How to Create a Marketplace Website in 2024: In-Depth Guide

A web marketplace is an online platform connecting buyers and sellers and allowing them to engage in transactions for goods or services. These platforms (e.g., Amazon, Alibaba, etc.) serve as intermediaries, providing a space where multiple vendors can list their products for sale.

The operating mechanism of a web marketplace involves several key components. When settling up a marketplace website, sellers create accounts and list their products on the platform, providing descriptions, prices, and images. Buyers browse these listings, comparing options before making a purchase.

The marketplace typically handles payment processing, ensuring transactions are secure and efficient. Once a purchase is made, the seller is responsible for shipping the product to the buyer. Many web marketplaces also offer additional services, such as customer support, return management, and advertising opportunities for sellers. The platform usually earns revenue through listing fees, transaction fees, or a percentage of each sale.

Now when you discover the operating mechanism of the online marketplaces, let's consider how the user experience differs when shopping on traditional markets, or eCommerce websites. While eCommerce sites provide a familiar and controlled environment, web marketplaces offer the advantage of extensive product comparisons, seller reviews, and the potential for discovering unique items not readily available elsewhere.

So, we can see that web marketplaces empower a diverse shopping experience with wide selection, seller competition, and unique finds, contrasting with the focused brand experience of eCommerce websites. This potential is reflected in the surging popularity of successful online marketplace, being reflected in the statistics below.

Online shopping is one of the most widespread online activities worldwide. Reaching $6,330 billion of revenue in 2023, the global retail e-commerce sales are forecasted to grow to $8.034 billion in 2027, with marketplaces taking a tidbit of these extra sales.

Let’s take a closer look at the online marketplace statistics:

• B2C marketplaces are projected to earn $3.5 trillion in sales by the end of 2024
• About 79% of consumers in America shop online.
• Amazon is popular among approximately 80% of customers worldwide for its fast and free shipping
• 56% of merchants prefer to sell their goods on the online marketplaces.

The given stats are only a little piece of marketplace statistical information, showing the immense potential of the online marketplace idea and proving that online marketplaces will be profitable for your business due to their popularity among both buyers and sellers.

Let’s talk more about the steps you need to take while developing an online marketplace. They include the following points:

1. Define your niche & audience. Uncover a gap in the market by understanding your target audience's passion points and unmet needs. This ensures you build a platform with a loyal user base.
2. Validate your marketplace idea. Partner with a development company to conduct market research and user interviews. This helps validate your concept and avoid costly mistakes.
3. Choose your revenue model. Select the most fitting model based on your marketplace structure and the value you offer.
4. Find out a budget approach. Plan your budget carefully, considering research, development, post-release costs, and your monetization strategy.
5. Partner with a reputable IT vendor. Collaborate with an experienced marketplace development company to leverage their expertise and access to global talent for a cost-effective solution.
6. Think out the UI/UX design. Prioritize a user-friendly interface with clear navigation and an attractive design to ensure a seamless user experience.
7. Develop your marketplace. Develop a marketplace version with core features like reviews, payments, communication channels, and secure user authentication.
8. Test and refine your marketplace. QA engineers will thoroughly test your platform to identify and fix bugs before launch.

All these stages of online marketplace development have their peculiarities and winning strategies. So keep reading, and we'll discuss them one by one.

Start by identifying a gap in the market. What products or services are underserved by existing marketplaces? Research trends, analyze competitor strengths and weaknesses, and understand your target audience's needs. Are they passionate about vintage streetwear or maybe seeking handcrafted furniture?

Aligning your niche with a passionate user base is crucial. If you want to build a successful online marketplace like Etsy or eBay, choose the right type of marketplace to meet these needs. The best way to build a website like these is by thoroughly understanding the market demands and user preferences. Developing an online marketplace like these established platforms requires careful planning and strategic execution.

Moreover, you should identify and study the future target audience for your marketplace. It implies determining their fundamental needs and highlighting the main focus of your marketing strategy. If you start building a marketplace website with your target audience in mind, you can offer them a unique value proposition, ensuring that your platform will be in demand and generate revenue.

It’s high time to validate it to ensure that you’re moving in the right direction. For this purpose, you can apply to a skilled web development company with in-depth expertise in marketplace website development. They will conduct such research that'll take a considerable amount of time but pay off and let you avoid some of the common mistakes.

Particularly, such research will assist you in answering the following questions (before moving to the planning stage):

• Would your clients use this product, and how often?
• What is the feedback from the interviewed group of potential customers
• How well does your target audience understand the purpose of your product?
• What is the size of the total addressable market?
• How dependent are you on external resources?

