I am a design Tech Expert, helping CTOs, Development Leads and Product Owners by participating in the full lifecycle of projects from initial requirement gathering and planning, through development, internal demonstrations and finally deployment. I shape, sculpt and visualise the product and its branding across multiple platforms.

Arkadiusz Janik

I possess over 9 years of professional experience working with many clients and developers from all around the world. I have a variety of front-end programming skills and a vast knowledge of code styles. I enjoy sharing my skills and knowledge with others by contributing to the Open Source community and mentoring new developers.

Dariusz Pieńczykowski

I work in an international environment providing high-quality programming services. I specialize in front-end technologies, most often using React.js, Typescript and Node.js.

Grzegorz Zaręba

Do you think Airbnb's success did happen overnight? No, it didn’t. But, it has become an inspiration for many startups to enter the same industry with the same business model. Do you want to replicate the success of Airbnb?

How To Build A Website Like Airbnb?

Are you looking to build a multi-vendor marketplace? Or want to convert your existing eCommerce business into one? Are you wondering whether Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce is the best option for you? Or maybe you don’t know which eCommerce platforms offer the best multi-vendor features?

We compiled a list of the best and most popular solutions that you should take into consideration during your research.

Let’s start with establishing what a multi-vendor marketplace exactly is.

\[TOC\]

## What is a multi-vendor marketplace?

A multi-vendor marketplace is a platform that allows multiple vendors (or sellers) to create their own online stores (or profiles) and put up products for sale. An amazing example of this is Amazon, eBay, Etsy etc.

Multi-vendor marketplaces all have in common a few features like:

1. there is always one store administrator who manages and, in most cases, owns it. He receives a commission from each sale
2. vendors manage the product uploading process, however, admin can approve or disapprove it
3. payment operations are managed by the store admin
4. shipment of the products can be done either by the admin or the vendors
5. both the store admin and the vendors can sell products through the multi-vendor marketplace

## What makes a good marketplace?

Marketplaces have very unique characteristics. There is a nice simile, comparing them to a butterfly. Marketplace is where suppliers (one wing) meet buyers (other wings) in one spot (the body). Successful multi-vendor marketplaces like Amazon, eBay or Alibaba have some winning ingredients in common. This is the recipe:

1. **Liquidity** - marketplaces have to deliver a high-quality demand to suppliers and high-quality products to buyers in an efficient and effective way. They need to satisfy both sellers and buyers by delivering liquidity. With increasing momentum, the demand increases. A marketplace is as good as its trading liquidity.
2. **Customer trust and safety** - a transparent community of buyers and sellers is a key value of marketplaces. Safety is also a crucial factor for success. It is important to create a store that is transparent and ensure the quality of services.
3. **Loyal customers** - another indicator of a successful marketplace is how many buyers and sellers will continue to use it. Marketplaces must know how to attract customers and retain them over time. Amazing features, various payment or shipping methods are what will make the early adopters become the strongest evangelists of your business.
4. **High-quality** - with the competition constantly growing your marketplace should deliver product quality comparable to the big names. User’s attention span is getting shorter so the performance and layout of your website should also be of the highest quality.

There are many providers to choose from when building a multi-vendor marketplace. We gathered the most popular ones below and highlighted their strengths and weaknesses.

## [Shopify](https://www.shopify.com/)

Shopify is an eCommerce builder platform for building online stores. With Shopify you can build scalable online stores with many amazing features and lots of applications. It allows them to sell products directly from their website, across many marketplaces and social media platforms.

Shopify is known to be one of the most popular eCommerce platforms that are outperforming many of its competitors. It is perfect for small businesses as well as big enterprises due to its scalability.

Shopify serves over 800 000 businesses and has many amazing advantages like:

**Pros**

* multi-channel integration
* 100+ payment gateways
* easy to use
* multiple themes
* 24/7 support

Shopify is [recommended by 88% of its users](https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/ecommerce-website-builders/shopify/shopify-reviews/). If you want to discover even more pros, read our article [Shopify Pros And Cons](https://selleo.com/blog/shopify-pros-and-cons).

