What are the elements to take into account when creating a marketplace?

What is a marketplace?

The purpose of a marketplace is to connect potential suppliers and customers. These platforms can link two professionals (B2B), two individuals (C2C) or an individual and a professional (B2C). The services rendered can be sold or performed voluntarily via the marketplaces. These online platforms facilitate the link and simplify the implementation of collaborative economy, rental of goods or gathering around proximity platforms.

How to create a marketplace?

Before creating a marketplace, think about your project:

1. What are the services you want to sell there?
2. Who are your competitors?
3. Who are the suppliers?
4. Who are the users?

The different types of platforms 

Once you have the answers to these questions, you must choose the type of platform you want to use. This choice is made according to your project. There are several types of platforms:

Switch platforms or non-Switch platforms. On a Switch platform the seller can also be a buyer, which is not the case on a non-switch platform.

Open-side vs Blind-Side. On an open-side platform, the buyer knows the identity of the seller he/she will choose, we can take the example of Airbnb to illustrate this point. In the case of a blindside platform, the identity of the service provider has no added value, as on Uber for example.

Online platform based on supply or demand. A supply-based platform offers available services to potential customers. Conversely, a demand-based platform puts forward customer requests to sellers.

Platforms for connecting people during the pandemic

By being forced to close their physical points of sale, many industries have been hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis. Companies with different business models had to rethink their sales system. Some companies have called upon an agency to help them in the creation of a website, a mobile application or a web platform.

The online sales and therefore create a platform of connection have imposed themselves as a solution to allow many VSE / SME to limit the decline of their sales. According to the Federation of e-commerce and distance selling (FEVAD), the e-commerce sector in France (products and services) reached 112 billion euros in 2020, up 8.5% over one year. This increase is also felt on marketplaces. On average, marketplaces grew by +27%, twice as fast as in 2019.