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Online marketplaces have disrupted almost all industries. Do you know the reason behind it? The answer is because it provides value to both customers and suppliers. The more people are going digital, and they search for all services and products online. With more people switching online, the popularity of online marketplaces grows as the perfect spot for buying and selling thingies. 

Nowadays, there are marketplaces for almost everything, such as for selling and exchanging goods, renting, booking, transport services, auctions, food delivery, logistics, job search, beauty products, medicine orders, and many others. And new marketplaces are also emerging with time. You should also leverage this opportunity by introducing your online marketplace by hiring a web development company.

But you might have the question of how much does it cost to build an online marketplace. If you want to know the web development cost, this guide is just right for you to figure out the price feature-by-feature.  

How Your Business Can Take Advantage

Online marketplaces bring the seller and consumers together. This platform serves as a mediator where suppliers provide what they have to offer, and consumers buy products with a transparent payment method by comparing the prices. This allows people to get what they want while sitting on their couch. 

Besides, sellers get access to a much wider audience, which is a boon for small vendors or sellers who do not have a large inventory to check whether consumers will like their products or not. The online marketplace reduces the risks and secure position in the market. And if you own the marketplace, it’s an excellent opportunity for you to earn money without keeping any warehouse or dealing with any other similar issues by just taking a small amount from the transactions by informing the sellers. 

Hope now you have noticed the opportunities and the advantage that the online marketplace app provides. You might have already started thinking of opening your own online marketplace. So hire dedicated web developers from an experienced company to take leverage through your online marketplace. 

Stick to this quick guide and get started with your online marketplace.

Types Of Marketplaces

To find out the development cost of the marketplace, you should know all the types of marketplaces and then decide what you are planning to build. There are a few factors by which these marketplaces are distinguished, such as by offered products, business models, types of participants, and communication means. 

The cost of online marketplace development will vary as you choose the type of marketplace. 

Online Marketplaces that offer products:

Online Marketplaces that offer products

 

*Goods and products 

For instance: Amazon, eBay.

*Services

For example Uber, Airbnb, and Booking.

*Media 

Example: MediaMath, Matpra Media Marketplace. 

*Crowdfunding and investment

Example: Kickstarter, CircleUp.

Also, other types such as social networking, entertainment, advertising marketplaces, etc. 

As per the participants:

Business to Consumer (B2C)

This traditional model enables the interaction between the sellers and the consumers. These platforms contain many offers. The best examples of this are the AliExpress, Uber, Lyft. High competitiveness provides benefits for sellers to improve their services and product quality. 

Business to Business (B2B)

Under this scenario, the interaction occurs between businesses. These marketplaces sell bulk orders to help other businesses. This type of marketplace is useful for wholesale shopping & new businesses that seek suppliers. Examples of this type are Alibaba, Made-in-China. 

Customer to Customer (C2C)

This model allows interaction between consumers. Such as one consumer helping others, usually, participants in such platforms, are not entrepreneurs and businessmen. Examples of this model are Airbnb, Handy, Couchsurfing. 

What features that you must include

What features that you must include - Auxano Global Services

 

For getting a fully functional MVP version, you need to add must-have features for an online marketplace. Let’s get started with the basic features:

Registration:

To fully utilize the marketplace, you must include a registration feature where users must sign up and fill in their details. This form asks to enter the user’s first name, email, address, and password.

Moreover, to utilize the platform to buy or sell, users should agree to the Terms and conditions. Feedback form should also be included to improvise the experience further. Do not forget to include the help button to reach you directly. 

User Profile

In a marketplace, there are two roles: Sellers and Buyers. Both have a different role, and hence, their profile should also be different. Let’s start with the buyer’s profile first.

Registered users will need to update their profile details such as add a delivery address, payment method, email, password, etc. They can also check their order history or can repeat an order. Keep in mind that these profiles should be easy to manage. 

let’s come to the Sellers Profile

The profile should be super easy to manage. The seller must add this information company name, phone number, address, social media links, ratings, reviews, and testimonials. 

 

 

Homepage

Remember, the first impression is the last, and your homepage plays that role here. Make sure it looks appealing and awe-inspiring.

