Building a C2C / P2P Marketplace with ShipTurtle

Are you curious about the dynamics of Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) marketplaces and how they can revolutionize your online e-commerce marketplace? Watch this insightful video:

What is a B2C vs a C2C Marketplace

B2C (Business-to-Consumer):

• B2C e-commerce involves transactions between a business (seller) and individual consumers (buyers). Businesses sell products or services directly to end consumers.
• The sellers are businesses, sometimes called Professional Sellers with multiple listings, large order volumes and established teams.
• Examples:
  • Amazon: Amazon is one of the largest B2C marketplaces globally. Businesses sell their products directly to individual consumers through the Amazon platform, offering a wide range of goods.
  • Nike.com: Nike’s online store is a B2C platform where the company sells its products, such as athletic shoes and apparel, directly to consumers without intermediaries.

C2C (Consumer-to-Consumer) or P2P (Peer-to-Peer):

• In C2C e-commerce, transactions occur directly between individual consumers. Individuals sell products or services to other individuals without the involvement of a business entity. This kind of marketplace is also called a P2P (Peer to Peer) marketplace.
• The sellers are generally individuals and are sometimes called Private Sellers with few listings, orders and are mostly run by a single person/family enterprise. 
• Examples:
  • eBay: eBay is a prime example of a C2C marketplace where individual sellers list products for auction or fixed-price sales, and individual buyers can purchase directly from these sellers.
  • Craigslist: Craigslist is a classified advertisements website where users can post and find services, jobs, housing, and goods for sale, facilitating direct transactions between individuals.

Shipturtle Tech for B2C vs C2C Marketplace – what is right for you?

In short, choose the B2C app of Shipturtle; if your Sellers will have many listings and orders, you need strong Shipping and Order Management capability. The B2C app also has several advanced features like Vendor Website Sync, Deeper analytics, Change logs and Bulk analytics.

Choose the C2C app of Shipturtle if it is important for you that Sellers stay on your website instead of navigating to a different app since this additional step can discourage Private Sellers. With the C2C app, you can control the entire design and theme. It also has a simpler interface with limited input fields.

Features available for B2C / Professional Sellers:

1. Bulk Order Management: The native app provides advanced features for managing bulk orders, catering to the needs of professional sellers who often deal with larger quantities. Change logs track all changes done by all users. Options to add notes, generate manifests, create picking lists and powerful filters help process 1000s of orders in minutes.
2. Advanced Shipping Features: Take advantage of powerful shipping plugins that help sellers integrate their own shipping accounts and generate labels, fetch rates, and track shipments. This helps you have complete visibility and control over the most common e-commerce question “WIMO” – Where is my Order? 
3. Product fields and variants options: The B2C app provides more extensive options for managing product fields and variants, which helps professional sellers better showcase their products. For example, it mirrors all fields available on your website like SKU, Barcode, Track Inventory, Cost Price etc. which are not relevant for most C2C Sellers. Change logs track all changes done by users. 
4. Vendor Sync Feature: Professional sellers can easily sync products and orders with their own website, expanding their reach and product exposure and facilitating seamless collaboration.
5. Integrated Inventory Management: A seamless inventory management system integrated into the app can benefit B2C sellers with a diverse product range, ensuring accurate tracking and availability.
6. Advanced Analytics and Reporting: Professional sellers often require in-depth analytics and reporting tools to analyze sales trends, customer behaviour, and performance metrics, which a native app could offer.
7. Integration with Third-Party Services: For B2C sellers using additional tools or services, the native app can support integrations with third-party platforms such as payment gateways, shipping solutions, and analytics tools.

Features available for C2C / Private Sellers:

1. User-Friendly Interface: A simplified and user-friendly interface could be tailored to accommodate individuals or private sellers who may not have extensive experience in e-commerce. For example, the C2C dashboard boasts a “card view” instead of a “table view” which is more appealing visually, and preferred when handling fewer data points.
2. Your dashboard, your design: Unlike other solutions which only “whitelabel” a seller domain and open into a new window, Shipturtle’s C2C dashboard is completely embedded into your website. We give you a custom code that you can modify as per your design and will offer your customers the most integrated and intuitive way to sell with you. 
3. Mobile Friendly: Our design is focused on minimalism and fast load time, completely optimized for mobile users wanting to list with you on the go.
4. Straight Sign-in with Shopify: Any customer logged into your website on Shopify gets automatically signed into their seller app. No username or password requirement no friction. Research says that C2C sellers need the fastest way to start selling. Every step on the way causes drop-offs up to 50%!
5. Easy Listing Process: We offer a straightforward and customized listing process, making it easy for private sellers to quickly upload and showcase their items without a steep learning curve. Custom fields can be added as per the industry.
6. Personalized Seller Profiles: C2C sellers may appreciate the ability to create personalized seller profiles, helping them build a reputation and establish trust with potential buyers.
7. Direct Communication Features: A native messaging system within the app can facilitate direct communication between buyers and sellers, fostering a more personal and private selling experience.
8. Flexible Shipping Options: Customization can allow private sellers to choose from various shipping options and manage their shipping preferences.

Explore our C2C demo store

Click here to access our C2C demo store. Follow the instructions written here to create a seller account and see the dashboard.
Note: Use the following password to access the C2C demo store: c2c@123

Steps for adding a C2C feature to your Shopify website:

Prerequisites:

• Ensure you have an active and listed Shopify website.
• Subscribe to the ShipTurtle basic plan.

Adding C2C Feature:

1. Purchase C2C Add-On:

• Log in to your ShipTurtle account.
• Navigate to the “Settings” => “Subscription and billing” section.
• Purchase the C2C add-on to enable consumer-to-consumer features on your Shopify store.

2. Access C2C Code Snippet:

• Here are two ways to add C2C (consumer-to-consumer) features to your Shopify website:
• Method One: Using a Code Snippet
  1. Copy the following code snippet:
     <button id=”st-become-a-seller-btn”>Become a Seller</button>
  2. Log In to Shopify admin, go to “Online Store” and click “Themes.”
  3. Then, click “Actions” or “Edit Code,” then identify the appropriate file where you want to add the C2C feature. Typically, this may be in the theme.liquid file or a specific template file.
  4. Paste the copied code snippet into your website’s HTML code where you want the “Become a Seller” button to appear.
  5. You can customize the text or style of the button to fit your requirements, but ensure you don’t change the button’s unique identifier (id).
• Method Two: Adding a Menu Item URL via Shopify Dashboard
  1. Log in to your Shopify dashboard and navigate to “Navigation” and then “Main Menu.”
  2. Select “Add Menu Item” and enter the desired page title.
  3. In the provided link field, enter the URL using your unique domain in the following structure: https://<your_shop_domain>/a/domain. For example – https://shipturtle-c2c-marketplace-demo.myshopify.com/a/dashboard

3. Publish Changes:

• Once you are done with changes, go to Shopify admin then “Online Store” and select “Themes.”
• Find your current theme, click “Actions,” and choose “Duplicate.”
• Open the duplicated theme in the theme editor and Confirm the C2C feature is present.
• Click “Actions” again and select “Publish” to set the duplicated theme as the main theme for your store.