4 Types of Marketplace Sellers

Clear fee structure. When attracting new sellers, the marketplace must provide them with a clear formula for calculating brokerage commission. Sellers need to understand what percentage of the sale they may expect. Complicated calculations like "Commission 2.5% on the sale of each item, an additional 1.5% on the sale of more than 5 units to the same buyer, and 1% for the sale of the entire assortment within a month" are likely to turn off the seller. Whereas a fixed rate, i.e., a one-time charge for the sale of goods, will become the strength of the marketplace.

Access to price management tools. It is essential for experienced online trading players that the intermediary allows them to regulate the prices of their products independently. Existing online stores will appreciate the possibility of providing discounts, implementing discount loyalty programs, or adjusting pricing policies depending on the demand for a particular product. As a result, they will enter your trading platform without hesitation.

Management system with several access levels. The way B2B companies work is different from regular online stores. As a rule, such sellers have a hierarchy of employees with different powers. To let them do their job, a management system with various access levels is necessary. For example, to change the price of a product, an ordinary employee needs the manager's permission. The roles of warehouse workers, accountants, and other positions may be provided in large companies.

Easy re-ordering procedure. Who is a B2B marketplace seller? It's a seller whose customers buy a lot, regularly, and often the same product. To make it easier to find the necessary items in a catalog of hundreds or even thousands of products, it is worth adding the one-click re-ordering option. B2C companies can also apply this approach.

Possibility of offering wholesale discounts. Despite the high interest of marketplaces in attracting B2B companies, many of them still do not provide the opportunity to set discounts for bulk purchases. Add a special pricing control panel for wholesalers and allow them to offer different discounts depending on sales volumes, set the minimum number of products to receive a discount, the duration of special offers, and so on. It will certainly be of interest to wholesalers.

Access to analytics tools. This argument will work well in the case of medium and small companies without the ability to obtain specialized analytical data. Let them analyze search queries and keyword popularity and open access to the demographics of potential customers. It will be an additional incentive for brands to join your marketplace.

Broad advertising prospects. Brands are constantly looking for new markets for their products and services. A marketplace with a mature audience is a good option for this, especially if it places additional brand advertising on its pages. For example, some platforms offer brands to place banners to attract potential customers.

Simple delivery system. When working with real stores, it is worth considering their lack of experience in online sales. To simplify cooperation, develop instructions for delivering products from the seller to you. Also, automate sending goods to customers and the settlement system in the triangle "client - intermediary - seller".

A clear procedure for creating a product catalog. Again, the problem is that physical stores do not have experience preparing product cards for online stores. Therefore, it is necessary to make this process as clear and simple as possible. For example, you can offer a salesperson a catalog creation tool that helps to divide all available information into categories, subheadings, a description block for each item, and shipping information.