6 tips to accelerate the growth of your marketplace

The marketplace is an economic model in very strong growth, particularly because it has allowed VSEs/SMEs without an e-commerce site to find alternative outlets during the successive confinements. According to FEVAD figures for the first quarter of 2021, “on average (…), marketplaces have grown by +44%, a growth which, for the first time since the beginning of the crisis, exceeds that of the market”. New marketplaces are springing up daily in all sectors, so competition is fierce. So how can you accelerate the growth of your marketplace? We give you 6 tips to stand out!

1. Position your marketplace well by emphasising its strengths

You have an idea for a marketplace, you have identified a need in your sector, you have a particular skill that is an authority in your sector? Position yourself as a reference, so that you can establish your legitimacy, but moreover, customers and sellers will trust you more easily.

For this, a few points of attention:

• Make sure your offer is consistent, spreading yourself too thin will only confuse your message and put you in competition with the big generalist marketplaces.
• Put forward the strong points that will serve to differentiate you and perfect them, they are your added value.
• Make sure you follow through on the commitments you post (especially those regarding the strengths you emphasise).
• Reassure customers and vendors with available, courteous, and efficient customer service.

2. Develop the offer on its marketplace

Attracting new sellers to expand your offer, to attract more buyers, to increase your traffic, which in turn attracts even more sellers, and so on, is like the eternal chicken and egg story. Fortunately, with a well-positioned platform (point 1), there are solutions to attract sellers, even if you are just starting:

• Approach sellers present on other marketplaces, indeed, if they are already used to this type of distribution, it will be easier to convince them to come to you.
• Approach sellers who are not yet present online: many companies, especially in B2B, are reluctant to launch an e-commerce site, the marketplace represents a good alternative.
• Knowing how to differentiate with an attractive offer that meets the needs of salespeople, such as personalised support, training, tools that facilitate the management of their activity, rapid remuneration, attractive commissions, etc.

3. Identify user priorities and deploy key features

The main lever to differentiate your marketplace offer is to know your stakeholders well. What are buyers looking for? What problems do sellers face? Understanding the market on which you are positioning yourself by analysing supply and demand not only allows you to anticipate possible obstacles but also to develop features that

• Will lift these brakes
• Will meet the demand
• Optimise the user experience

4. Exploiting the data

Having quality sellers is a key lever for the growth of your marketplace, but they may be reluctant to join a new and still growing marketplace.

We live in the age of data. Leverage the data you have, whether it’s buying behaviour, purchase frequency, inventory, pricing, etc. By sharing it with your salespeople, you’ll build trust and make their lives easier.

5. Create a trusted environment on the marketplace

In the jungle of online goods and services, what pushes buyers to use a marketplace rather than another is the ease of purchase, the possibility of comparing offers, the availability of products or services, the choice, the favourable and secure purchase conditions, etc. For sellers, the decision to distribute their offer on a marketplace is motivated by the visibility that this provides for their offer, by the support and training offered by the marketplace, by the reputation of the marketplace, and/or of the other sellers that are distributed there, etc.

Although they have different expectations, there are several points on which they agree:

• The quality and scope of the offer (see point 2)
• Ease of use: the platform must be intuitive and ergonomic, inspire confidence and offer practical tools and features.
• The commercial conditions and the payment solution: the marketplace act as a trusted third party, it must therefore offer a reliable and secure system to reassure the buyer on the validity of the transaction and the sellers on obtaining a quick payment at a reasonable cost.

6. Act as a facilitator between sellers and buyers

Once you have attracted sellers to your marketplace, the main challenge is to avoid disintermediation. Buyers and sellers must perceive a value in going through the platform rather than dealing directly with each other. To do this, there are two levers:

1. Sellers should be able to easily manage their pre-existing relationships through the platform without penalty.
2. Sellers and buyers must perceive the advantages of going through an intermediary, such as the one-stop shop, guarantees, dispute management, etc.

If there are different levers to accelerate the growth of a marketplace, the important thing is to manage to create coherent, rich, efficient, and above all trustworthy environments. It is therefore essential to deploy a simple, reliable, and secure payment solution. Approved by the ACPR since 2012, Lemonway offers a multitude of services that allow you to adapt your payment platform to the needs of your users in complete security. To learn more, contact us!