**Cons**

* transaction fees
* when switching themes, you have to reformat all content
* only 10 free themes

When it comes to the main theme of this article - building a multi-vendor marketplace, Shopify allows adding unlimited sellers and products. What is more, it allows syncing products from sellers with Shopify Store, Wordpress Store, those coming from Prestashop or Magento. Pricing for the [multi-vendor store](https://apps.shopify.com/multi-vendor-marketplace) starts at $10 a month and can go up to $45 a month.

<Baner name={ecommerce} />

**Features**

* admin panel for managing sellers and products
* multi-lingual application
* own sellers profile pages
* customer ratings
* auctions
* mobile application
* seller-buyer chat

## [BigCommerce](https://www.bigcommerce.com/)

BigCommerce is a scalable eCommerce online stores builder. It has the most of built-in sales tools than its competitors. With its amazing SEO features, it is a perfect fit for large or fast-growing businesses. BigCommerce is said to be built in such a way to help its users sell online. BigCommerce clients include brands like Kodak or Toyota.

**Pros**

* scalability
* lots of built-in features
* amazing SEO
* multiple-channel selling

**Cons**

* complex terminology
* advanced features influencing ease of use

Developing a [multi-vendor store with BigCommerce](https://www.bigcommerce.com/apps/multi-vendor-marketplace-by-webkul/) there is a software application that can convert your single admin store to a multi-seller marketplace. This will give you backend access and control over products, orders, sellers etc. Similarly to Shopify, you can choose from 3 paid plans: basic, executive and pro plan.

**Features**

* flexible seller plans
* commissions for admin
* separate seller panel
* automatic or manual product approval
* admin panel for managing products, categories, orders, sales etc
* enable or disable seller’s admin
* synchronization of products from store to marketplace

## [Magento](https://magento.com/)

An open-source CMS platforms for building digital stores. Full of addons and applications. Magento is free to use, however, will not be suitable for everyone due to being open-source. It might be time-consuming to et it up due to a rather complicated dashboard and interface.

**Pros**

* great addons and apps
* open-source
* free to use
* huge community
* flexible design
* many marketing features
* good for growing business
* supported by Adobe

**Cons**

* steep learning curve, not for beginners
* complicated editing
* paid hosting
* time-consuming

There are two extensions available for the Magento store in order to convert it into a marketplace: one by Webkul and one by Purpletree.

[Webkul marketplace](https://marketplace.magento.com/webkul-module-marketplace.html) has features like:

* customized email notifications for admin
* admin can approve or disapprove sellers and products
* different commission for every seller
* landing pages for sellers with their top products
* sellers can add carriers and tracking numbers to orders
* seller public pages are SEO friendly

Base cost for Webkul is $349, with an additional $70 for installation service and $140 or $175 for 6 or 12-month support respectively.

[Purpletree marketplace](https://marketplace.magento.com/purpletree-marketplace.html) features options like:

* multilingual capability
* bulk import for admin
* vendor categories
* reviews and ratings of vendors
* split order view for vendors
* enquiries management

Purpletree costs around $150.

## [Sharetribe](https://www.sharetribe.com/)

Sharetribe is a platform that helps you to start, run and grow a marketplace. They widely advertise as a tool for creating platforms like Airbnb. Sharetribe is priced at $119 per month for a full plan with 1000 users. If you expect to have more than 100 000 users, you would have to pay $239 a month. Worth adding is the fact that you can go headless with Sharetribe, however, this requires a Flex account for $299 a month.

**Pros**

* no coding required
* a step by step tutorial for config page
* can be created within a day
* a supportive community of developers
* nice, quality design

**Cons**

* impossible to import a ready product list
* payments can be configured only via PayPal or Stripe
* may have useless features
* lack of integrated CMS
* you have to pay extra for landing page customization
* not so popular

Sharetribe offers a 30-day free trial. [The marketplace](https://www.sharetribe.com/how-to-build/online-marketplace/) can be equipped with tools like usage, transaction and business metrics to keep you up-to-date. Thanks to them you will be able to measure bounce rate or provider-to-customer ratio.

