Building successful online ECommerce Marketplace software has become a goal for many aspiring entrepreneurs. By going through the success stories of the top and leading multivendor platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, every entrepreneur has decided to give their businesses a digital transformation.
The journey starts with a perfect website development and then it grows into an ecommerce store and then developing a dedicated mobile application. Throughout this journey all they need is to satisfy users who use their platforms. Without their satisfaction there is no point of moving further in the business.
To determine your success rate, you need to have all essential features in your multivendor ECommerce Marketplace platform. Three major user groups will access the platform.
1. The admin
2. Sellers
3. Buyers
Admin is the owner of the platform who will utilize the platform to connect sellers and buyers. Sellers will list their products on the platform and will sell their products. Buyers will visit the platform, search for a product and will pay and buy online.
The feature you integrate should be satisfying all three user groups. Being the owner of the platform you should not be focusing on admin features that are going to give you better returns. You need to satisfy sellers as well as buyers. Only then your Online marketplace software can survive in the market. Now let us analyze features of all user groups in detail and let us know their importance as well.
Admin features of a multivendor marketplace platform
Easy vendor management – Admin can handle several vendors with the single platform and can keep track of their product listing, can edit or delete vendors. Can set commission slabs for each vendor.
Tax and invoice management – Every order needs to be invoiced and respective tax should be calculated and buyers should receive the tax invoice.
Product approval system – Admin should be able to accept or reject any product that seller wants to display in the platform. This will give additional control to the admin over sellers.
Multiple levels of administrative access – Admin can register their employees with the platform and can allocate certain rights to access the multivendor marketplace. This will save admin time and can increase productivity.
Order management system – Efficient order management will increase the credibility of the platform and will gain customers’ trust. Always have a better order management system that will ensure prompt delivery of products to buyers.
Multiple store management – Admin can have multiple stores in multiple locations. Using the multivendor platform admin can control operations on all stores with a single back-end process. The platform should support multiple languages and multiple currencies.
Better return and refund policy – Product return is inevitable and your platform should have a perfect return and refund policy that will benefit both buyers and the admin. To avoid unwanted returns better communication channels should be provided that will help buyers to communicate with sellers before they buy.
Shipping and delivery management – Your multivendor platform should get connected with genuine shipping logistics that will deliver products on-time. Check the logistic reviews on the net and then get connected with them.
Rating and review system – Customers feedback is very essential to understand the quality of service your multivendor platform offers. You can keep track of poor performing vendors and can boost them to work well with your platform.
Seller features of a multivendor ECommerce Marketplace platform
Simple registration process – Getting into your multivendor platform should ever be a tough process for any seller. Most sellers will be non-technical and they may not have enough experience in handling an online platform. Make sure your registration process has simple steps.
Seller dashboard – Sellers should get an opportunity to measure the performance rate of their business. They should know the best-selling product, number of views, slow moving products and many more. They need an exclusive dashboard where they can get all these metrics to analyze their business.
Simplified listing management – Sellers should be able to publish their products effortlessly. If the listing process is complicated then they may lose interest with your multivendor platform. The platform should support bulk addition of products that will save sellers time.
Multiple promotion option – Your multivendor ecommerce platform should allow sellers to use multiple marketing techniques to promote their products. They should be able to access email marketing that will let them reach their audience regarding their offers and discounts. Sellers should be allowed to use customer loyalty programs and delight them.
Better inventory management – Sellers should have a proper inventory maintenance system that will help them to keep minimum stock always. This will help to have uninterrupted product delivery. Inventory tracking systems should support sellers to keep track of their items and when they reach the minimum value, notification should be sent to sellers.
Easy customization – Every product page should have customization options that will help sellers to frame their page according to the product. This will gain the attention of visitors and will lead to better conversion.
Buyer features of a multivendor ecommerce platform
Easy login – There are numerous multivendor platforms available in the market. Buyers have already used many of those platforms and they will compare them with yours. This starts from the login process. You need to support social media login as all other leading ecommerce platforms have this feature.
Advanced search and filtering option – Let your buyers find their products easily and get them directly to the product page by providing advanced search and filtering options. This will save their time and they will like to come again and again to your multivendor ecommerce platform.
Multiple payment option – Let your ecommerce platform be integrated with multiple payment gateways that are familiar and well-secured in the market. This will make buyers pay and buy without hesitation.
Real-time order tracking – Allow you buyers to track their orders. Buyers will always be curious about their orders and they would like to check the current status of their products. Your multivendor platform should support better tracking system.
Social media sharing – Buyers want to share products with their friends and would like to know about the product before they buy it. Your ecommerce software should make it possible for them by providing a social media sharing option that will let them share products in their social media pages and get instant feedback.
Mobile responsive design – Your multivendor platform should be device responsive. Most buyers use their smartphone to access the platform and it is not mobile-friendly; they will immediately leave your marketplace. This will affect your conversion rate. Make sure you have a device compatible design that will fit into any screen size.
Conclusion
Hope you are clear about features that are mandatory in your multi vendor ecommerce platform. Check with your competitors and make sure you offer better features than them. Have unique marketing strategies that will boost your branding and will get more leads. Be more determined in promoting your ECommerce Marketplace and acquire more customers.
