5 tips for building a successful niche marketplace We all are quite aware of the fact that building a marketplace is very difficult - like actually very difficult. When you take a look at the examples such as Etsy, eBay and more. However, when it comes to doing it for yourself, the actual problems surface up. The very first being the chicken-and-egg problem, there are others which can be very problematic. What if you have potential buyers but no sellers? The buyers would leave and probably never to return. So how do you keep your audience engaged while building both the sides of the marketplace at the same time? Talking about a niche marketplace with two-sided interest, you cannot build a multi-vendor marketplace overnight. It takes both time and patience to achieve what you’ve thought about your marketplace. There’ll be problems in the way, but when to focus on the following ways, you’ll be able to start successfully while investing small.
Keep your boundaries While there are multitudes of products available in the industry that customers (a certain section) look out for. But, when you focus on providing what general customers want by having a sound knowledge of the industry would you be able to build a marketplace. In addition, if you add the feature of absolutely fine quality in what you provide, credibility is what you will earn.
Keep the burn as low as possible If you take the examples of the other marketplaces, you’ll understand that achieving your vision takes a lot of time, probably 2-3 years when you can finally say that this is what I wanted. With the slower pace of the two-sided marketplace, you’ll have ample amount of time to build your business step by step. However, this is the time when you might just burn all initial capital and that’s exactly what you’re supposed to adjust and trim down. Keep the burn rate as low as possible in order to keep it going till you’ve achieved your goal. Remember that if you spend your initial capital in the beginning and are not left with anything for the later, your business will ramp up
quickly. So, spend wisely by cutting down on things that you don’t need. From cutting down on the number of employees to having a physical facility where you can work from, all these aspects can be trimmed down.
Let the quality products do the advertising In the process of building your marketplace, the very first step of customer engagement would be to introduce your vendors. The very basic of a marketplace’s success is not always about the sellers. It is when the sellers bring in the right products for the potential customers. That’s when the business starts to build from the basic. Access to an engaged following is key in building initial traction with a participatory audience.
Rich content is the key When you are setting up a marketplace with a niche audience, you already have a fair idea about the kind of customers and have the access to how to serve them well. Now, all you need to do, keep them engaged in some of the other way by attractive offers and discounts so that they keep coming back. With the changing technologies that have made it possible for the multi-vendor module to work seamlessly, your high-quality content is what will drive in more traffic. The credibility is one of the factors that your content will build for your marketplace.
Communication is not a one-way traffic Just as we said that it is not only about your seller, well, it is also not only about your buyers. In fact, the strategy is about focusing on both the aspects equally and each one of them play a crucial role in generating the revenues.once you’ve done the basic of giving a platform to both the sellers and the buyers, go ahead and shape a personal way for them to interact with a smooth consumer-seller relationship.
Conclusion It might look like an extremely difficult task to build a two-sided
marketplace. However, once you’ve sought out the steps and have the clear vision that works as per your plan, things will start clicking.