logo
logo
Sign in

5 Important Things to Consider Before Choosing a Multi Vendor Platform

avatar
George Stanley
5 Important Things to Consider Before Choosing a Multi Vendor Platform

In the past few years, there has been an increased surge in small businesses taking their trade into a multi-vendor marketplace app. Unlike stand-alone eCommerce platforms, these apps provide them with a bigger marketplace and even the cost factor is less compared to the former. These along with many other factors have made the business model of multi-vendor eCommerce applications a highly successful one not just for the vendors but also for those administering them.

For entrepreneurs who want to jump into the eCommerce bandwagon but have no products or service with them to sell, multi-vendor eCommerce platforms have given them the right kind of vehicle to board. If you are also one such entrepreneur then this blog is written for you as it talks about 5 important things to consider before choosing a multi-vendor platform to develop your dream application.

 

  • Scalability: 

 

One of the biggest reasons why small businesses take this route is to have their business reach greater heights. Let us consider Jack, a small scale entrepreneur with a 3D printing machine as an example. He can make mobile cases for any mobiles and he also has a great set of designs available with him. However, the biggest challenge that concerns him is the fact that he is not able to find a good number of customers to whom he can sell the product as his business model is based upon the economy of volume.

Now, with the help of a multi-vendor marketplace solution he can list his products in the platform which will have high traffic. This enables him to scale his business to greater heights which couldn’t have been possible with a stand-alone eCommerce platform or an offline store. As the owner of the multi-vendor marketplace, you should ensure the platform you are going to use helps the vendors as well as you to easily scale up the businesses.

 

  • Integrations and SEO Friendliness: 

 

The platform should support multiple integrations such as social media, payment, and other third-party applications. Each party involved in it including you, the vendor, and the customers would need certain applications to ease up their work. The platform should be ready to support the integration of any such applications without much of a hassle. Third-party applications play a great role and can even be considered one of the important features of a multi-vendor marketplace. You should go with a platform that offers the best support for third party integrations.

Search Engine Optimization plays a crucial role in bringing customers to the website as it is through the search engine people lookout for a product. So, in order to get higher visibility, the products of the vendors must be able to rank on top of the web results. This can be achieved with the help of proper SEO techniques; however, not all vendors will be an expert in SEO. With the help of inbuilt SEO tools provided by the platform, vendors themselves can do the required optimization and ensure that their products are able to top the search engine rankings.

 

  • Payment Plans:

 

The first thing you must have thought after deciding to develop a multi-vendor mobile application would have obviously been the cost involved in it. Though there are numerous free platforms available that let you build a multi-vendor marketplace, it is best to go with one that comes with a price tag as good features always come at a cost and there is no harm in paying for things that are worth its price. Shopify is one of the most cost-effective platforms as its pricing plan starts at just $9 per month and comes loaded with lots of features. We at Soft Suave uses Shopify to develop multi marketplace applications and have helped a lot of entrepreneurs courtesy of it.

 

  • Security:

 

In the current era, it is said that data is the new oil which makes data security a big thing and as the owner of the application, it is your responsibility to choose a platform that provides the best security to the data. Both customers and the vendors will be sharing vital data in the app such as their banking information, personal information. If such sensitive information gets breached by third parties, the onus will be on you so it is in the best effort for everyone that you should go with the platform that will provide the best security to data.

 

  • Customer Service:

 

When I say Customer service, it denotes two types of customer services; the first one is the customer service you will be receiving from the multi-vendor development platform and the other type is the customer service the customers will be receiving from the vendor. 

The platform should provide you with proper customer service and should always be ready to attend to your requirements. You should go for platforms that provide round the clock technical support and provide you with a detailed manual that will let you do basic troubleshooting. It will cause a massive hindrance to a lot of people even if the application goes down for a few hours so the technical customer support team should be quick on their heels to fix the problem and get it up and going. 

Just like how you are a customer to the multi-vendor platform developer, the vendors who sell products or services in your platform too will be customers and it is important for them to have their grievances addressed. The platform should provide the customers with a space to get the required support from the vendors. This should include chat support, rating, and review options.

While there are many platforms in the market that let you create a multi-vendor marketplace with ease, hiring an eCommerce application development company like Soft suave will add a lot of professionalism to the application. You can concentrate on ramping up the operations while we take it on us to get the best multi-vendor eCommerce platform for your business. This will ensure that you are able to concentrate on what we do best and we can do what we usually do and ensure your vision comes into reality.

collect
0
avatar
George Stanley
guide
Zupyak is the world’s largest content marketing community, with over 400 000 members and 3 million articles. Explore and get your content discovered.
Read more