Within the digital economy, marketplace sites and online retailers have both become strong e-commerce business models. Your online store or marketplace platform will produce significant revenue streams with the right approach and niche market.
How do you decide which model is best for your business idea? Both have advantages and disadvantages. We’ll go through the main differences between creating online stores and using marketplace platforms in this article so you can make an informed decision.
What is a Web Store and Marketplace?
Web Store:
A single seller who wants to sell their inventory of goods directly to their target audience can use an online ecommerce store.
You get the full purchase price and are in charge of importing or producing, storing and distributing your products. Topman.co.uk, which offers menswear under its name, is an example of this.
Marketplace:
On the other hand, an online marketplace focuses on bringing together many buyers and sellers of products and services.
Etsy.com, for example, is a popular platform for individual crafters to connect with consumers searching for exclusive, handcrafted, and small-scale items. The marketplace owner manages and secures the platform’s two sides, with sellers handling their inventory.
Building a marketplace platform is not the same as setting up an online store. An online marketplace charges a fee to promote the trade-in products and services, while an online store focuses solely on trading.
Why Should You Sell on a Web Store or a Marketplace?
- Using BigCommerce or Shopify, you can sell online from the web store. (Among many others, the best SaaS-based platforms for creating and customizing a store.)
- It is selling on Amazon, eBay, Walmart, and other online marketplaces.
Selling on a Marketplace:
Many new and aspiring online sellers were asked if they preferred selling through a Web Store or a Marketplace? To sell your products, go to marketplaces like Ebay, Etsy, and eBay.
According to a report conducted by USPS and comScore, 97 percent of consumers browse products on marketplaces before making a final order. Any seller needs to have an online presence. Since a buyer’s research always contributes to purchase, and the entire process occurs online.
Benefits of Selling on Marketplace:
- Easy to get started:
The online marketplaces are familiar with the needs and requirements of online sellers. They’ve created dedicated features and processes to assist and monitor the seller’s product output. Also, there is no need to spend money on a domain name, hosting, or other complexities when creating a website.
2. Mobile Apps and Their Effect:
Through this, desktop still accounts for the vast majority of eCommerce sales. Mobile phones are used for the bulk of product searches.
These marketplaces have developed mobile applications that conform to the most current consumer needs, with frequent updates based on ever-evolving technological trends because they have so many resources.
As a result, when selling on the web. These marketplaces’ listed goods also appear in their mobile apps. It also allows you to increase the number of people who see your interests by using cell phones. This leads to an increase in sales and, as a result, an increase in revenue.
3. Wider Payments Options:
Payment options are various on the marketplaces. Their e-commerce marketplace incorporates payment methods. It aids in the reduction of cart abandonment.
4. Faster Shipments:
The majority of marketplaces have a service close to FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon). It is extremely beneficial because once you stock your items in the Fulfillment by Amazon facility, it relieves you of all shipping and order management responsibilities.
Selling on a Web Store
When choosing between a Web Store and a Marketplace, the promise of full control is enough to tempt someone to open a Web Store.
Websites are similar to physical stores in that they have a fixed address where customers can make transactions. On the web-store, he/she can purchase the products of his/her choosing. The only difference is that you have your web address instead of your physical address. Customers that visit the Web store, on the other hand, are a virtual phenomenon rather than a physical one.
You can get a Web Store of your choosing in a variety of ways. It all depends on how much time and money you’re able to devote to your shop.
Why Do You Need a Web Store?
Your items need relevancy, and the type of services you provide in your store creates a sparkling distinction between you and your rivals.
Providing consumers with a memorable first impression, such as a unique logo, taglines, and the brand’s voice, which expresses what the brand stands for, helps attract the necessary interest, which is impossible to achieve while selling on a marketplace.
Benefits of Opening an Online Store
- User Interface:
When choosing between a Web Store and a Marketplace, keep in mind that Web Stores built on SAAS platforms like Shopify have many features.
Themes that can be customized, language selection, order management, pricing, and shipping are just a few examples. These features are tailored to your shop, make it easier for you, and make it a pleasure to manage.
The benefits don’t stop there. Customers who visit the website have a positive experience as well. The Web Store’s flawlessness aids you in making a great first impression on first-time guests.
