You don’t need to have supervision to notice this mushrooming market: almost $3bn is the estimation of sales that people made through mobile apps. No doubt, the profitability in this business niche will sustainably grow. The pandemic restrictions and fast digitizing all the spheres served as a catalyst in people’s habits.
There’s an array of opportunities to think out and realize the service that can be even better than existing solutions or to take place in a specific niche. To understand better how the process of cooperation with a development team goes and which steps to undertake in order to achieve goals, examine the Purrweb team experience. The guys explain how to create a marketplace app that provides revenue and that users recommend to each other. Keeping the right strategies is a condition for fastest driving your plans home.
Which type of marketplace meets your idea?
You can create a marketplace that offers goods, like Amazon, or services, like Booking. Or you can consider a hybrid option where goods and services can be represented. For example, on Etsy buyers can acquire a ready-made picture or to order painting services.
To choose the correct strategy for mobile or web development, first decide which type of marketplace depending on types of sellers and buyers fits your preferences better.
- Business-to-customer — you make a platform for retail companies where they can sell goods a services directly to the consumers;
- Business-to-business — the companies interact here with other companies in order to supply goods and services they need.
- Peer-to-peer — the solution that connects people with each other helping sell and buy products.
As you’ve decided what and who will sell and buy, it’s time to get over the next issue.
Monetization strategy
To ensure the app development team is ready to create a marketplace that you desire, determine which monetization scheme should be applied in the product.
To earn money, you can take commission for each transaction. Another way to charge is to introduce a fee per posting of listings. Advertising is an additional way to make profit. Some marketplaces offer users to pay for monthly subscription plans, which is also one of the ways to organize money making.
Starting with MVP
The idea to create a marketplace feels like a grandiose, costly and complicated task. But there’s a secret passage for a better start. Sifting out all the excessive features, you can focus on the core functionality and check whether your vision of the product can satisfy users. MVP is an economically more reasonable approach to create a marketplace which reflects customers interests and offers advanced service. This way allows to tune communication with the audience and take its reviews for further development. You won’t spend money on ineffective tools but you will be able to polish a few essential ones. To create a marketplace fast, with less budget and flexible functionality, MVP is a rewarding approach.
Functionality: how to pick relevant features
Thinking about the details that facilitate a team to create a marketplace which meets customers’ needs, bear in mind the necessity to split between two versions: for buyers and for sellers. Every type of user has specific expectations and requirements related to the marketplace.
Put on the buyer’s shoes and think about what you need in order to go online shopping effortlessly. The list of significant features can include:
- Panel for searching with a variety of filters: brand, color, size, cost and so on;
- Shopping cart and in-built payment system;
- Opportunity to track the order or delay it;
- Opportunity to add items into Wishlist;
- Support chat and transparent return policy.
Obviously, on the side of the seller should be another set of features that enables him to promote goods and services effectively and accept payments. For sellers the next features will be essential:
- Showcase with appropriate hashtags or other tools for better promotion;
- Order management and in-built payment system;
- Customizable advertising tools;
- Personal chat for connecting customers;
- Business analytics/stats tools,
- Integration of social media.
Deciding to create a marketplace with specific functionality for buyers and sellers, you’ll need four products since there’s a necessity to split between iOS and android platforms. But you can avoid this challenge by selecting appropriate programming tools.
Tech stack that fits to create a marketplace
There’s a rich diversity of various tools to implement your ideas. For example, different No-code platforms offer to create a marketplace app in a few days and for an attractive price. But as you know, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Basing your solution on no-code, you can face impossibility to scale it or integrate some necessary services. That’s why it’s better to create a marketplace app with a tech stack that enables the product to be flexible and scalable.
The offer of various programming languages is wide, and it makes sense to research what precisely fits your idea. For example, the Purrweb team prefers to work with React Native when it comes to create a marketplace mobile app due to its capability for simultaneous development of two versions of the product: for iOS and android. As a rule, the customers are grateful for this choice as it cuts cost and decreases time consumption significantly. As for web applications, you can consider Nest.js and next.is and PostgreSQL and MongoDB are a good match for databases.
To wrap up
Though this business niche is overcrowded and very competitive, there’s always a chance to create a marketplace app that will flourish in any circumstances. To feel more motivated, you can read various stories of business success and take note of their shticks.
To deliver a product that delights users, put enough resources into its impressive UI/UX design, make sure you’ve selected the right features by testing and try to interact with customers regularly in order to keep your finger on the pulse of modern trends. If you’re cooperating with true professionals, you have all the chances to reach your goals on time and with less effort.
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