## [Spree](https://spreecommerce.org/)

Spree is an open-source eCommerce platform. It is used for custom build online stores, headless eCommerce, multi-store dashboards and multi-tenant platforms. It is integrated with payment processors, 3PL, ERP or POS.

**Pros**

* flexibility
* fast development
* full ownership and control
* easy payment integrations
* modularity
* mobile commerce

**Cons**

* need for shipping integration
* no supply management
* not a super active community
* strong understanding of Ruby on Rails necessary

Spree allows you to launch a fully-featured multi-vendor marketplace within a few weeks. You can request a demo vendor access and super admin access in order to review the admin dashboard.

**Features**

* multi-vendor functionality with [a plugin](https://github.com/spree-contrib/spree_multi_vendor)
* scalable
* marketplace IP assets ownership
* flexibility
* quick vendor onboarding
* product information management
* payments management (automatic and manual)

## Conclusions

When aiming to answer the question of how to choose a **multi-vendor eCommerce marketplace** for your business you should take into consideration that Shopify is the biggest and the most matured solution preferred for any **multi-vendor solutions**.

BigCommerce can be a great alternative to Shopify with its high-level integrations.

On the other hand, Magento is also a very popular choice but is not as powerful as other ones. Businesses are frequently [migrating from Magento to other solutions](https://selleo.com/blog/how-to-migrate-from-magento-to-shopify).

If you want something more niche, Sharetribe is a solution dedicated solely to building multi-vendor stores. And if you want an open-source solution Spree would be the way to go, providing you have a solid Ruby on Rails understanding - or are looking to hire RoR developers.

Our experienced development teams at Selleo want to help you develop the best multi-vendor marketplace. [Feel free to reach out and book a call](https://selleo.com/ecommerce-software-development).

Are you looking to build a multi-vendor marketplace? We compiled a list of the best and most popular solutions that you should take into consideration during your research.

How To Choose A Multi-Vendor Marketplace For Your eCommerce Business

Do you ever get a good feeling when you are browsing an online store? It can be a feeling of comfort thanks to the **amazing user experience** or a feeling that somebody cares when you are offered free shipping or gift wrapping.

**In the eCommerce world, your website design is your online ID**. It helps you stand out and should reflect your brand.

The main challenge of eCommerce websites is to **convert visitors into buyers** and make them come back for more. This is exactly why you should never underestimate the power of a good UX when building your website.

Here are **10 eCommerce best practices** that will help you improve your sales.

\[TOC\]

## How to improve your sales

### 1. Intuitive navigation

Having a beautiful website is pointless if it is hard to navigate. Endless scrolling, complex navigation, hidden menus all negatively influence user experience and therefore complete purchases. According to Hick’s Law, the more choices the user has, the more time it will take them to complete an action. If your customers will notice they are wasting time on unnecessary operations they will leave you for your competitors.

To avoid that, you should take these key features into account:

* **descriptive menu labels** - avoid generic words like “products” or “what we do”. They not only have an impact on the user experience but are also bad for SEO
* **simplified menu navigation** - fewer items in the menu will make it easier for the customers to find exactly what they are looking for. This will boost your SEO since simpler menus will allow your homepage to pass its authority to less authoritative pages
* **internal links** - remember to make it easy for people to move from one page to another; internal links and clear calls to action will engage users into your website. As your customers wander around the shop, make sure they do not get lost. They have to know where they are and how to get back, breadcrumbs are great at providing such guideline.

Under the category of intuitive navigation, we also have to mention mobile-friendliness. Over 1.2 billion people use their smartphones to browse the internet. For some users, it’s the only way to browser the web.

This means your website should work on mobile devices as good as in standard browsers. Here, it is important to make use of **gestures like pinching, swiping, etc**. When creating a mobile version of your website take into consideration drop-down menus and pop-ups, which might be limited by the smaller screen.

