The recent pandemic has made it very difficult for many businesses to survive. Being an entrepreneur or a person hoping to be one soon, you might have many ideas storming your mind.

You should work on ideas that can overcome the current obstacles haunting companies worldwide. It is not a hidden truth that there were lots of restrictions to operate during COVID-19.

Some businesses were able to overcome it using their digital presence to reach their customers. So if you are also planning to set up a business, working on digital products can help you thrive.

Choosing digital products such as websites, mobile or web apps, CRMs, and others can turn into a daunting task. As the competition in the digital industry has shown an unprecedented spike during pandemic times, you need to choose the right product for your business.

Recent trends show that Shopify marketplace apps are gaining significant popularity. Having one can take away the stress of taking care of deliveries, inventories, product details & upgrades, pricing, and various other information.

Today we will try to find out how to choose the Shopify marketplace app that can help you to succeed with your digital ventures. We will discuss the advantages and examples of popular marketplaces that are ruling the industry these days.

Before we start with our discussion, let's get more clarity on a Shopify multi-vendor marketplace.

Understanding the Shopify multi vendor marketplace

If you think that you don’t know how these marketplaces work, you might be lying to yourself. There is hardly any person on the planet who has access to the internet and has never visited eBay, Amazon, Flipkart, and Jumia.

Yes, you are getting it right, these websites that you might be using for many years now are among the top marketplaces in the world. If you check the transactions happening on these websites every year, it will make you fall for this concept.

As the name suggests, a Shopify multi vendor marketplace is an online platform where sellers and buyers can find each other to sell/buy products online. Being an owner of a Marketplace, you don’t even need to own any inventory.

All you need to do is facilitate sellers to list their products and buyers to buy them using the payment options you offer. Your marketplace will help vendors to find buyers, scale their business and manage it efficiently.

Here you will act as the administrator of the marketplace. The sellers can also manage their respective products through options you are going to provide to do so. Some examples of such platforms are Amazon, Flipkart, Airbnb, and eBay.

A Shopify marketplace app is an online platform that has the above features and is developed using Shopify or Shopify Plus. If you are willing to work on your Shopify multi-vendor application, you need to work on the below features.

What are the most vital features of a Shopify marketplace app?

There can be many different features that may be required to make your marketplace app unique. Businesses that work on this business model have to work continuously to introduce new features for the utmost satisfaction of vendors and customers.

Below are some of the vital features that every Shopify marketplace app should have to ensure its success in the long run:-

Vendor Business Profile

Your marketplace app will accommodate several vendors who are going to sell their products on your platform. You need to provide them options to add their unique shop name, logos, banners, and other information.

It helps the users who wish to shop using your app identify the individual seller on your app. Creating a brand for their shop will help your sellers to gain customer locality and long-term success on your platform.

Multi-Currency Support & Multi-Language Support

Unlike the brick and mortar stores, digital businesses are not limited to geographical boundaries. If you are targeting to develop a Shopify multi-vendor app, your sellers and customers may be present in any country.

To ensure that your app performs equally well beyond borders, you need to have multi-currency and multi-language support. It will help users from any corner of the world access and use your platform to purchase or sell products.

Multi-currency features help the vendors to receive payments in any currency their buyers prefer. Having multi-lingual support will ensure that sellers can cater their products to the users in their native language.

Groups & Membership Plans

If you want to start a marketplace application, you need to deal with vendors of different scales. You have to provide multiple membership plans to the vendors. They can use your services as per the size of their business.

You can create different Membership plans for your Vendors with distinct privileges depending upon these groups. It will help you attract even small vendors who cannot afford to pay more membership fees in the initial stages.

Shipping Methods

To enable buying and selling products on your Shopify marketplace application, you need to provide shipping methods. Many plugins allow vendors to offer multiple shipping methods to their customers.

You should insist on a reliable plugin for your app so that vendors and users can calculate the shipping costs before making the purchases. Ask your Shopify developer to work on it carefully.

It is a vital factor that determines the success of an app. You should also provide the option using which the vendor can select the mode of shipping.

Payment Methods

You need to offer a variety of payment methods so that users have the liberty to pay using the methods comfortable for them. There are different modes such as credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, and others that are common for eCommerce businesses.

You should provide the EMI or buy now pay later options so that consumers can be motivated to purchase high-value products. It will help you to convert the users with less purchasing power into a confirmed sale.

Email Notification

If you notice, all popular eCommerce stores and apps have good communication channels to gain customer trust. If you want to succeed with your marketplace, it is essential to focus on communication modes with vendors and customers.

They should get notifications, order confirmation, or delivery confirmation through email. Your vendor should receive emails whenever any event involving their brand or products happens on your Shopify marketplace.

Commission and Transaction

To set up your Shopify Multi-vendor application, you need to decide about the commission on transactions. You will be developing this app for profitS. You need to set a commission structure on a fixed, percentage, or variable basis.

You can also decide this commission based on products, categories, or types of vendors in your store. You also have to work on an effective way to make payments to the vendors operating with your marketplace.

Responsive Vendor Panel

Working on a responsive vendor panel is the need of the hour to operate in the current digital world. Your vendors will not stick to their desktops as the world is shifting rapidly to mobile devices. They will try to access their panel using other devices such as mobile phones and tablets too.

If your panel is not responsive, it can cause inconvenience to your vendors. If you don’t want your competitors to get your vendors, then make sure to develop a responsive panel to facilitate the vendors to access your platform from any device.

Advance Reports

Accurate reporting of data such as out of Stock, Sold Products, Sales reports, Product Views, and Payment Report is essential to monitor the performance of the vendors. If you fail to provide such data, your vendors can shift to other marketplaces.

Make sure that your admin panel can provide interactive reports on the overtime performance and stocks of the vendors. It will help to strengthen your relations with vendors for better future results.

Order Management

Shopify multi vendor marketplace facilitates the vendors to manage their orders, generate Invoices, Shipment, and Credit Memo (in the case of a refund) from the Vendor Panel.

Your app should allow the vendors/sellers to exercise complete control over managing their orders, generating invoices, and shipping their products.

You need to develop your Shopify marketplace app with a holistic approach to solve problems faced by the vendors. You need to provide the order management solution to the buyers also. It will help them to manage their orders without undergoing any fuss.

So, these were some of the features that you need to have on your Shopify marketplace app. Shopify Marketplace app Solutions comes as the real affordable solution for all the entrepreneurs dreaming of expanding their business.

A Shopify multi-vendor application needs to work efficiently and effectively with store owners and vendors. Always choose the services of a good and reliable development company to work on your marketplace apps.

You also have an option to study your competitors for the features they are using to cut the competition and ease their users. These features will empower your business for ensured success.

Build your Shopify multi vendor marketplace today and enjoy the most productive and engaging way to get success in this digital universe.