accommodates your growth. With the rapid evolution of technology and business models it's essential that you get regular updates and support from your software provider.

Choose a white label SaaS marketplace provider that periodically upgrades to keep up with changing market trends. Also, ensure you get new features and solutions and do not have to undergo significant disruptions because of these updates and upgrades.

StoreHippo is one such white label marketplace platform that offers 360-degree solutions for building multi seller software for enterprises across industries and geographies. With a comprehensive built-in multi vendor feature and support for multiple business models, StoreHippo is the best choice for enterprise brands planning to build their tailored marketplace website.

Why StoreHippo is the Best White Label Marketplace Platform To Build Your Enterprise Marketplace

In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, your brand needs an ecommerce solution that can set your business apart. While launching a white label marketplace quickly is important to secure your place in the industry, building a future-proof marketplace is also essential for long term success. 

StoreHippo, the leading SaaS-based multi vendor marketplace platform, provides a comprehensive solution to build B2B, B2C, B2B2C, and custom white label online marketplaces across diverse industry verticals. 

With over 300 native features and a mobile-first architecture, StoreHippo enables enterprises to build multi-channel presence without paying additionally for extensions, plugins, or mobile apps. 

Here is what you get while building your white label marketplace software with StoreHippo:

MACH Architecture for Tailored Enterprise Solutions

StoreHippo is built on MACH i.e; Microservices, API-first, Cloud-Native Headless architecture. The advanced architecture gives enterprise brands like yours the flexibility, scalability and creative control to build innovative white label marketplace solutions. 

Thanks to the decoupled headless architecture you can overhaul the backend and frontend without disrupting the complete set-up and design out-of-box solutions to distinguish your brand from competitors.

Engaging and Conversion-Oriented Design

Your marketplace website’s design is your most valuable asset and your invisible salesperson. 

StoreHippo comes with built-in design themes and a rich, device-optimised themes library that helps you design well-crafted, engaging, and conversion-oriented marketplace website to captivate and convert visitors.  

You can use the drag-and-drop design feature, use old designs to mix and match and create new templates, get multilingual support in themes (including RTL languages) and customize existing themes according to the unique requirements of your white label marketplace. 

Mobile Commerce Advantage

This is the era of mobile commerce. 74% of all website visits happen through a smartphone and 73% of orders come via mobile channels ( Source: Statista). 

With such stats, it is imperative to have a well-crafted m-commerce strategy and sales channel in place for your white label marketplace website. StoreHippo is built on mobile-first principles and comes with a built-in mobile app builder that creates Android and iOS apps without any coding. Also, all marketplace websites powered by StoreHippo can be turned into a PWA store which is easily accessible even on poor internet connections. 

StoreHippo also comes with a mobile admin app for the admins, sellers and delivery boys thus taking the complete enterprise business on mobile.

Scalable Cloud Infrastructure

An enterprise aims to accelerate growth and expand to new products, markets and buyer segments. To be able to create a popular brand with a lasting impact, businesses need to have a scalable solution that can support their growth to any number of channels, users or products.

StoreHippo's inherently scalable cloud infrastructure ensures that your marketplace can grow seamlessly as you add products, attract more customers, and increase orders. This provides the flexibility needed to match the fast-paced growth of a white label marketplace business.  

End-to-End Vendor Management Solutions

StoreHippo’s extensive multi-vendor modules do the heavy lifting for you and help you manage your vast vendor network quickly and effortlessly. From onboarding your sellers to setting up their commissions, managing and approving their products/catalogs, payouts, setting vendor level discounts etc., StoreHippo makes it easy to get it all done effortlessly.

With StoreHippo’s well-designed modules, you can navigate the challenges of managing a vast vendor network on your white label marketplace seamlessly using modules that give you a complete overview of your vendor activities.

Separate Vendor Dashboard and Seller Pages

While the admins need to have control over vendor activities it is also essential to give vendors complete freedom to manage their business. Along with this, your vendors also need to have their unique brand positioning on your marketplace website so they can get undivided attention from buyers.

StoreHippo offers a separate vendor dashboard for sellers on your white label multi vendor marketplace so the vendors can manage their complete business independently and in compliance with the rules and policies of your brand. 

StoreHippo also comes with a feature that creates separate seller pages for each seller on your marketplace thus giving them undivided attention and making it easy for loyal customers to go directly to the vendor page for repurchases. 