To reply to the questions above, you will have to brainstorm with your partner(s) if you have one, gain feedback through interviewing your potential customers and do some manual research. Note you shouldn’t involve your family and friends in the interview if you want to get unbiased insight and find out how to build a marketplace website.

How will you generate income with your newly developed web marketplace? The popular revenue models for this purpose may include:

• Transaction fees (a percentage of each sale)
• Listing fees (charging sellers to list products)
• Subscription fees for premium features like advanced product listings or seller tools.

Consider the structure of your marketplace and the value you offer to determine the most fitting model. Don't worry about choosing the perfect revenue model upfront – a marketplace website development vendor can help you analyze your options and select the most sustainable way to earn money by your marketplace for your specific niche and target audience.

It is equally important to plan the budget for custom e-commerce website development carefully. Hence, together with an IT vendor, you should pay attention to the following items:

• Preparation costs. Take into account the charge of marketplace research.
• Development costs. The cost of building a marketplace can vary depending on many factors, including the number of features and the location of the software vendor.
• Post-release costs. After building a marketplace, you will also need to spend some time and money for promotion and technical support.
• Monetization strategy. Think through exactly how your marketplace will generate revenue and how soon your costs will be recouped.

Planning your budget is an important step that will allow you to allocate your investment and achieve good financial results. If you plan also a marketplace application building, you can also get funding for app development through options like venture capital, angel investors and so on depending on the stage of your business and its specific needs.

Let’s talk more about why partnership with a marketplace website development vendor is so essential for you to succeed. Choosing a professional software provider with advanced expertise in online marketplace development is vital for all your requirements to be met and to get a great result. The best option today is to work with an outsourced IT partner; this way, you can cut costs and get access to unlimited talents and technologies worldwide.

To make the best choice, pay attention to such aspects:

• The company's practical experience in marketplace web development
• Feedback from customers on professional platforms like Clutch
• Portfolio with previously created software solutions
• Information on the company's website and blog

Choosing an experienced software vendor will give you quality marketplace website development services and help during the research and planning stages. This way, you can be assured you’ll get a proper digital solution for marketplace activities. Moreover, the vendor will offer you a project team (e.g., through the dedicated development team services) capable of building a marketplace.

The interface of your marketplace platform must be attractive and establish your brand effectively. A software vendor with quality UI/UX design services and relevant expertise can create an interface that offers the best user experience, ensuring seamless navigation, intuitive layouts, as well as visually appealing and user-friendly designs.

To enhance user experience while building an online marketplace, UX analysis evaluates how people interact with the UI of your marketplace website, web app, or landing page. This involves assessing product search ease, clarity of listings, checkout efficiency, and overall navigational flow. Effective UX analysis centers on understanding users' needs, desires, and opinions to improve usability. Given the complexity of UX analysis, partnering with a web development company with expertise in marketplace building ensures comprehensive evaluation and optimized user engagement.

If you cooperate with the marketplace development vendor, at this stage, the software development team comes up with the building online marketplace. Firstly, they build an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), which is the version of your marketplace with only the core features. The main idea behind the MVP is to make your own marketplace website with enough functionality to attract early users and collect initial feedback.

Let's detail the core functionality of online marketplace. It should have:

• Reviews and ratings
• Secure payment processing
• Communication channels between buyers and sellers
• Robust review systems
• One-click order
• Product information
• User support
• Shopping cart, etc.

Moreover, you should never compromise on security when you build a marketplace MVP. Invest in robust data encryption and implement security measures to ensure buyer and seller trust. A skilled marketplace development vendor can be your partner in creating a secure platform. Their security expertise includes implementing industry-standard data encryption protocols (e.g., TLS, AES, SSL), secure user authentication systems, and ongoing vulnerability assessments to safeguard user information and financial transactions.

The whole process of creating a marketplace model is accompanied by quality assurance. In addition, after the developers complete work on the project, QA engineers conduct multiple tests to ensure the software works as expected and meets your requirements. This allows them to identify and fix all possible bugs before the release.

Finally, after completing all work on setting up a marketplace website, the developers deploy it to the server and launch it. In the future, you may need to continue cooperating with your software provider to update your marketplace for better performance and scalability. Then, once your product starts generating a profit, you can reinvest it into creating additional functionality.