### 2. Hustle-free checkout

**Make checkout short**. If your checkout has 15 required form fields, a lot of users might just leave and never come back.[How to spot and get rid of unnecessary fields?](https://selleo.com/blog/how-to-optimize-complex-forms) First of all, do not force your customers to register when making a purchase. Not all of them want to create an account or be on your mailing list, allow them to make that decision on their own. If they want to register, however, make the experience as smooth as possible. Ask them to fill only the fields that are important to you like e-mail address, phone number and password.

A perfect checkout has:

* auto-format fields for inputs like credit card numbers (automatic spaces between numbers)
* localized input masks for phone numbers, area codes etc
* live inline form validation

Remember to \*clearly mark required and optional fields\*\* for a speedy checkout. You can also consider allowing to sign in using an existing Google or Facebook account.

Be open about the shipping costs in the very first steps of the checkout. You can also add the shipping cost to the product pages to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Another important part of checkout is security. You need to **switch from HTTP to HTTPS** since Google marks websites with SSL certificate with a ‘secure’ label and a green padlock.

Security badges demonstrate your authority and reassure your customers that their sensitive data is safe.

<Baner name={ecommerce} />

### 3. Attractive images

Images are what the internet is made of. We rely on our visual senses when we navigate web pages. Customers admit that pictures are more important than the product description and reviews. It is important that you choose the most attractive and appealing images. **Try not rely on stock images**, take our own, unique ones and make sure they are high quality.

Include several photos from **different angles** to showcase important details of the articles. You can also try adding in-scale photos to help your customers assess the product’s size. Another neat feature to consider is adding a zoom option or a 360-degree view of the product.

More and more stores decide to [use video](https://elements.envato.com/lp/create/video-and-audio/) as a way to present their product like footage of models wearing their clothes. This is common practice on a popular shop ASOS. In some cases, they also make use of AR where the model can present the clothes right before your eyes.

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/a.storyblok.com/f/86602/640x400/40785cd662/asos.gif)

Here is another amazing example of an unconventional product display where customers were able to virtually place items in a bag of their choice - iPhone, iPad, water bottle - in order to determine what would actually fit in it.

![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/a.storyblok.com/f/86602/798x602/d626186bf8/bag.gif)

### 4. Make finding products simple

Do research to find out which categories perform well and are the most important to people. **Create logical product categories and subcategories**, so your customers will know exactly where to look for what they need.

Implementing a search bar on the website will make finding products even easier. This way you will also know what are the most-frequently searched products or what to add to your catalogue. A good search bar is a search bar that allows users to look for items by their product code or even scan barcodes.

### 5. Personalized user experience (breadcrumbs, filters, viewing history)

On modern websites, **breadcrumbs show the path from a website’s main page to the current page**. They allow users to go back to the landing page with a single click. They are also proven to reduce bounce rate. Breadcrumbs make it easy to go back to main product categories and navigate through large catalogues improving user experience.

Filters also have a positive impact on the user-friendliness. They help visitors find exactly what they are looking for in a matter of seconds. Most **popular filters include colour, product type, size** as well as the ability to sort products by price or what is new.

What personalizes the user experience is viewing history. This can include products similar to those previously viewed, by the same brand or items that go well with the purchase.

### 6. Optimize the assets

Nothing makes visitors leave faster than a slow-loading page. **A slow website means a lower conversion rate**. An [Adobe study](https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/compelling-stats-website-design-optimization-list) showed that 39% of people will stop using a website if the images take too long to load. Improper sizing and poor compression of the images can have a huge impact on the speed of your website. You can find a [detailed guide on compressing assets](https://selleo.com/blog/compressing-assets-for-web) on our blog.

You can diagnose the issues with your website using[Lighthouse](https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse/)or contact[Selleo](https://selleo.com/ux-design).

### 7. Uncomplicated layout

The homepage is here to **engage a customer and build a relationship** with them. However, the product page is what turns a visitor into a paying customer. Product pages should be created in such a way to educate the client about your product, intrigue them and make them click the “buy now” button.

