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A multi-vendor eCommerce platform connects multiple sellers with customers. Imagine a virtual shopping mall where various stores showcase their products under one roof. Here's a breakdown of the key aspects:
It is worth noting that US retail marketplace eCommerce sales will reach $603.20 billion in 2027, representing about 35% of total retail eCommerce sales.
Moreover, it indicates the time is ripe to invest in creating your eCommerce marketplace platform or even converting your single-brand online store into a multivendor marketplace.
In this article, we will learn about the various examples of the best multi vendor marketplace platforms to get inspired and understand how to start a multi vendor marketplace like Amazon or eBay on your own.
Shipturtle is trusted by over 1000+ C2C / B2B / B2C marketplaces and D2C brands across the continents. Check out top 19 marketplaces on Shopify powered by Shipturtle.
The brilliance of Shopify in managing single-vendor brand stores is common knowledge. But the coming of multi vendor marketplace software like Shipturtle, Onport, Garnet marketplaces, and others have simplified converting Shopify shops into a fully functioning multi vendor ecommerce platform or ecommerce marketplace platform.
Among the top picks is Shipturtle. It is a popular multi vendor marketplace on the Shopify app store. Shipturtle creates a multi vendor ecommerce website that invites sellers, customizes vendor dashboards, allows easy product listings, helps boost conversions, and increases average order value—all without holding inventory or risk.
This multi vendor marketplace app is highly configurable, code-free, and packed with features, and has support for over 50 countries, including the US, Canada, and Australia. It is also a reliable shipping software for ecommerce marketplaces, making it ideal for B2B marketplace needs and for those seeking multi vendor ecommerce website developers.
F&B online marketplaces
Apparel & retail marketplaces
C2C/Horizontal marketplaces
Most used features of Shipturtle
Most used features of Shipturtle
Most used features of Shipturtle
The significance of a multi-vendor eCommerce website is manyfold:
There are broadly three kinds of shipping options that you can offer to your customers:
The most common option that lets you ship customers by surface or air and charge accordingly.
Expert advice - You may configure it easily with Shopify’s native feature of Shipping Profile. Login into your Shopify partner account and make appropriate changes.
Here, you may offer the customers their choice of Shipping carriers like FedEx or UPS. This can be a great feature for time-sensitive and expensive products as it gives your customers complete freedom to view which shippers are safer or cheaper.
Expert advice - This option needs a feature for “Carrier calculated shipping rate” or “3rd party live shipping rate” - available only on advanced Shopify plans, and needs a custom app. Read more - 3rd party rate calculator.
Find a curated list of the best shipping rate calculators here.
You may offer the ability to pick up the goods directly, usually for free. This is usually the standard in hyperlocal, community, or peer-to-peer marketplaces.
Expert advice - This is a complex solution and requires custom development.
Shopify by default requires pickup settings to be configured at the Location level where Products need to be assigned to that location. This cannot be managed by the Vendors themselves. Also, this does not work in cases of checkout baskets having products belonging to different sellers.
However, using Shipturtle’s Split Cart feature and 3rd party rate calculator can help you configure the same.
Now, when your customers fill their carts with products from various vendors, magic happens:
Further, by enabling 3rd party shipping rates, you're unlocking a world of transparency and choice for your customers. During checkout, they'll see live rates from your integrated shippers – think USPS, UPS, FedEx, and more – specific to their order's weight and destination. This means:
Customers across the world are often more sensitive to the shipping cost rather than the product cost since while the latter is something they “get”, the former is something they “spend”.
With that important insight out of the way, you may base your shipping options on what most multi-vendor marketplace owners do in decreasing order of frequency:
You may offer flat or free shipping at checkout.
Expert advice - Shopify’s native feature of Shipping Profile allows the same. Login into your Shopify partner account and make appropriate changes.
You may vary shipment pricing options based on the order value in the cart or the weight of all the products in the basket.
Expert advice - While Shopify’s native feature of Shipping Profile may allow tiered pricing, it is not possible to set different rates at the Multi-Vendor level.
To sell vendor-specific shipping Profiles, use Shipturtle’s Marketplace Shipping Profile.
You may tailor rates to each vendor based on unique factors like:
You may simply collect the actual shipping rate charged by the shipper at checkout.
Expert advice - This option needs a feature for “Carrier calculated shipping rate” or “3rd party live shipping rate”.