After the development stage, you may be eager to release your project. However, it's crucial not to rush. Instead, focus on effectively launching your marketplace website and attracting your first users. Here’s a structured approach to ensure a successful start:

To kickstart your marketplace, begin by forming a base of sellers who can offer goods or services within your unique niche. Communicate with sellers before the launch and explain that your platform can be a permanent source of future income.

Here are the best ways of how to find sellers when you start a marketplace website promotion:

• Reach out to sellers who are active on competitive marketplaces.
• Utilize industry-specific business directories and targeted Google searches to find providers of your future goods.
• Look through relevant forums and groups to identify potential sellers.

While attracting sellers, also work on building loyalty among potential buyers. This will help create demand once your marketplace is live. Consider these strategies:

• Pre-launch landing page. Set up a landing page that doesn't just gather emails, but offers valuable content (e.g., blog posts, industry reports) relevant to your niche. This establishes you as a thought leader and builds trust with potential buyers.
• Influencer outreach. Contact influencers within your target audience who resonate with your brand and try to make them early ambassadors. Offer them exclusive access or incentives to promote your marketplace to their followers.
• Start a blog or community. If there are no suitable communities, consider starting your own blog or online community specifically tailored to your niche. This attracts potential buyers, fosters engagement, and allows you to establish yourself as an authority in your space.

With a list of interested users, you’re ready to launch your marketplace. A well-prepared pre-launch stage can give your platform an initial boost. Here’s what to focus on next:

• Finalize seller listings. Ensure all sellers have their products or services listed and optimized for visibility and appeal. High-quality product images and detailed descriptions are crucial for conversions.
• Test the platform extensively. Conduct thorough testing to identify and resolve any technical issues, ensuring a smooth user experience. Focus on mobile responsiveness, as a significant portion of users access marketplaces on their phones.
• Conduct a targeted marketing campaign. Launch a targeted marketing campaign that speaks directly to the needs and interests of your buyer persona. Utilize social media advertising, search engine marketing (SEM), and content marketing strategies relevant to your niche.
• Customer support setup. Establish a responsive customer support system to handle inquiries, feedback, and issues from day one. A positive customer experience is vital for building trust.
• Monitor analytics from the start. Set up analytics tools to track user behavior and engagement from the very beginning. This data provides valuable insights for ongoing improvements to optimize your marketplace for success.

After launching, continue working on building supply and demand. Set up Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track performance and identify areas for improvement:

• Monitor metrics such as conversion rate and bounce rate to understand user engagement.
• Track metrics like provider-to-customer rate and repeat purchase rate to measure success of transaction matters.
• Focus on customer acquisition, revenue, and Return on Investment (ROI) to gauge overall performance of your business.

By closely analyzing customer behavior, you can pinpoint areas needing improvement and make necessary adjustments. This strategic approach will help you successfully build a marketplace platform.

The exact web marketplace cost is challenging to pinpoint because it depends on different price-building factors capable of changing the price from one to another side. Let’s discover the most widespread aspects of a marketplace website cost.

• Scope and complexity of features. Custom features and integrations with third-party services also add to the complexity and expense.
• UI/UX design. A highly polished, user-friendly interface with custom graphics, animations, and responsive design for multiple devices will require more resources and expertise, thus increasing the development cost.
• Technology stack. Some technologies may require specialized skills or more development time, leading to higher expenses. Additionally, decisions regarding cloud hosting, server infrastructure, and scalability can influence costs.
• Development team composition. The size and expertise of the development team play a crucial role in the overall cost for your marketplace site.
• Maintenance and support. These marketplace creation costs include fixing bugs, adding new features, and ensuring the platform remains secure and up-to-date with the latest technology trends and user expectations.

In general, you should expect a marketplace website to cost anywhere from $30,000 to $200,000+ depending on the cost-forming factors mentioned above. But you can contact our tech experts to get a detailed cost estimate for your online marketplace business.

Let’s consider how marketplace website development price is estimated. For example, in Cleveroad, we conduct rough and detailed estimates to calculate your marketplace development price.

These estimates specialists create during the project's initial stages, namely:

• The Solution Design
• Discovery phase.

They will give you a general idea of how much it will cost to build an online marketplace.

To start with, our experts calculate a Solution Design Workshop estimate. It is the rawest and is based on defining the project's key goals, the work scope, the level of complexity, and the non-functional requirements. The team also uses the experience of previous projects to provide three cost variations: pessimistic, neutral, and optimistic.

The Discovery Phase estimate allows for detailing the figures obtained in the previous step and is more accurate. The team analyzes in detail the features needed and the complexity of the design. Also, experts determine the exact team composition and the approximate time to make a marketplace website for you.