To have a great homepage, you should have a clear navigation system as all users want an easy way to search their required products. Apply a few relevant filters (location, price range, etc.), relevant suggestions, and don’t forget about the most important UI/UX design. 

Do include the last watched products on the homepage. This will help consumers to pick them up quickly without looking for the same item again. You can also add a list of popular products as well as the products that the user will prefer by analyzing the user’s behavior.

Shopping Cart

The cart feature is very important while buying the item. Users add products to the cart to view the price details, discount options, delivery amount, and payment options, and to add any specific comment or request. 

Users should see the list of items they have added and then proceed to the purchase. And at the end, the checkout method in which you can add your preferred payment method or popular ones such as credit card or PayPal.

Listing for sellers

Sellers need to describe and publish their products, so they should have the option of listing their products, creating new items, adding photos, and adding a description. Besides, also the availability option should be added so they can label if the product is out of stock.

Payment Management for sellers

We have mentioned the payment options for buyers, but as a platform, you should help sellers to manage their earnings. Your MVP should allow the vendors to retrieve their earnings, view the payout details, and have the option to add or change the preferred payment method.

Account switching option

You also should add the account switching option, what if a registered user wants to become a vendor? Usually, marketplaces offer a direct switch from the user account to the seller account. 

 

You can include this option, and to switch to a professional selling account, you can charge the user as per your terms. 

Admin Panel

This is a must-have feature, and you must have an admin panel to manage both buyers and sellers accounts. A standard admin panel for marketplace offers:

User management – From here, you can view all the details, edit user options, delete or block users, create an account manually, etc.

Messages – Getting and answering messages from ‘Contact us’ form.

Product or Seller Management: You can add options for products and for sellers, can edit the settings, etc. 

How much does it cost to build an online marketplace?

The cost of your marketplace may vary depending on various factors such as time taken, functional set you choose, and the region for development. 

The development of the online marketplace requires the best experts, effective project management, Appealing UI/UX design, robust back-end, front end development, and quality assurance. 

It takes up to 800-1000 hours to create a website with the basic set of functions, and the development will take 3-4 months, So the rough cost with the basic set of functionalities will lie around $30k to $50K. 

And if you want to add some additional features or integrate trending technologies such as AI, the cost will vary accordingly. 

Hence, for owning an online marketplace, you need experienced expertise, and for that, you can hire web developers from an experienced firm. Here Auxano Global Services can help you as the leading web development company in India, as we have experience in developing online marketplaces for various clients. 

To discuss your project more or to evaluate our expertise, just give us a call, and we will be ready to help you with whatever you require. 

Frequently Asked Questions

  • 1. How do you create an online marketplace?

    To create an online marketplace, there are a few steps, such as:

    1. Find out which type of marketplace you want.
    2. List out your required set of features.
    3. Analyze your target audience
    4. Reach out to an experienced software development company
    5. Monitor the entire process
    6. Launch the MVP
    7. Monitor the result
    8. Enhance the marketplace by examining the results and feedbacks

  • 2. How much does it cost to develop an online marketplace?

    The cost of your marketplace may vary depending on various factors such as the time consumed, functional set you choose, and the region for development. The development of the online marketplace requires the best experts, effective project management, Appealing UI/UX design, robust back-end, front end development, and quality assurance. 

    It takes up to 800-1000 hours to create a website with the basic set of functions, and the development will take 3-4 months, So the rough cost with the basic set of functionalities will lie around $30k to $50K. 

  • 3. Why should you hire web developers from Auxano Global Services?

    Hiring web developers from Auxano Global Services helps you bring your project to life without investing in the cost of hiring resources in-house, and we offer a very flexible and affordable price structure. Besides, our experienced developers are available to you whenever you need them, and before hiring, you can interview them and test their abilities. Feel free to reach us for your hiring demands.  

About the Author

jayesh-rathod

Jayesh Rathod

Jayesh Rathod is a Technical Lead at Auxano Global Services. As an experienced full-stack web developer he has a strong background in a variety of programming languages and technologies. Jayesh has a passion to shares his exceptional experiences through valuable words.