However, it is available only on advanced Shopify plans and needs a custom app like Shipturtle on top of it. Read more - 3rd party rate calculator.
Here are a few tips to start your multi vendor marketplace business:
Further, here are the examples of the 15 best multi-vendor websites to get inspired from:
Established Year - 2006
Origin - United States
Marketplace Website - Etsy India - Shop for handmade, vintage, custom, and unique gifts for everyone
Established Year - 1997
Origin - Japan
Marketplace Website - Rakuten Group, Inc.
Established Year - 2013
Origin - United States
Marketplace Website - DoorDash Food Delivery & Takeout - From Restaurants Near You
Established Year - 2008
Origin - United States
Marketplace Website - Airbnb | Holiday rentals, cabins, beach houses & more
Established Year - 2011
Origin - United States
Marketplace Website - Postmates: Food Delivery, Groceries, Alcohol - Anything from Anywhere
Established Year - 2012
Origin - United States
Marketplace Website - Instacart | Grocery Delivery or Pickup from Local Stores Near You
Established Year - 1996
Origin - South Korea
Marketplace Website - ECPlaza - Connect with Global Manufacturers, Suppliers & Buyers
Established Year - 2006
Origin - United States
Marketplace Website - Global B2B Marketplace for Worldwide Manufacturers and Whole Suppliers | International Portal for Export & Import to Trade Online – eWorldTrade
Established Year - 2004
Origin - China
Marketplace Website - DHgate - Buy China Wholesale Products Online Shopping from China Suppliers.
Established Year - 2017
Origin - United States
Marketplace Website - A B2B Marketplace To Find Top Agencies | Jun 2024 | DesignRush
eBay is an American multi-vendor marketplace platform. It is considered one of the oldest marketplace platforms in the world. eBay allows individuals, sellers, and businesses to buy and sell on the platform. They offer a wide range of products ranging from electronics to apparel. They have seamless shipping options and competitive prices.
Their multi-vendor marketplace solution is the best in the market offering bidding, auctions, checked sellers, and direct brand selling. eBay has been an old and reputed player in the marketplace. Ebay is ranked 2nd largest marketplace in the world.
Established Year - 1998
Origin - United States
Marketplace Website - Electronics, Cars, Fashion, Collectibles & More | eBay
Amazon is the largest marketplace in the world. It has a large customer base and a popular online E-commerce platform. Based in the USA, Amazon initially started as a bookstore and then expanded to a wholesome online store. In the present day, it covers a huge range of products that include books, electronics, apparel, home decor items, and much more.
It offers customer membership giving free shipping and quick delivery options. Amazon Fulfillment service provides smooth shipping, storing, packing, and supply chain mechanisms for vendors and sellers. Moreover, it also provides cloud services, music services, and online TV solutions. Amazon serves in over 20 countries across continents.
Established Year - 1994
Origin - United States
Marketplace Website - Amazon.com. Spend less. Smile more.
Alibaba is the largest B2B marketplace in the world. It is popular across the world for offering B2B marketing solutions through its robust multi vendor ecommerce platform. They have a huge ecommerce marketplace platform and attract many visitors to their platform. Alibaba supports international languages like Japanese, Italian, and German. Comparatively, they are good competitors of eBay and Amazon platforms in the multi vendor marketplace platform space.
Alibaba operates many other sub-brands under its name. These are Alipay, Alibaba International, and AliExpress—each leveraging advanced multi vendor marketplace software. They have a user base of over 35 million. It mostly focuses on traders, manufacturers, and businesses, making it a key player among multi vendor ecommerce website developers and a reliable destination for shipping software for ecommerce marketplaces.
Established Year - 1999
Origin - China
Marketplace Website - Alibaba.com: Manufacturers, Suppliers, Exporters & Importers from the world's largest online B2B marketplace
Walmart is also one of the largest and oldest multi-vendor marketplaces in the world. The platform covers a wide range of products from clothing, shoes, and groceries to electronics. Walmart Marketplace allows third-party sellers to list products on the online platform, reaching millions of consumers across the globe.
Their marketplace features include competitive prices, great marketing tools, smooth logistics, and a supply chain making it an attractive place for sellers to make huge sales.
Established Year - 1962
Origin - United States
Marketplace Website - Walmart | Save Money. Live better.
