11 October 2022
Optimize your purchases via an e-procurement marketplace, expand your catalogue with a B2B platform, and manage your stocks with a circular economy marketplace… the marketplace model is attracting more and more large companies. According to an Oracle and Mirakl study, 75% of B2B companies actively develop marketplace strategies to compete with the market giants. However, only 28% operate their marketplace. However, being the first to launch a marketplace in a sector can be highly beneficial to a company’s positioning and the development of its market share. The case of large corporations is particular; many of them already have an e-commerce site that they can convert into a marketplace. Nevertheless, launching a marketplace is not a trivial digital project. It is often long and complex and requires the support of trusted service providers such as Lemonway.
The larger a company is, the more its organization operates in silos. It is more complex to make progress on a project on a large group scale, which requires coordinating a large number of people. To facilitate exchanges, it is recommended that a project manager be put in place to act as a link between the internal players and external service providers (integrator, editor, PSP, etc.).
One of the key challenges for a large group is to select quality suppliers who are often direct or at least indirect competitors. By being the first to propose a marketplace, you increase your chances of finely selecting your vendors (or rejecting them) while ensuring that their offers do not cannibalize yours.
Launching a marketplace in several countries implies offering local currencies and payment methods favoured by different consumer habits. Some countries prefer local payment methods. The PSP that supports an operator in its project must therefore anticipate these national aspects and even be able to develop them when the time comes.
Most B2B marketplaces handle large numbers of transactions with high average shopping baskets. Therefore, transfer is the preferred payment method on this platform. For example, for B2B marketplaces with many buyers, the vIBAN – or virtual IBAN – makes it possible to assign an IBAN to each marketplace buyer to speed up bank reconciliation and transfer execution. This also reduces the number of manual errors that can be made when entering the IBAN. For a large group that creates its marketplace, the challenge is to adapt to the payment habits of its customers and to adapt its technology to the new banking offers.
Lemonway is not only a technical service provider. Our experts are present from the beginning of the project to contribute their expertise and continue to support the operators once the marketplace is launched. A Lemonway project manager is dedicated to bridging the gap between the platform’s technical teams (CMS), the group, the future marketplace operator, and the integrator. He will be able to advise the partner on the latest innovations and best practices specific to the evolving marketplace model.
The Lemonway API is a powerful and scalable tool for the technical teams of large corporations. The marketplace can thus be deployed efficiently and securely. For several of its clients, Lemonway has implemented a connector between the CMS and its API that promotes compatibility between systems and offers better scalability of tools. In this case, it is possible to upgrade the payment methods on the platform thanks to the connector.
Our Payment Institution licence is valid in 29 countries of the European Economic Area. Lemonway can therefore support any marketplace whose head office is located in this area. The merchants of these marketplaces can be located anywhere in the world (provided that they can perform their KYC). Within the framework of the PSD2, Lemonway guarantees to its partners the respect of LCB-FT obligations through the validation of the merchants’ KYC.
You are an international group thinking of creating a marketplace. Lemonway’s experts will help you make your project a reality by assisting you from the beginning. Lemonway has been approved by the ACPR and takes care of managing payment flows and their segregation. Do you have any questions? Contact us now!
