We have witnessed true innovation as we watch smartphones grow in market penetration of smartphones and the advancement of similar technologies.
This evolution has changed the business landscape. Today, most people have become used to buying online. With this develop, serious business ventures have to consider launching an online store if it fits their overall model and strategy.
Not all online stores are the same. There are multiple options available, and it’s important to make the right choice between a single vendor marketplace or a multiple-vendor marketplace.
What Are Single-Vendor and Multi-Vendor Marketplaces?
A single-vendor marketplace is comprised of a single vendor selling its own products. The standalone store has two stakeholder types: the seller and the buyers.
Due to the store housing only one seller, this marketplace will sell a limited range of products.
On the other hand, a multi-vendor marketplace is where many vendors compete to sell to multiple customers.
Therefore, buyers have a chance to consider a wider variety of products from multiple brands. This kind of marketplace involves three main types of stakeholders: sellers, buyers, and marketplace owners.
How To Choose Between Single-Vendor Marketplace and Multi-Vendor Marketplace
Especially for folks who are new to online marketplaces, many people find it difficult to decide between single-vendor and multi-vendor marketplaces.
Here are five important factors that sellers should consider when attempting to choose the best option for their businesses:
Cost
While it may seem like a simple comparison, you will find that cost structures can vary widely between the two types of marketplaces.
For vendors that are very cost conscious, the smart choice is a single-vendor marketplace.
With so many online store builders and plug-and-play website options, it is generally inexpensive to set up a single-vendor marketplace.
On the other hand, setting up a multi-vendor marketplace is a more complex process involving tailored solutions, several integrations, and many iterations. This type of platform may expand your reach and provide a range of more premium features, but you will pay for those features whether you use them or not.
Responsibilities
You will find a fairly significant difference between the two marketplace types, with respect to the amount of responsibilities you’ll have to take on as a vendor.
If you are capable of wearing many hats and juggling different roles, then you should consider setting up your stand-alone store. You will have to take care of logistics, marketing, branding, as well as many other roles.
Conversely, with a multi-vendor marketplace, there is a clear separation of the roles and responsibilities between the vendors and the site administrator.
As a seller, you don’t have to worry about a myriad of things—just selling your products. The website admin or owner concentrates on site maintenance, driving traffic through marketing, and ensuring vendors co-exist well.
Ease of Implementation
Anyone who decides to set up a new online store on either of these marketplace types will run into challenges.
However, you’ll notice huge differences in how complicated it is to build out on a single-vendor vs. a multi-vendor marketplace.
It’s much easier to install a single-vendor solution. This process only involves one set of protocols or programs to link to your existing systems.
Multi-vendor marketplaces, on the other hand, require more work and expertise to set up. You’ll need to understand how to integrate disparate systems that very well may prove to be altogether incompatible.
Fortunately, when you use a reliable platform such as Virto Commerce for your online store, you will have no worries regardless of whether you choose to set up a single-vendor store or integrate your existing web store with a third-party marketplace.
Such a platform ensures all your product data is properly prepared for integration and offers multiple features that are important for running a successful online store.
Administrative Roles
The single-vendor model involves only two parties, the seller and the vendor. As the admin of the site, you will have minimal need to coordinate with other parties at all.
For multi-vendor marketplaces, integration is crucial, because you will always need to work with multiple parties. At a minimum, all vendors on this platform have to work with an administrator to ensure everything runs smoothly.
However, a multi-vendor marketplace has an advantage when it comes to the administrative role because the admin will have excellent development and design skills. Consequently, the admin ensures the site continuously functions and is kept up-to-date, mostly using feedback from users.
Workflow Optimization
When running your online store, you’ll need to establish good communication processes to ensure things run smoothly.
For the best communication processes and optimized workflows, you will be better off choosing a single-vendor marketplace.
With this model, you can enjoy a much simpler process of coordination and communication with both customers and supply chain vendors. Without having to depend on intermediaries, you can be more agile and proactive.
On the other hand, a multi-vendor marketplace tends to have complexity in coordination and communication, because it involves several parties and online interfaces.
Conclusion
Both of the two options—single-vendor and multi-vendor marketplaces—have advantages and disadvantages.
When choosing the best option for your business, you need to check which works best for you. Focus on what helps the most in terms of driving your sales, and saving costs, while considering your level of expertise and capacity to handle the various roles and responsibilities.
You should also consider pricing. In a multi-vendor marketplace, buyers will compare your products’ prices with those of other sellers. However, in your stand-alone store, buyers have no other vendors with whom to compare your prices, but they may still leave your store and check elsewhere.
Hopefully this helps you make the best decision for yourself and your business. Here’s to your success!
Disclaimer: The views and opinions stated in this post are that of the author, and Return On Now may or may not agree with any or all of the commentary.
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Solomon Njoroge
