Multi-Vendor App Development: A Complete 2023 Guide

Do you know, in 2023 e-commerce sales are expected to account for 20.8% of the total retail sales worldwide? This stat clearly informs us about the rise in the demand for ecommerce stores. 

If you too are planning to develop a multi-vendor ecommerce store and looking for a complete guide then we have done the work for you. Here we have compiled detailed steps on how you can develop your multi-vendor store and scale it up with ease. 

So, check the content of this post-

• What Is Multi-Vendor Marketplace?
• How To Create A Multi-Vendor App?
• Features Of Multi-Vendor Apps
• Steps To Scale A Multi-Vendor App

What Is Multi-Vendor Marketplace?

A multi-vendor marketplace allows different vendors to come together on the same platform and list their products. With this method, the merchant does not have to worry much about product quality, delivery, and more. 

However, there must be a complete check before onboarding a new vendor to ensure they follow your SOPs and does not follow any malpractices. 

How To Create A Multi-Vendor App?

Here are three crucial steps to get your app developed-

Partner With An App Development Company

To make your life easier and help you concentrate more on business operations rather than diving into the tech world, we suggest you partner with a mobile app development company that has an experienced team of app developers. 

Partnering with them will not only help you to get your app developed at a low cost and at a faster rate but also they might suggest you some great ideas that can be beneficial for your business. 

Choose A Tech Stack For Your App

Choosing a tech stack for your app is as essential as listing the features in it. Thus, depending on the features you want to list in your app you should decide on the technology. For example, if you want to have 3D rendering in your app then you should choose React whereas, if you want a lot of customizations then you should choose Flutter. 

Both the above-listed platforms are cross-development platforms which means through a single code base you can launch your apps on iOS and Android which helps you save time and target a wider audience. 

Testing Before The Launch

Usually, app development companies have a team of quality analysts that conducts a thorough check of how your app is performing and whether all your requirements are met or not. Although you can ask them for an apk file to test it on your own and ensure that all your requirements are met. 

Features In Multi-Vendor Apps

A multi-vendor store usually consists of 3-4 different apps or web apps to cater to the need of the Admin, vendor, customer, and delivery partner. Here are some features that you can list in your app-

Customer App/Website

• Hassel free Login/Sign up- Make sure that the first interaction with your customer is easy. To do that you can provide an easy login option where customers can use an OTP, face recognition, or even biometric recognition to log in to your app. 
• Multi-Language Support- To ensure your app is used globally you should have this feature in your customer app. This feature will translate the app content into your customer’s language as per their preference which allows them to shop more easily. 
• Multi-Payment Gateway- To make the checkout procedure easy for your clients you should provide different payment options like net banking, UPI, credit card, and so on. 
• Seamless product return page- Following the ethical way of ecommerce, your app should have a hassle-free product return page which makes it easier for your customers to return products that do not meet their criteria. 

 Admin App/Website

• Profile Management- Through this feature, you can easily remove or add profiles of those vendors or customers that are not following your business SOPs. 
• Notification Management- To perform robust marketing notification plays an important role. Through the notification feature, you can send card abandonment reminders, sale alerts, delivery reminders, and more. 
• Reports & analytics- Being the owner of the business you should be aware of how it’s performing. Thus, integrating a reporting feature that provides you with reports such as new customers, revenue generated, tax payable, and more will help you gain a better overview of your business operations. 
• Custom coupon code management- The admin can create custom coupon codes and perform robust marketing to gain more revenue. 
• Push Notification- To aware your customers of the latest happenings in your store, a push notification feature is necessary. Through this feature, you can even update customers about their order delivery process. 

Vendor Management App/Website

• Dynamic menu- The vendor can add pictures, videos, product descriptions, and more of the product. 
• Product delivery process- The vendor would know where their product is and whether it has been delivered successfully or not. They would also get a notification whenever the customer raises a return request. 

You can even add more features to your multi-vendor app. If you are confused about what feature to add then you can enroll for a free app development consultation.

Steps To Scale A Multi-Vendor App

Here are 3 major steps that you can use to scale up your multivendor application-

• Perform Omni-Channel Marketing

Omnichannel marketing allows you to reach a wide range of customers and showcase your expertise. You can perform marketing on social media channels, roll out cold emails, perform offline marketing, and so on.  

• Collect Customer Reviews

Collecting customer reviews will help you understand your pain points and what features your customers want from your end. Moreover, this will also help you know the vendors that are not following your SOPs and creating a ruckus in your store. 

• Keep On Updating Your App

Updating your app by reading customer reviews will ensure that you upscale customer experience in your store. Following this step will help you create a user-friendly environment in your store and make it easy for customers to purchase products. 

Conclusion

Now, in the end, we hope that you were able to gain knowledge on how to craft a multivendor store. Here we have also mentioned some steps on how you can scale it up. 

However, if you are looking for an ecommerce app development company, that can create a feature-loaded application in your store, then you should check out Appic Softwares. We have an experienced team of developers that can integrate all the above-listed features with the help of the latest technologies such as AI, Flutter, React, and so on. 

Additionally, we are also providing a free project designing service through which you would know the feel of your app and how it will function. 

So, what are you waiting for?

Contact us now!