What is an Ecommerce Marketplace Website Builder
An ecommerce marketplace website builder is a software solution used for building a variety of online multi-vendor stores like Amazon, Alibaba, eBay, Nykaa, Firstcry etc. Popular marketplace builders incorporate various modules that can be used to build, run, market and grow a multi-vendor ecommerce store.
Multi-vendor software providers can be of the following types:
- Custom software written from scratch
- Turnkey solution that needs multiple apps and plugins to build a functional online marketplace
- Off-the-shelf multi-vendor solution that additionally needs hosting solutions and team developers to manage it
- Fully hosted and managed SaaS-based ecommerce marketplace website builder like StoreHippo
While enterprise brands can build their marketplace using any of the above multivendor marketplace solutions, going with a fully hosted and managed platform like StoreHippo to build a marketplace website is a smart choice as it frees the admins from the worries of managing the IT infrastructure. Also, with Storehippo 300+ built-in enterprise-grade features, brands do not need to buy additional apps or plugins which saves their costs from snowballing.
Why do you need an Ecommerce Marketplace Website Builder
Accounting for more than 50% of global online sales multi-vendor online stores are the proven way to ensure quick success in the ecommerce sphere. The easy accessibility of new-age ecommerce marketplace website builders has made it simple, fast and cost-effective to build and launch a multi-seller online store.
While you can use clone scripts or hire a development agency to write your marketplace code from scratch, opting for a turnkey multi vendor marketplace solution is a more prudent choice. It not only gives you a battle-tested solution but you can also check out the real case scenarios to validate the claims made by your solution provider. This will help you avoid pitfalls after your marketplace website is live. However, you need to choose your solution provider after checking it on some stringent parameters.
Here are the benefits of powering your marketplace website with a turnkey marketplace builder:
- Comprehensive solutions to build, run and grow a multi-vendor ecommerce website and brand
- Cost-effective solution as compared to legacy software
- Automatic updates and in-tune with existing and upcoming tech and industry trends
- Quick go to market using tested solutions
- Easy to pivot to new business models
- Automate vendor onboarding, commissions, payouts etc to make the system efficient
- Create out of the box solutions by integrating with the best-in-breed software and service providers with your ecommerce marketplace website builder
- Suitable subscription plans for every stage of a growing business
StoreHippo offers 360-degree solutions to enterprise brands to build multi-vendor marketplaces of every scale and size. StoreHippo offers powerful solutions to create disruptive hybrid marketplaces that combine two or more marketplace set ups like B2B and B2C/D2C, hyperlocal marketplace with multi-store set up etc.
Features to look for in your Ecommerce Marketplace Website Builder
While it takes many modules and features to run a successful online venture, the marketplace website requires some additional modules. Here is a list of all the essential and good to have features in your multi-vendor marketplace software.
Must-Have features in Multi-Vendor Marketplace Software
Running a marketplace smoothly and seamlessly needs a set of features that make the everyday business automated and efficient. Here is a list of must-have features in a marketplace software:
- Vendor registration module to onboard vendors on your multi-vendor online store
- Vendor approval flow to give complete control to the admin
- Vendor dashboard to help vendors manage their products and orders
- Seller ledger to set up rules for commission, payout etc.
- Admin dashboard to give a complete overview of the business to the admin
- Adaptive payments to distribute the payment between various vendors of a multi-product order
- Multiple Payment options to facilitate frictionless checkouts
- Powerful tax engine to implement multi-level taxes
StoreHippo multi vendor marketplace solutions come with all the above features to help enterprise brands run and manage their day-to-day business efficiently.
Features of Ecommerce Marketplace Website Builder that give you a competitive edge
While building a marketplace website gives enterprise businesses a headstart, staying ahead of the competition requires some additional features in the multivendor solution supporting your business.