A detailed estimate allows you to get 100% accuracy and calculate the cost of building a marketplace. Taking the discovery phase estimate as a base, the developers, the solution architect, and the project manager supplement it. Specialists are including in the detailed estimate:

• Comprehensive record-keeping, including wireframes, specifications, etc.
• Non-development activities, such as technical writing
• Rates and number of development hours

Considering marketplace growth and its potential, business startups can utilize the marketplace business model and design their own custom solution. Below are the top benefits of building an online marketplace.

Marketplace websites enable you to generate income with minimum effort. There is no reason to organize production or be concerned about delivery. All you need to do is to create your own marketplace with unique features and start attracting your first clients. The most demanded ways of generating money on the platform are commissions, listing fees, subscriptions, lead generation fees, advertising, and offering additional services.

You can also combine several monetization models, but it’s better to apply just one at an early stage. Afterward, you can focus on making improvements while your bank account grows. For instance, marketplace leaders, such as Booking.com, eBay, Etsy, and Uber employ the commission business revenue model.

A marketplace website significantly broadens your business’s customer base by providing an online platform accessible 24/7. This accessibility caters to a diverse demographic, including those who prefer online shopping due to convenience or geographical constraints. Through features such as personalized recommendations, reviews, and ratings implemented when building a marketplace website, you can engage customers more effectively, building loyalty and trust. Engaging content and targeted marketing strategies on the marketplace site can further attract and retain customers, enhancing their overall shopping experience.

As a marketplace owner, having a marketplace website enhances your online presence, making it more discoverable to potential customers. Building a marketplace business with a well-designed and user-friendly site projects professionalism and builds credibility, helping your company stand out in a competitive market.

When you build a marketplace app, the inclusion of customer reviews and ratings further strengthens the brand’s reputation, as positive feedback serves as powerful social proof. Additionally, consistent branding and quality assurance on your marketplace mobile app reinforce trust and reliability among consumers, whether you're creating a marketplace from scratch or improving an existing platform.

Marketplaces provide a scalable platform for your company to grow and expand their market reach. As your business scales, the marketplace website development can easily accommodate increased traffic, transactions, and product listings without significant additional investment. This scalability supports long-term growth strategies, including entering new markets and launching new product lines. By leveraging the marketplace’s infrastructure and incorporating omnichannel retailing, you can focus on core competencies such as product development and customer service, driving sustainable growth.

Let’s find out the issues that may arise during your marketplace web development and discuss how to solve the marketplace issues that may arise.

Retaining users is as important as acquiring them, but it can be challenging due to competition and changing user expectations. Users may switch to other platforms offering better features or prices. Poor user experience, slow customer support, and unresolved issues can lead to churn.

What to do:

The skilled marketplace website development vendor like Cleveroad can render UI/UX design services to create an intuitive and enjoyable platform for your business. Moreover, our specialists can regularly update the platform with new features and improvements based on user feedback.

Finding the right domain specialists is crucial for the successful development of a marketplace website. The need for expertise in various areas such as e-commerce, payment systems, security, and UI/UX design can be daunting. Thus, you may find it challenging to recruit and retain such specialized talent in-house.

What to do:

You can apply to offshore outsourcing vendors to get access to their team of experienced professionals with the necessary domain knowledge. Offshore software development will help you fill specific skill gaps within your development team and ensure access to the latest technologies without the long-term commitment of hiring full-time staff.

Regulatory compliance is a complex challenge for a marketplace like an online store, especially those operating in multiple regions with varying legal requirements. Non-compliance to regulations and industry standards (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, PCI DSS, HIPAA, AML) can lead to legal issues, fines, and damage to the business's reputation. During marketplace app development, it is crucial to address these compliance challenges thoroughly. Ensuring regulatory adherence is essential when you build your marketplace to avoid potential pitfalls and sustain a successful online store.

What to do:

Outsourcing vendors bring valuable expertise in navigating these regulatory landscapes. Thus, our Cleveroad team can provide you with comprehensive compliance strategies, including secure data handling practices, explain to you how to become PCI compliant, and thorough documentation. By staying updated with the latest regulatory changes, we can help you mitigate risks and ensure your marketplace operates legally and securely.

Integrating various technologies into a marketplace is crucial and involves synchronizing multiple systems to work seamlessly together. During different stages of marketplace development, components like payment gateways, inventory management systems, and third-party APIs must communicate effectively to ensure smooth operations. Addressing compatibility issues that arise due to differing technologies and protocols is essential to avoid functionality disruptions. This careful integration will help grow your marketplace by ensuring reliable and efficient services your marketplace needs.

