So, you’ve made the decision to supercharge sales and growth by implementing a Marketplacer online marketplace in your business?
It’s a smart move, given research shows online marketplaces account for a growing share of total ecommerce spend, here in Australia and around the world.
And it’s time for the hard work to begin – for your team and for ours. At Marketplacer, we pride ourselves on the support our customer delivery division offers to customers, as they put their ecommerce strategies into action. We’ve been on the journey many times and we know where the challenges and pitfalls lie. We’re committed to working hand in hand with your business and its partners, to help you avoid those pitfalls, and to ensure your transition to online marketplace selling is a smooth one.
The implementation agenda
The typical Marketplacer project goes live in around 12 weeks. That’s assuming your organisation has already identified the third-party sellers it wants to work with, and has agreed on terms and conditions with them. This can be a time consuming activity and it’s best if it’s well in train before the implementation program kicks off.
Phase 1: Kick-off
We like to get started by bringing the entire project team together for a kick-off meeting. Those in attendance should include your stakeholders and dedicated project team members, your Marketplacer certified systems integration partner and Marketplacer’s delivery and customer success team.
Over the subsequent two weeks, we’ll hold a series of discovery meetings and work closely with you to sign up and onboard your selected third-party partners.
Phase 2: Category creation
Organising the brands and products you intend to sell into clear and logical categories makes it easier for customers to navigate your site, and for sellers to upload new items down the track. A degree of finessing and review may be required, if your business is expanding its range, or taking the opportunity to move into new product categories.
This phase typically takes two weeks to complete.
Phase 3: Setting up sellers
Sellers are added to the platform, and once set-up with access, they can begin importing their products to sell on the Marketplace. Initially, our Marketplacer team will help you map your sellers’ products to your category structure. This process can take around two weeks. Then, after go-live, it’s over to your team to update and manage sellers and products.
Phase 4: Testing the platform
Once the configuration is complete, it’s time to test your online marketplace platform, to ensure products are classified correctly and user journeys can be completed seamlessly.
We allow a month for this process because we’re passionate about ensuring everything works smoothly and our clients are happy with the settings and configuration of their site.
Phase 5: Go-live
Everything is triple checked, including the flow of data between your front end, back end and the warehouses of your third-party partners. Only once we’re confident we’ve eliminated every conceivable glitch, do we hit Go.
Top tips for a smooth launch
Our delivery team has helped to implement over 100 online marketplaces over the last 3 years . These are their top tips for a successful launch.
- Set goals for how many sellers you would like to launch with. Seller onboarding can take anywhere between 2-4 weeks, so it’s important not to bite off more than you can chew. You can always launch in an MVP phase, and onboard more sellers post-launch
- Qualify your sellers. Working with experienced ecommerce sellers to start with will ensure a better customer experience and an efficient seller onboarding phase.
- Work with a Marketplacer certified systems integrator. They understand the platform and how it is best integrated with your front-end, ERP and CRM systems.
- Build a strong internal team. Dedicated personnel available from kick off, who can become subject matter experts will contribute to the ongoing success of your marketplace.
Marketplacer’s team of technical and business development specialists are happy to discuss any questions you may have about online marketplace implementation. We can also refer you to a Marketplacer certified systems integration partner. We look forward to working with your team, to get your online marketplace up and running.