Here are the things to focus on while building an amazing product page:

* **images** - as mentioned above, you should present the product from different angles, use videos, 360-degree view, zoom etc. It is always a good idea to show the product being used, so your customers can visualise themselves using it
* **product information** - explain everything that you want customers to know about your product. Highlight the unique features, dimensions, compare it to other products. Inform if it is available in different colours or sizes. Describe the products like a person, not a machine. Amazon is known for describing products like you are talking to your friends or family. They like to tell the customers how they can use the product and how convenient it is

It is also worth considering how groups of products are loaded on the website. You can choose to paginate them, use infinite scrolling or a load more button.

**Pagination** is most frequently used by eCommerce stores with a large catalogue of products in order not to display all of them at once. Providing smaller chunks of content lets customers focus on the most important parts on the page.

If implemented well, **infinite scrolling** provides a smooth and seamless experience. In this technique, content is continuously loaded as the user scrolls down the page. Infinite scrolling is used by giants like Facebook or Twitter. It works well with a flat content structure but fails at goal-oriented tasks. For eCommerce websites, it might be more difficult to find the right products.

The last technique is adding a **“Load more” button** and let the customer decide whether or not they want to see more products. It gives them a sense of control while protecting from getting lost.

### 8. Vivid yet minimal design

The call to action button should be designed to **attract customers and convince them to click it**. Do not be afraid to make it big or use bright colours. The most important information should be eye-catching.

On the other hand, **minimal website design** has been a rising trend for the last 7 years. A minimal UX is defined as a design with the right number of elements that keep the website functional and nice looking. Try limiting colours used to three at most. Use your brand colours with their varying shades to remain consistent.

It is also worth to consider the psychology behind colours: blue is calming while green often signals eco-friendliness. Yellow can be hard to read and indicate caution. Keep a high contrast between the text and the background so people can read content easily. What is more, a simple design is the most useful in eCommerce since visitor’s attention will be directed towards pictures.

### 9. Allow user-generated content

In the world of eCommerce, it is not only your content that counts. Research conducted by marketing companies shows that consumers like seeing photos taken by other customers. You can also encourage clients to leave **reviews, share their experience with your products on social media or external reviewing websites**.

According to [Brightlocal](https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-consumer-review-survey/?SSAID=314743&SSCID=b1k3_jdfmf) 91% of consumers aged 18-34 trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Leveraging customer reviews will build trust and loyalty. Worth considering is allowing reviews to be posted without any moderation - this will show you are confident and honest.

Another example of user-generated content is **list creation**. Many customers are not 100% confident in their purchases from the beginning. It is nice to be able to save them for later in the form of a shareable wishlist or to simply visit when the right time comes.

Going further, you can build a social platform out of your website, where customers and other brands can publish news and gain followers.

### 10. Frequently Asked Questions

If a customers is unsure whether to buy from you they may leave your website. A FAQ page is a way to convince visitors that they in fact want to become your customer. As the name suggests, the page is there to answer the most popular questions minimizing the purchasing anxiety. A great FAQ page is written in a positive manner and is full of helpful tips. It can even include screenshots and images to make everything easier to understand.

A solid FAQ page can also **positively impact you SEO**, especially the local one. It gives you the opportunity to optimize your answers and questions for conversions and distribute keywords organically, without compromising user experience.

## Summary

An amazing user experience is crucial for your online store’s performance. It is what attracts visitors and converts them into loyal customers. The basics will not cut it anymore, you have to **implement eCommerce UX best practices** and offer something unique to make the customers feel special.

No matter which strategy you choose, remember to stay connected to your customers and personalize their experience.

**If you want to build your own eCommerce website and improve your sales, [schedule a consultation with our experts](https://selleo.com/ecommerce-development-company) to bring your idea to life!**

In the eCommerce world, your website design is your online ID. It helps you stand out and should reflect your brand. The main challenge of eCommerce websites is to convert visitors into buyers and make them come back for more. 

Read our articles on Selleo Blog

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How To Build A Website Like Airbnb?

How To Choose A Multi-Vendor Marketplace For Your eCommerce Business

eCommerce UX Best Practices: 10 Ideas To Improve Your Sales

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