Advantages of a marketplace site: what are they?

After two years of Covid, can having a markeplace site be the winning choice? What are the advantages of being the owner of a marketplace? A Marketplace site is a web platform that specializes in buying and selling a good or service. Like a supermarket, a marketplace is nothing more than an intermediary site that acts as a meeting and contact point between sellers and buyers from all over the world. The marketplaces allow the goods or services of different producers, sellers and companies to be brought together under the same brand. Let’s find out in this guide what are the advantages of a marketplace.

Marketplace site: a real revolution in the sales sector

In recent years, with the technological revolution and the changing needs of end consumers, a new business model has been born that makes interaction and transitions between suppliers and customers easier and faster. Marketplace sites feature a large amount of products and services and provide the seller with all the necessary sales material. Final consumers, increasingly demanding and in need of looking for the best products and the best brands on the market, have a high margin of choice to meet their needs thanks to a series of personalized services.
The marketplace sites involve a plurality of subjects in the process of selling products and services. These include the marketplace administrator, suppliers / sellers, logistics, the company that takes care of the E-Commerce site, couriers and the end customer. From here, it can be understood that the creation of a marketplace site creates jobs in different sectors: from digital to the transport sector.

Marketplace site: what are the types?

There are different types of marketplace sites. It is possible to distinguish vertical marketplaces, which deal with a single type of product or a single product sector, and horizontal ones that offer products of various product categories and services.

Another classification identifies the following types of marketplaces:
• B2B Marketplace. The economic subjects are professionals or companies. The sale of goods or the service contract is concluded directly between entrepreneurial subjects.
• Marketplace C2C, the two protagonists, seller and buyer, are both consumers: they therefore act for personal and non-commercial purposes.
• B2C Marketplace. The seller is a natural or legal person who acts in the exercise of his business, commercial, craft or professional activity, while the buyer will be a consumer, ie a natural person who acts for purposes unrelated to the entrepreneurial activity.

Furthermore, another classification distinguishes the marketplace as a virtual showcase and as an e-shop. In the first case, the platform manager makes available a series of virtual showcases in which to display the products or services. The interested buyer gets in touch with the seller, inquires about the characteristics of the products by exchanging e-mails, by telephone or by other contact tool. In the marketplace as an e-shop, the site makes available to sellers not only a virtual showcase, but a real e-commerce store that allows them to receive and manage purchase orders.

Marketplace: what are the benefits?

A marketplace site is an additional sales channel to traditional sales. Compared to traditional stores, a marketplace site offers an innumerable variety of products in each product category. For this reason, end consumers increasingly prefer to buy on a marketplace site: here they can find the product that best suits their needs and their implicit and explicit needs. For example, if you want to buy a PC of a well-known brand, you can connect to a marketplace site and view the available models, in which colors, sizes, technical characteristics and prices. Thanks to the competitive strength acquired by marketplace sites, these sales channels are even able to get the price and practice much more advantageous commercial conditions for the end customer.

A marketplace site is definitely my sales channel to test if you intend to sell abroad and to reach new customer segments. In fact, marketplace sites represent a business model that ensures an exploratory approach for those who want to sell abroad, testing the market and without having to incur significant investment costs.

Even for those without a dedicated website or E-Commerce, a marketplace is the perfect choice for resellers and small retailers looking to reach customers. A marketplace represents a direct link between retailer and buyer, a meeting point that favors online commercial transactions.
The ability to sell products online on a marketplace with a well-known reputation and a varied and complete catalog for every need allows you to achieve the right leap in quality.
Managing a space in a marketplace saves time and money. Activities such as invoicing, logistics and returns are the responsibility of the platform at low prices and in relation to revenues.
Consumers, by purchasing on a marketplace site, can benefit from the dynamism of guaranteed prices in a context of competition with other marketplaces on the market and dealing with the same products.
Another advantage is to give the consumer the possibility to choose the delivery times (next day, same day, express, etc.); in some cases the free service is also provided for deliveries made within 24 hours.
Here are the advantages of using and contacting a marketplace site.