Flexible Commission and Payout Management Solutions

With a large network of vendors managing commissions and payouts can be a challenge. To streamline vendor commissions and payouts StoreHippo comes with a detailed seller ledger module using which you can set up different percentage or flat commission structures and manage vendor payouts effortlessly. 

You can also customize shipping, payment, and discount options for each vendor, ensuring flexibility in your marketplace. Adaptive payment feature enables you to distribute payment between two or more sellers even when the buyers place a multi seller order on your white label marketplace website.

Going Omnichannel Made Easy

If your business isn’t connecting with your buyers on multiple channels, you are going to give away your loyal buyers to your competitors. But with StoreHippo at your disposal, you need not worry about going omnichannel.

Built on the decoupled headless architecture StoreHippo enables enterprises to use the same backend logic and APIs to build new frontends. With greater creative control and flexibility to build new front ends StoreHippo enables brands to build an omnichannel white label marketplace in no time. 

Seamless Integrations

Seamless integrations are crucial to ensure smooth business flows. StoreHippo’s 300+ APIs make it possible to integrate your brand’s existing software with your brand new white label marketplace.

You can also integrate seamlessly with third-party tools, software, and services using StoreHippo's headless APIs. The SaaS based marketplace platform offers 120+ built-in integrations, making it easy to connect with CRM, ERP, accounting, delivery partners, payment channels, chatbots, and more.

You also get 60+ pre-integrated payment solutions to create custom checkout flows. With 30+ shipping partners you can create a streamlined fulfilment flow. The built-in delivery boy management solutions further help in leveraging your vendors’ network of delivery boys to create a fast and streamlined delivery network.  

Built-in Marketing Tools to Hack Growth

StoreHippo comes with a gamut of built-in marketing tools to help you hack growth for your marketplace website. Leverage the native marketing tools, discount engine, blog engine, and automated abandoned cart follow-up features to engage and convert customers effectively or integrate the best of breed marketing software to grow your marketplace website. 

StoreHippo's SEO-friendly multi vendor marketplace software enhances your marketplace's visibility and helps you build a solid brand presence. You can use the inbuilt SEO features like unique product page url, meta tags, canonical url, etc on your website to position your products for better visibility. 

You can create personalized coupon codes, recover abandoned carts with real-time notifications, and position your store higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) easily.

StoreHippo aalso comes with a reporting engine that gives a variety of reports right in the dashboard so you can use data-driven insights to plan strategic growth.

Global + Hyperlocal Ecommerce Solutions

Whether you are building a hyperlocal brand presence or plan to go global, StoreHippo has you covered. StoreHippo's glocal solutions with inbuilt multi-store support, multilingual capabilities, and multi-currency support enable you to expand your marketplace globally. 

You can build a strong hyperlocal ecommerce presence using the comprehensive hyperlocal eCommerce solutions in combination with the built-in delivery boy management solutions to streamline quick deliveries in the local markets.

Central Control to Run B2B+ B2C or Hybrid Business Models

StoreHippo comes with built-in support for multiple business models, including B2B, B2C, B2B2C, D2C, or any custom hybrid model. This adaptability allows you to pivot easily as market dynamics change, ensuring your marketplace stays ahead of the curve.

You can build different sub-stores for different buyer segments and have the common central control of all your business verticals in one place.

Build Highly Secure White Label Marketplace Website

StoreHippo is a secure PCI-DSS compliant marketplace platform that creates highly secure websites with multi-level security checks in place. Prioritize customer safety with StoreHippo's robust multi-layer security solution, including inherent cloud security, SSL certificate, PCI-DSS compliant payment gateways, data encryption, and secure user access trails.

Post Sales Support

StoreHippo is with you every step of the way, not only through the building and launch of your whitelabel store but also after it. Storehippo offers multichannel support for your enterprise brands requirements.

We keep doing constant updates and upgrades in our platform which keeps your business ahead of the curve.

With a host of features and a comprehensive solution to build and launch your whitelabel online marketplace, StoreHippo gives you a winning white label marketplace software.

How to launch your white label marketplace in record time with StoreHippo

Building and launching a white label marketplace using StoreHippo's marketplace website builder is a smooth and streamlined process. Here's a step-by-step guide:

A complete blueprint of building a white label marketplace website with StoreHippo

Step 1: Sign Up and Account Setup

• Connect with a white label expert at StoreHippo and get a free demo to understand the features and benefits of the advanced enterprise ecommerce solutions offered by StoreHippo.
• Opt for a 14-day free trial to enable your team to explore the features hands-on.
• Scope out your requirements and discuss with StoreHippo experts how to build your tailored solutions and the time/customisations needed to do so.

