9 Hacks to Know about Marketplace Software for Running a Successful Online Business

Ecommerce is a magical term that has created wonders in our day to day life. We have to accept the fact that we started depending on a multi-vendor marketplace and we have got used to it. This buying behavior of customers has made entrepreneurs turn towards multi vendor marketplace. Before starting a multi vendor marketplace one needs to analyze the hacks that will be helpful to run a successful online business.

Fix your product and identify your competitor

Fixing the product is one of the important aspects that every entrepreneur has to do. The product you select should be of high demand in the market. So you need to check with the market and understand which product is fast moving. Also you should be familiar with the product that you are going to sell. You can either fix on a single product or you can have multiple products. The multi-vendor marketplace supports multiple products so you can also have multiple products.

When a product has high value in the market then definitely there will be many competitors who sell the same product. So to succeed in your marketplace platform, you need to understand the strength of your competitors and know their area of interest and the keywords they have used to promote their product. This will help you to make you have unique keywords and can be different from others so that you can get many customers.

Brand your business

After analyzing the competitors and fixing the product you need to brand your business. Set a perfect brand name that goes well with your multi-vendor marketplace. Design a unique logo for your brand and make sure that your brand name and the logo you have designed is quite attractive, clear and short, and also easy understandable. This brand name and the logo is going to be used everywhere and this has to be given more importance for your marketplace platform.

Soon you confirm your brand name and you need to purchase a domain name for your multi-vendor marketplace software. Get your domain name as your brand name. Only then customers will be able to recognize your brand and your site easily. For eg. Flipkart has its domain as flipkart.com likewise you need to purchase your domain that resembles your brand.

Get your marketplace software customized

The most important aspect is to customize your marketplace software with all necessary features to make it a successful multi-vendor marketplace platform. Let us break down the essential features for a marketplace software in detail.

• Payment gateway – the main benefit of using a marketplace platform is customers can pay online for what they buy. It is very important for your marketplace software to have all sorts of payment options
• Inventory control – the vendors should be well informed about the stock status through their dashboard. When there is a shortage of stock then that particular product should not be displayed in your marketplace software for customer’s view.
• Customer rapport – to retain your customers you need to have a proper customer relationship management so that your customers get satisfied with your marketplace software.
• Multilingual and Multi-currency support – when you focus on global customers then it is mandatory to have multiple languages and multiple currency support in your marketplace software.

Sellermanagement

Any reputed multi-vendor marketplace platform will get more vendors who voluntarily get them registered with those platforms but being a start-up you need to invest more on reaching yourself to the vendors. Through advertisement you can announce your business. Even you can get displayed in local directories. People initially search local directories for blooming their business. You can join in any of the vendors association groups so that you can invite the vendors to join in your marketplace software. Another opportunity is to attend the merchant fairs where all vendors will join and meet. It will be easy for you to have a talk with all vendors at the same place.

Fine tune your marketplace software

Organizing your online store is the most important process that has to be done to make your marketplace software successful in the market.

• Products adition- The first fine tuning process will be adding the products to your marketplace software. Either you can add the products or the vendors can add their products. More attention is needed while adding the products. You need to check the product quality and its expiration. The owner of the marketplace software has the right to approve or disapprove the products that are to be sold in the marketplace.
• Revenue optimization – multi vendor marketplace is a good source of revenue generation. You can earn through numerous ways like commission, subscription fee, advertisement, affiliates and many more. You should have a clear plan for all the above.
• Deals and offers– to attract more customers you need to provide more deals and offers that will get you repeated customers to your marketplace platform.
• Shipping procedures – once the product is purchased by a customer, the admin should check for the shipping process. Proper shipping has to be done else customers will face the inconveniences that will harm the reputation of your marketplace.

Active online presence

Any marketplace software can be successful if it reaches its target audience properly. Most of the time, people are available online especially in all social media channels. The reach that you get through the social media platforms is unimaginable. Branding can be done in all social media channels.

• Facebook & Instagram – an exclusive business page for your business can be created and this page can be promoted and you will get more customers for your marketplace software.
• Twitter – by using hashtag you can tweet about your product and can get your tweet becoming trending.
• LinkedIn – all business professionals will be available on this platform and you can easily get new business.
• YouTube- next to Google, YouTube is the top rated platform where there are millions of users connected to it. You can have simple explainer videos about your products.

Boost your product

Marketing is the key element to boost your marketplace software as well as your products. You should have a clear marketing strategy and should invest with proper planning so that you can easily promote your business to the next level. There are many ways to market your marketplace software.

• SEO – get your website ranked in top position on Google search. This will increase your site traffic and will get you many new customers.
• Social media marketing – you can run paid campaigns in all social media platforms and the result is an assured one.
• Content marketing – you can have readable and attractive content and can easily promote your marketplace software.
• Email marketing – mail your customers as well as enquirers about your new offers and deals and let them know what’s new in your marketplace software.
• Search engine marketing – you can run paid campaigns and make your site visible at the top of the page.

Select your tool

Whatever you invest, you need to have a tracking of your investments and also should know where you get proper returns for your investment. For this you need to have Google Analytics where you get a crystal clear reporting about the process and the growth. With the help of Google Analytics you will be able to analyze,

• Keywords – highly used keywords will be displayed and you can make use of those keywords for your own promotion of your marketplace software.
• Location – in which location most of the people who search the products are located can be seen.
• Device – the highly used device to search the website can be analyzed.
• Timing – what is the convenient timing for customers to visit your page can be sorted out.

On the whole, this analytical tool can give you a clear idea of customers’ behavior.

Customer retention

This is where the real success of marketplace platforms lies. Any business needs to have customers and apart from getting new customers you need to retain your existing customers. There are several processes involved in delighting your customers.

• Retargeting – this is a common process that will focus on the existing customers and will keep updating them about our new offers and deals.
• Tracking – once a customer enters your site, he will be tracked and his actions will be monitored. It is to make sure that he has purchased the product else retargeting will be done for that customer.
• Live chats – as soon as a customer visit your site, you can have live chat with the customer and can understand what exactly he needs and can guide him and satisfy him with your service.
• Feedbacks – plan to get live feedbacks from the customers regarding their latest purchase, about the product and also about your marketplace software.
• 24/7 customer support – this is what exactly every customer expects from your marketplace. they want to contact you anytime and want you to be attentive and be responsive to their queries.

While following all the above process you can satisfy your customers and also you can increase your customer base as your existing customers will act as an ambassador for your marketplace platform.

Wrapping up

By activating all the above 9 tips, you can organically increase the traffic for your marketplace software. Being new to this business, it is always good to get expert’s advice and guidance. Zielcommerce is reliable marketplace software which has a strong customer base. The software is one-time payment software and can have lifetime subscription. Feel free to contact us to know more about our marketplace software.