What to do:

With the help of Cleveroad Solution Architect, you can adopt a microservices architecture, which allows different components to function independently and communicate through APIs, enhancing flexibility and scalability. Moreover, our QA engineers will help you implement comprehensive testing frameworks to detect and address integration issues early in the development process.

As marketplace sites typically have many pages and contact forms, creating an intuitive and engaging UI/UX design is critical for the success of a marketplace website. Poor design can lead to user frustration, high bounce rates, and low conversion rates. Designing a user-friendly marketplace requires a deep understanding of user behavior, effective information architecture, and aesthetic appeal.

What to do:

Cleveroad project teams include specialized UI/UX designers who can craft a visually appealing and functional design tailored to the target audience. They employ user-centered design methodologies, conduct user testing, and iterate based on feedback to ensure the final product meets user expectations. This way, by focusing on usability and accessibility, we can assist you in delivering a superior user experience that drives engagement and satisfaction for your clients.

Now, let’s see how to create a marketplace website considering the most popular examples of online stores. If you want to create a marketplace, studying these examples will help you understand the necessary features and user expectations. This knowledge can guide you to build a marketplace and make it successful by implementing proven strategies and innovative solutions.

Amazon is the best example of how to create a marketplace and succeed. While its global market share isn't quite 9.4%, it still holds a dominant position in the e-commerce landscape. According to Statista research, Amazon captured 37.8% of the U.S. e-commerce market in 2023. This translates to a massive customer base, with access to millions of Prime members known for their higher spending habits.

eBay is another good case of building a marketplace of this type. While not the largest globally anymore, it boasts a significant market share with 1.2 billion monthly visits according to Statista information. It offers access to a large user base of 132 million active buyers globally, who generate a substantial gross merchandise volume (GMV) of $73.2 billion annually (according to Business of Apps).

The platform offers two sorts of selling fees:

• Insertion fee
• Final value fee when the product is sold

However, you don’t need to pay for initial setups or pay monthly /annual commissions.

Walmart is a major online marketplace with a massive reach. It is estimated to have over $150 billion revenue in 2023, putting it firmly behind Amazon but still a significant player in the marketplace space.

To start selling at Walmart, you need to get an invitation. It’ll give extra time to launch. Moreover, you can add your products to Walmart’s portfolio of goods. All you need to do is fill out the form.

Etsy gives you an idea of building online marketplace that focuses on selling vintage, unique, handmade items. As of June 30, 2024, Etsy boasts over 9.6 million active sellers, offering a platform for both hobbyists and established artists to showcase their creations to a global audience.

The primary revenue models of Etsy based on the following:

• Sellers pay as little as $0.20 for listing items on the website. This price is valid for 4 months.
• Apart from that, the marketplace charges sellers 3.5% per sale. The retailers can put their own sale price, but the platform reduces a commission of 3.5% from the sale price before sending money to the vendor.
• Sellers can access additional features by paying an extra price (e.g., advertising options).

Taobao is a China-based platform that takes no fees for transactions both from buyers and sellers. Instead, it generates money by taking vendor fees for SEO-like advertising (same as Google works). As a result, Taobao's business goal is to attract as many sellers to the website as possible so that they can compete for buyers' attention and the platform can charge promotion fees.

While exact user numbers can be challenging to verify, industry estimates suggest Taobao has over 700 million monthly active users. According to eCommercedb, Taobao's GMV for 2023 was estimated to be around US$616.8 billion.

Building a robust and competitive marketplace platform requires profound expertise in such a domain. Cleveroad is a professional marketplace app development company located in the CEE (Central and Eastern Europe) region. Our team has 12+ years of experience in delivering a wide variety of IT-related services and custom-built software solutions for e-commerce businesses.

The Cleveroad team has impressive experience in marketplace building. We'll tell you about one of the latest e-commerce solutions from our portfolio.

Our team created a Web-Based Marketplace Platform for B2C customers. Our US-based client wanted to bind merchants and buyers together in a digital environment of a custom marketplace website. So we created a flexible and holistic digital solution uniting an online marketplace, web-based backoffice for administration and a mobile app.

As a result, the customer obtained a competitive marketplace, which is attractive for their users. Moreover, they got high-quality maintenance services for the developed platform from our specialists.

This is what Oliver Carew, the founder of El Tab app, says about cooperation with our Cleveroad team upon Location-based marketplace platform development. You can fully explore the review on our Clutch page.