Are you looking to build a multi-vendor marketplace for your Ecommerce business?
You can try the Shipturtle marketplace builder: a one-stop destination for all your marketplace website needs.
35%
Good time to invest in ecommerce as US retail marketplace eCommerce sales alone will reach $603.20 billion in 2027, representing about one-third of total retail eCommerce sales.
I. Lower dependency on a single vendor
A profitable multi vendor ecommerce platform business is when you have multiple sellers and vendors. Relying on a single vendor can be risky. When you have multiple vendors, your ecommerce marketplace platform can maintain smooth end-to-end transactions even if other vendors face any uncertain issues. If one vendor fails to deliver, others can fill the gap, ensuring a consistent supply of goods and minimizing the risk of stockouts and delivery delays.
Vendors can learn from each other, share best practices, and collaborate on marketing efforts. This ensures sellers and vendors can enhance loyalty and contribute to the multi vendor marketplace platform’s long-term success.
II. Huge customer base
If you have boarded a multi vendor marketplace, it is likely to attract a larger customer base. A broad product range attracts a larger, more reliable customer base, reducing the risk associated with relying on a niche market. The higher the customer base, the higher the sales figure.
A diverse product selection can showcase different demographic groups and locations, expanding the b2b marketplace’s reach and making it less vulnerable to market changes affecting specific product categories.
III. Easy integrations and support
A major benefit of a multi vendor ecommerce platform solution is that it offers a wide range of marketing integrations and tool support. Multiple product categories allow you to experiment with new product lines without significantly impacting your store.
A dynamic vendor base invites innovation and experimentation. Vendors can launch new products and services more readily, and the multi vendor ecommerce website can quickly attract customer response. Leveraging the right shipping software for ecommerce marketplaces can further streamline operations and boost efficiency.
IV. Diverse revenue options
Another benefit of a multi vendor marketplace software is that it offers a range of revenue options. Depending on one vendor limits your income potential and negotiating power. Multiple vendors create diverse revenue streams and better opportunities to set profitable margins for your ecommerce marketplace platform.
Multi vendor ecommerce website developers often design systems that can generate revenue through various channels. These revenue models include commission fees, subscription fees from vendors, listing fees, and advertising fees. This dynamism of revenue streams makes the business model more resilient and profitable.
V. Increased product and services variety
Offering products from multiple vendors allows your store to provide a wider range of product choices, attracting more customers who seek variety. The wider the range of products, the wider the customer base. The multi vendor ecommerce platform is best for this case. This variety of products and services attracts more visitors and keeps them engaged, without having them visit multiple websites.
VI. Business flexibility and scalability
Multi vendor ecommerce websites are automatically scalable. As the business grows, new vendors, sellers, and product categories can be added without significant changes to the platform. This flexibility gives the marketplace a chance to expand and adapt to changing market conditions and consumer preferences.
Many of the top ecommerce marketplace platforms like Amazon, Etsy, and Uber take advantage of multi vendor marketplace software features and benefits.
Shipturtle is a great app to convert your Shopify store into a marketplace like Amazon or custom-build a multi-vendor marketplace business. It facilitates the process of adding multiple vendor types with an instant setup (powered by Webhooks push HTML request) to create a fully functional marketplace in less than 48 hours!
Marketplace software like Shipturtle offers a no-code builder tool with responsive and knowledgeable technical support, great in-app experience for the vendor, and loaded with features including:
Moreover, we have listed examples of global marketplaces that use the Shipturtle marketplace solution directly from the Shopify app store.
Click here to schedule a personalized demo and explore the core features of Shipturtle to build a fully-fledged marketplace.
Get advanced shipping, configurable vendor management, payment features, and more. Install Shipturtle today from the Shopify App Store and enjoy a free trial to experience its benefits firsthand.
Want to learn more about how Shipturtle can benefit your business? Book a personalized demo with our sales team.
Experience the power of Shipturtle for free. Start your trial today and discover how it can transform your Shopify multivendor store!
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Sharad Kabra is an accomplished entrepreneur and the founder of Shipturtle, a global SaaS platform that enables seamless partnerships between direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands and e-commerce marketplaces. Before founding Shipturtle, he co-founded myBageecha.com, a popular gardening marketplace, and GabbarFarms.com, which focuses on sustainable farming.
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