2. Take-Home What you Earn:
You can save and gain more since there are no listing or sales fees. The store’s maintenance expense (depending on the platform) and the charge you pay for your payment gateways are the only recurring costs you need to be concerned about.
3. Create Your Customer Base:
You say Hey! to email marketing, as opposed to marketplaces, where accessing user data is difficult. When selling online, you can upsell your goods by building and reaching out to more qualified and informed customer groups. It aids in the growth of your loyal customer base. It lowers marketing costs even more.
Setup cost of marketplace and webstore
Most marketplaces have no upfront costs and charge depending on how much money you make. Depending on the product type, these fees will vary from 5% to 20% of the selling price. Although the commission goes by the marketplace, it limits sellers who expect to expand their business.
On the other hand, a web store necessitates a one-time and ongoing investment compared to a SaaS-based store.
Shopify, for example, is a web store building tool that costs less than $29 to use (excluding Credit Card rates and transaction fees when using external payment gateways). If you use Shopify Payments, you can skip this extra charge (available in UK, Australia & NZ, USA, Germany, Canada, Japan, Spain, Ireland, and a few others). The Shopify Payments section will point you in the right direction and guide you through the process.
List of best web stores and marketplace available to sell a product
Web stores:
A Webstore is a separate website from the Bonanza Marketplace where customers can purchase your products. It’s a place where you can develop your personal brand and manage your online presence. Choose a customized URL and one of many special designs and other customizations to make your Bonanza Webstore your own. Here are some best website builders are shown below:
Weebly:
Weebly is one of our top-rated website builders, and its free plan now allows you to sell. This is fantastic news for anyone looking to open a low-cost store. It’s one of the most user-friendly ecommerce sites and one that our users were most likely to recommend after testing.
You can’t add a custom domain name to Weebly’s free plan, and your site will show Weebly advertising, as with most free plans.
Pros:
- Just recently has ecommerce been made available on a free plan*.
- You can add as many items as you want.
- It’s one of our customers’ platforms most likely to suggest because it’s so easy to use.
Cons:
- Unsuitable for large corporations
- Doesn’t allow for multi-channel sales.
Big Cartel:
With Big Cartel, you can open a store without investing a dime without losing a significant portion of your profits to transaction fees.
First, you can only list and sell up to five different items on the free plan. You’ll also need third-party applications to sell digital goods, and your URL will end with the subdomain ‘.bigcartel,’ which doesn’t look very professional.
Pros:
- When working on a building site, there are some helpful prompts.
- Ideal for creative products
- There are no transaction costs on the website.
Cons:
- There is a lack of depth and quality in the features and designs.
- The fairly steep learning curve
Marketplaces
Each marketplace has its own set of seller fees, commissions, and conditions, so you should carefully consider your choices.
Amazon:
One of the most enjoyable parts of selling on Amazon is having access to the company’s 100 million+ Prime members.
There will be plenty of other considerations to consider once you begin selling on Amazon. Still, for now, the most important decision will be which selling plan is best for your business.
eBay:
eBay is a great choice if you want to tap into the influence of yet another outlet with a large global market share.
This vast marketplace connects you to 168 million active customers worldwide, collectively producing $95 billion in annual gross market value.
Walmart:
There are several advantages to selling on Walmart’s website: You’ll have access to over 440 million customers who visit Walmart directly, as well as affiliate websites like Jet.com. There are no monthly, annual, or initial setup fees, which is even better. Walmart uses only commission fees.
On the other hand, Walmart is an invite-only marketplace, so you’ll have to wait a little longer to launch. The first step is to fill out Walmart’s application if you believe your products would be a good addition to Walmart’s current online product range.
Wrapping Up:
When understanding the Web Store’s risks versus a Marketplace, it was discovered that marketplaces were simple to list and start the selling process. In the long run, though, it isn’t easy to produce the desired outcomes for ambitious sellers. A Web Store, on the other hand, is an excellent option for managing your business. However, creating leads and turning them into sales is a challenge that everyone is familiar with.
Taking advantage of the best of both worlds is the best solution! Increasing the customer base over time can be a slow process. Use referral and coupon codes to get your Marketplace customers to visit your Web Store. Marketplace shipments containing leaflets and discount cards can be an effective way to grow and maintain a loyal customer base while also directing traffic to your shop. It’s important to remember that it’s never a choice between a Web Store and a Marketplace. It’s always about increasing revenue and profit margins.