Peer to Peer Marketplace Creation — Main Questions Explained
The P2P marketplace is a special type of application supporting the best qualities of a sharing economy. This is an idea that you should definitely think about if you feel that a particular request from a particular group of users can be satisfied in this way. In this article, we describe the basics of creating a p2p marketplace and also lead you on the right path cleaned from pitfalls.
The Brief Story of the First P2P Marketplace
The first platform implemented on the basis of the P2P marketplace principle was eBay when its founder decided to sell a broken laser pointer. It seems strange, but someone bought this product and thereby laid the foundation for a new business model.
Today, peer-to-peer marketplaces are influential market players, and more and more sellers and buyers are choosing these sites to start mutually beneficial cooperation.
What Is the Concept of the P2P Marketplace Today?
Today, the p2p marketplace is a kind of link between buyers and sellers of goods or between suppliers and consumers of services. At the same time, the creator of the marketplace does not own anything and does not risk — he simply provides a place for mutually beneficial cooperation between other people and companies. And this connection within the framework of one system provides a cool experience for each side of the transaction, plus it helps everyone (and the creator as well) to make a profit.
Here are the most prominent examples:
- Freelancer marketplaces like Upwork bring together customers and freelancers around the world and earn a commission from the payment of each completed order.
- Etsy and other marketplaces for handmade stuff are designed for connoisseurs of handmade products and their creators.
- Uber does not own a single car but helps the taxi owner to find his passenger, and vice versa.
- Airbnb and Booking offer homeowners and tourists easily to find each other anywhere in the world.
- Rentalcars works on the basis of car-sharing and makes it possible to rent a car from the hands of its direct owner.
Thus, the p2p marketplace is about a sharing economy, the prosperity and development of which was predicted several years ago. Following this trend, modern business no longer buys and sells in its purest form — it helps and solves current problems. Therefore, the creation of such a marketplace platform can be very beneficial in the long run.
Main Functions You Should Implement in Your P2P Marketplace
So, since you will be an intermediary between sellers and buyers, you need to create such a platform that will work perfectly without your participation. And the first thing you should start with is to think over the required functions that should be developed regardless of the specifics and niche of your market place. Also, don’t forget the trends in marketplace development
Personal Profile
Here, each user will be able to give the most detailed information about himself, but with the exception of contact information. Since the goal of creating a marketplace is also profit, then you need to exclude any possibility of communication between participants in the transaction outside the platform.
Lists of Products or Services
This is what your marketplace will fill, and you will receive a certain payment from each completed transaction.
Payment System
In the case of the marketplace, you need to pay close attention to the security of payment data and the seamless conduct of financial transactions. Yes, you cannot be responsible for the quality of products or services, but you must be responsible for the safety of users and the honesty of transactions. Therefore, it will be wise to connect a deposit system with which money will be frozen in the buyer’s account until he receives the goods or services from the seller. Upwork is the perfect example of how this approach works while providing confidence to each contractor.
Reviews, Ratings, and Feedback
Since, as we have already said, you cannot be responsible for the quality, your task is to help users make the right choice — because this has a direct impact on the commissions that you will receive. Therefore, it is necessary to give everyone a chance to share their feedback and give a rating for the quality of the goods or services provided.
Checkout Page and Cart
Most users decide to purchase spontaneously. They can make decisions quickly enough, but the apparent lameness of the user interface and experience will force them to change their decision at the same speed. Modern users are demanding of the experience that they want to get. Therefore, the checkout page should be as simple as possible and not impose the need for unnecessary actions — otherwise, the desire to buy will fade away every time.
Notifications
What is most remarkable, the peculiarity of the p2p marketplace is that people may have a constant need to come back and buy something else. However, it would be wrong to say that it is not necessary to involve them in the shopping process even more. Think of a notification system and closely mix it with your marketing strategy — think of attractive welcome bonuses, discounts and coupons to get the first users and keep their attention.
P2P Marketplace vs Online Store — Let’s Compare
Most likely, you no longer have any doubts that the p2p marketplace is a profitable and almost risk-free business model. However, if you are simultaneously considering the idea of creating an online store, we decided to compare these opportunities according to several criteria.
- The process and cost of creation. Practical experience suggests that it is quite expensive, difficult and time-consuming to create an online store capable of competing in this niche. At the same time, the process of creating a marketplace is simpler technically and less costly.
- Promotion. It is quite difficult to develop an online store. You will constantly have to come up with new and new digital marketing strategies, as the vagaries of customers clearly exceed all the supply and demand combined. In the case of the marketplace, you will have to invest in the development of the brand, and with sufficient coverage, the process will go on its own.
- Retention. It has never been easy to return customers to the store. As for the marketplace, having won users once, you will no longer have to come back to this because they will buy again and again, getting a convenient opportunity to compare all the products on the market in one place.
Attractive, right? If you are ready to learn more about creating peer-to-peer marketplaces, Clockwise development team has gathered practical experience and is ready to share it in its blog!
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