How to Build Supply for Your Marketplace

Q: How do you grow marketplace supply?

There are three ways to build supply: find more providers, create some of the supply yourself, or bring in the existing supply from other sources. To attract more suppliers to your platform, highlight the value of your marketplace, show your buyer potential, and offer incentives. You can also pay for the initial supply. To increase the number of listings, reach out to your existing suppliers and support them in creating and optimizing their listings. Reward them for their loyalty, too – for example, by providing exposure for their brand on your social media pages.

Q: Where should you look for the providers for a marketplace?

There are multiple ways you can find your prospective suppliers: - Use your personal network to secure leads, especially if your marketplace hasn’t been launched yet - Launch an outreach campaign for providers present on other marketplaces - Search for providers on websites like Yelp and Trustpilot - Google potential providers - Do your research on relevant Facebook groups and online forums

Q: How can you convince sellers to join your marketplace?

There are six time-tested methods to attract potential providers to a new marketplace: - Offer them a better experience than rival marketplaces do - Promote your marketplace as an exclusive platform for the best of the best - Show them you have buyer potential through access to prospective customer communities - Offer incentives for becoming early users of your platform - Provide something more than a customer acquisition channel, like a software-as-a-service product - Develop and highlight your unique selling proposition for providers When you work on your sales pitch to build supply, create several versions of it and A/B test them. Based on the results, settle on the most efficient one and refine it.

Q: How do you build a balance between supply and demand?

First, you’ll need to understand what your ideal provider-to-customer ratio is (it depends on the type of your marketplace). Then, you can tweak your platform fees to increase demand and supply by indirectly lowering prices. You can also change your monetization strategy to stimulate the supply side of your business.

Q: How do you create a successful online marketplace?

In a nutshell, creating a successful multi-vendor marketplace platform requires you to: - Define and understand your target audience for customers and providers - Determine your business model (commission fees, freemium, etc.) - Settle on the pricing strategy (keep your take rate as low as possible at the beginning) - Formulate your unique selling proposition (USP) - Select your supply-building strategy (comprehensiveness, exclusivity, or curation) - Develop your marketplace as a minimum viable product (MVP) - Build supply for marketplace: find your first providers, create the initial supply yourself, and/or bring in existing supply - Launch your platform and attract your first customers - Track key metrics and use them to improve and grow your business

Frequently asked questions

How do you grow marketplace supply?

Where should you look for the providers for a marketplace?

How can you convince sellers to join your marketplace?

How do you build a balance between supply and demand?

How do you create a successful online marketplace?

Written by

Evgenia Khimich

Content Marketing Specialist

Evgeniia, a creative content marketing specialist, is involved in researching, writing, and distributing content to keep audiences engaged and drive our brand message forward.

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How to Build Supply for Your Marketplace: Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide

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