Step 2: Choose White Label Marketplace Subscription Plan

• Based on your requirements and suggestions by the StoreHippo team choose and pay for the Enterprise or Platinum plan.
• Pay for your subscription and get started with building your whitelabel marketplace solution

Step 3: Customize Branding and Design

• Use StoreHippo design tools to customise and rebrand your marketplace 
• Customize the branding, including logo, colour schemes, and layout.
• Whitelabel your notification channels.

Step 4: Configure Products and Categories

• Set up product categories based on your marketplace's offerings.
• Add sample products or services to begin the testing phase.

Step 5: Onboard Vendors and Get their Products Listed

• Onboard your vendors and get their catalogs uploaded.
• Set up separate vendor dashboards and seller pages on your Whitelabel marketplace.

Step 6: Build Marketplace Apps

• Build your Android and iOS marketplace apps.
• Turn your marketplace store into PWA to reach a wider audience base and enable sellers from far-off places to do business easily using the mobile admin app for vendors.

Step 7: Set Commission and Payout Rules 

• Set-up percentage, category or any other rule-based commissions. 
• Set up payout models and adaptive payments using built-in tools 

Step 8: Set Up Buyer+Seller Accounts

• Activate user accounts, roles and access level for sellers.
• Set up secure authentication measures for user accounts for premium and regular buyers.

Step 9: Optimize Your White Label Marketplace for SEO

• Use the built-in SEO tools to optimize product listings.
• Set up meta tags, descriptions, and friendly URLs for better visibility.

Step 10: Implement Security Measures

• Leverage the built-in multi-level security features to make your white label marketplace secure.
• Enable SSL certificates for encrypted transactions.
• Use built-in authentication and authorisation features at multiple levels to ensure secure logins, data usage and deliveries.

Step 11: Integrate Your Business’ ERP,Paymnet and Shipping and Other Solutions

• Integrate your business’ existing ERP, accounting or any other software easily with 300+ API endpoints.
• Choose from StoreHippo’s 60+ payment gateways and digital payment options to set up a frictionless payment process.
• Streamline deliveries by integrating with 30+ delivery partners pre-integrated with StoreHippo or integrate your own supply chain.

Step 12:Test the Marketplace Website

• Test transactions, user registrations, and product listings.
• Send out mock orders to real addresses to test your different sales channels and fulfillment.

Step 13: Launch Your White Label Marketplace

• Once satisfied with testing, make your marketplace live.
• Announce your marketplace's launch through digital and offline marketing channels.

Step 14: Marketing and Promotion

• Implement marketing strategies using built-in marketing tools and your chosen third-party marketing software to attract buyers and sellers.
• Offer different discounts and coupons using built-in discount engine
• Leverage social media, email campaigns, and other channels to create awareness.

Step 15: Monitor Performance

• Use analytics and a built-in reporting engine to monitor your white label marketplace's performance.
• Add the review and rating feature on each product page to gather user feedback and make necessary improvements.

Step 16: Iterate and Enhance

• Based on data collected for buyer behaviour, user feedback and market trends, iterate and enhance features.
• Use the constantly updated and upgraded StoreHippo features to keep your white label marketplace competitive and future-ready.

StoreHippo has all the features and tools needed to launch a tailored white label marketplace for your enterprise business. Follow the steps given above to build your very own whitelabeled solution and position your brand for rapid growth.

Conclusion

Building a white-label marketplace is a strategic move that can propel your enterprise brand to new heights of success. To achieve success for your marketplace website you need enterprise white label marketplace software that is reliable, feature-rich and future-ready. A highly customizable and scalable marketplace solution is the foundation for building and solidifying your brand presence. 

StoreHippo's advanced white-label marketplace builder emerges as a game-changer, providing 300+ built-in enterprise-grade features and support for a variety of business models (B2B, B2C, D2C, B2B2C, Hyperlocal commerce etc.). Building your marketplace- from conceptualization to customization, branding and launch with StoreHippo is a streamlined process. Whatever your industry vertical or business model, StoreHippo already has a solution for you waiting to be white-labeled and rebranded for your unique needs. 

Ready to explore the future-proof, user-friendly experiences and highly scalable StoreHippo white label SaaS marketplace platform? Book your free demo right away.