What is Peer to Peer Marketplace?
The peer-to-peer marketplace is an e-commerce model with some very specific features that differ from traditional business models. The main difference is in the roles of customers and suppliers. The traditional model is composed of two distinct groups, customers, and suppliers. They interact with one another, and their roles are precisely defined. In the peer-to-peer marketplace model, there is no solid line between the two roles, customers can act like suppliers and vice versa. It is based on the concept of Sharing Economy, where assets or services can be shared between individuals. The power and the influence of the peer-to-peer marketplace platforms can be well understood by the fact that in the last 15 years, more than 200 startups following a sharing-based model received investments over 11.5 billion dollars. In 2016, consumers spent at least $10.7 billion in the sharing economy platforms, which has generated an estimated $1.7 billion in revenues in these peer-to-peer platforms.
Why Peer to Peer Marketplace?
Use of Underutilized Resources: These platforms facilitate the sharing of goods, services, time, capital, experiences, and space, directly between individuals, and often at a reduced cost to the consumers. These platforms are always “on” and open to virtually any consumer from anywhere. Convenience and flexibility: No need to produce any goods or invest in Manufacturing. Easy to change industry, marketplace specifics anytime.
Additional Job Opportunities: Given the flexible nature of the work environments in the platform-based businesses, more and more women and young people are able to work on a part-time basis or remotely, thereby improving the social and economic status of the people.
Key Functionalities for Peer to Peer Marketplace
Product listings
this feature allows for adding products or services to the website. Providers should be able to add, remove, edit, publish and delete items. In turn, customers can review, comment on, and rate items. Vendors should be able to customize their products for their Brands.
Payment functionality
this is a crucial element, and here, the integration with different payment gateways or other open-source tools will be great. There should be extra attention on security for payments, this is where Escrow service comes into the picture. The system collects the customer’s payment and keeps it until the product or service is successfully delivered. After that, the system transfers money to the seller.
Ratings & Review:
A review system provides credibility to the marketplace. This is a good way to foster a competitive environment among the sellers. This can help in improving order fulfillment rates and better product listings which in turn will promote goodwill and bring in more users. The built-in rating system allows making two-way (suppliers and customers rate each other) ratings.
Supplier/Admin Dashboard:
Each entity involved in the Business needs a separate account where they will manage their listings, create special offers, add shipping methods, manage shipping costs, get sales reports, process payouts, ratings, and review. Suppliers might not be techies so the interface has to be User-friendly.
Building a P2P marketplace as the next stage of your business development
Peer-to-peer e-commerce products have launched a new era in the world’s trading system. They are the key components of the sharing economy. We are at the tip of the iceberg, peer-to-peer platforms are becoming hyper-local and hyper-vertical like Faith-based AirBnb or an Indonesian Uber. And at IdyaFlow we want to make technology affordable, to help entrepreneurs create the next Airbnb or Uber on every product and service imaginable. Our Vision is to build the best online marketplace software, to help anyone, anywhere create and scale a peer-to-peer business. At IdyaFlow we believe, sharing is the new buying. We help individuals, entrepreneurs, small to medium-sized businesses, and large enterprises to launch a fully functional niche peer-to-peer marketplace platform in a few days, with few clicks and at the fraction of the cost. This is your chance to surf the wave that will wash over the world’s economy.