Marketplace Feature Guide

Operating a marketplace has several advantages, such as increased product variety, multiple revenue streams, and the ability to scale without managing inventory.

Regarding the storefront, there are multiple types of marketplaces:

Marketplaces that hide the actual seller from the customer (drop-shipping).

Marketplaces that aggregate offers from multiple merchants on a product page, allowing customers to see and sometimes choose the seller (like Amazon).

Marketplaces that don’t aggregate offers, instead presenting each seller’s products separately (like eBay).

When we refer to marketplaces, we are always talking about the 2nd and 3rd types.

Marketplace features

Merchant Portal

A core feature of any marketplace is the Merchant Portal, which serves as the control center for third-party sellers. Through the portal, merchants can manage their product listings, track orders, view sales reports, and handle customer inquiries. This self-service feature enables sellers to operate independently within the marketplace while ensuring that marketplace operators maintain oversight. For example, a seller can upload new products, adjust pricing, or manage stock levels directly through the portal without needing support from the marketplace operator.

Multi-Merchant

A marketplace is defined by the presence of multiple sellers offering products on the same platform. Multi-Merchant allows the system to handle product-listings, prices, orders, and operations from numerous vendors simultaneously. Each vendor can operate independently, yet customers experience a unified storefront. The system ensures proper routing of orders to the right vendor and keeps track of each merchant’s performance.

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