Here is a list of features that can make a multi-vendor ecommerce site stand out from its competitors:
- Future-ready technology that builds fast and lightweight websites
- Mobile-first approach to ace and rule the m-commerce game
- Beautiful customizable themes to engage and convert customers
- Scalable multi-vendor ecommerce platform to sustain business growth
- Extensive customizations to fulfil unique business requirements
- Secure and tested Ecommerce marketplace website builder that builds customer trust
- Pre-integrated shipping solutions with COD support
StoreHippo multivendor solutions are built on MACH architecture which gives better creative control and a definite competitive advantage to brands. With the API-based headless architecture brands can create personalized buyer journeys to engage their customers better. StoreHippo also comes with an inbuilt mobile apps builder to build marketplace apps and PWA stores. The built-in design tools and multilingual support in themes enable brands to build beautiful, engaging and conversion-oriented multi-vendor websites. With 60+ pre-integrated payment gateways and 30+ integrated logistics solutions, storeHippo helps enterprise brands carve a niche for themselves.
Features of Ecommerce Marketplace Website Builder that help in business growth
After setting up a multi-vendor ecommer store brands need a gamut of tools and solutions to grow their business.
Here is a list of features needed in your marketplace solutions to grow your brand:
- Powerful discount engine to plan different marketing strategies
- Ability to build mobile apps to reach to more customers
- Blog engine to build a brand value proposition and engage customers
- Retargeting tools like abandoned cart to convert incomplete checkouts
- Unified notifications to engage and convert customers in real-time
- Host of integrations to build a unique ecommerce ecosystem for your marketplace website
- Returns and refunds management to keep customer grievances under check
- Easy social media integrations to build brand awareness and reach
StoreHippo ecommerce marketplace website builder offers all the above features and many more to build a variety of online marketplaces.
How to build an Amazon-like Marketplace Website
Here is how you can use StoreHippo ecommerce marketplace website builder to create your Amazon-like Horizontal multi-vendor online store. Let’s get started:
Step 1: Work out a thorough business plan that includes your targeted market, vendors and products
Step 2: Register your business and complete all the required paperwork
Step 3: Buy a domain name for your business
Step 4: Choose a subscription plan from StoreHippo ecommerce marketplace website builder
Step 5: Onboard vendors, retailers, distributors, suppliers and ask them to upload their products
Step 6: Set up vendor ledger rules related to commissions, payouts, taxes etc.
Step 7: Set up payment methods, shipping methods, discounts or any other vendor-specific rules
Step 8: Set up social media pages and promote your brand through discounts, coupons, attractive blog posts etc.
Step 9: Build a dynamic marketing page and ask your customers to register on your online marketplace
Step 10: Ask friends to place mock orders, run the drill and go live.
With StoreHippo ecommerce marketplace website builder you get 300+ inbuilt features that not only help you in running your multi-vendor store but also help you promote it and complete the day-to-day operations without any fuss.
Why StoreHippo is the best Ecommerce Marketplace Website Builder
StoreHippo offers a battle-tested, turnkey solution to build a variety of B2B, B2C or any out-of-box multi-vendor marketplace websites. What’s more, the fully hosted and managed solution frees you from the burden of maintaining or upgrading the software. Also, it comes at a fraction of the cost of other multi-vendor solutions that need multiple paid apps and plugins to run the show.
StoreHippo multi-vendor marketplace solution has 300+ inbuilt features that eliminate the need of buying and syncing multiple apps for running the business. We offer 360 degree solutions with pre-integrated payment gateways and discounted logistics services that help you with various aspects of running your multi-vendor online business. We have inbuilt modules for vendor management, order and inventory management which make it very easy to run the day to day operations.
We have powered many a variety of horizontal, vertical and service aggregator marketplaces for businesses across the globe. You can also build a multilingual marketplace or a multi-store one to cater to customers in different countries or geolocations.
Check out the various types of Multi-Vendor Use Cases powered by StoreHippo and explore our ecommerce marketplace website builder by starting your 14-day free trial now.
