Building A ‘Two-Sided’ E-Commerce

In the realm of market startups, establishing a foothold can be as daunting as it is rewarding. This challenge is akin to the uphill battles faced by giants like eBay and Airbnb. Building traction in niches like card sleeves and also something like Warhammer 40k requires strategic patience, focusing on community engagement and user experience to foster growth. Despite the initial hurdles of demand and supply dynamics, sustained effort and a lean operational approach can pave the way for marketplace success. Here are insights on navigating the complexities of two-sided markets and laying the groundwork for lasting market influence.

With the inherent chicken-and-egg problem of attracting both buyers and sellers, the journey to market maturity can be lengthy. Platforms like Wattpad and Indiegogo exemplify the slow burn to mass adoption, emphasizing the need for perseverance and strategic adjustments. 

It is no secret that constructing a market startup is difficult – very, very hard and long process. The business model does really well at scale — as an instance, eBay, AirBnB, and Uber. But getting to scale is just another story as the same two-sided marketplaces battle with all the chicken-and-egg issue; if there is a demand from the buyers but they see few sellers, the buyers depart. However, if there are no buyers, what’s going to convince sellers to register on the business? On top of that, you want to make sure that you craft a web site that is effective and convenient to both sides.

With this chicken-and-egg issue of demand and supply, no two-sided market is constructed overnight. As an instance it required Wattpad, a community for readers and authors, three years for to 300,000 uploads; it just took the next 3 years to reach 10 million. The crowdfunding stage Indiegogo was set in 2007, but its own break-out year did not come until four decades later.

If you’re constructing an e-commerce marketplace, how can you survive the hard times when you are trying to find grip and build out your vendor and customer communities? Here are a few tips:

If you do not see signs of traction following six to eight months using a SaaS or even e-commerce startup, then you likely should reassess your niche or business model. But this is usually too fast of a duration for most market companies. Considering you want to establish both the customer and vendor communities, you may need additional time to prove out your company when constructing a two-sided market.

As stated previously, it may take three or more years to get a market to be fully established, especially if your marketplace revolves around a certain niche theme like construction and facilitates the transaction of building materials like galvanised steel welded mesh panels, it would take a bit longer (however do note that having a niche theme means better brand positioning and lesser competition). Network effects actually begin kicking in if there are enough products on the website in order to encourage buyers to return to search for products in different types, when sellers begin listing more goods, and also the increase of buyers and sellers is rapidly accelerating. But before you get these, you startup founders need to remain centered on the heart, and you investors; remain patient.

Maintain the burn as low as you can

Considering that the slower rate of a two-sided market, you will have to give yourself sufficient time to build your company. This implies adjusting your burn downwards to be able to lengthen the runway as far as you can. While spending largely in the start can help some companies ramp up fast or eventually become the market leader, having money can’t speed up the process in regards to establishing an online market.

Just take a good look at your own burn. There is no requirement for a huge group or offices. Most market companies only need two purposes early on: individuals building product and individuals building both the customer and vendor communities. Just make sure that your website is running with a great web design and consistent contents to establish your market.

Tighten your attention

With limited funds to construct a sustainable market, you have to narrow down the focus of your company efforts. Typically, market businesses will need to construct traction in more compact verticals before expanding their reach to larger markets. Or in the case of geographical niches, any business should nail 1 place before expanding into other localities.

Indiegogo first went following the indie film market prior to opening up their stage to other classes. eBay began with Pez dispensers before becoming the world’s largest online marketplace. Expanding externally from the market frequently occurs organically as sellers begin listing things in brand new classes. By way of instance, Etsy sellers started listing craft tools and supplies and this group has come to be one of Etsy’s biggest today.

If expansion away from the market does not sprout organically, it is possible to help accelerate the process by focusing on vendor acquisition efforts targeted for tactical classes and much more notable merchandising of new classes to customers.

But, be advised that class growth does not always work as intended. When I had been COO in an online business specializing in construction materials we believed we can enlarge our website into selling furniture. Despite an apparent competitive rate, the new category did not quite live up to the expectation due to most buyers stayed within their existing vendors, which sell construction materials like welded mesh panels and not furniture.

Concentrate on your most ardent users

Fantastic marketplaces are based in the market to the masses. You have to cement the encounter for your ancient adopters/niche users until you can start to appeal to a wider audience. By engaging your ardent customers and catering for their requirements, you increase the chances they will inform their friends about the encounter along with your market can disperse outward. This is also one of the reasons that branding, as well as a great website design that hits the exact demographics of your users, are important.

AbeBooks catered to the vendor community via seller-only forums, a vendor advisory board, regular 1:1 discussion with top vendors, and vendor meet-ups around the nation. Etsy has done a wonderful job of between their buyers in the market, developing a real social trade platform. With resources to curate vendors and goods, and opportunities to associate with different sellers and buyers, East has become one of the most powerful communities on the market and is still creating passionate users daily.

Believe on your eyesight

It can be tricky to keep telling your story day in and day out with no external validation in the business. Indiegogo co-founder Slava Rubin was frequently ridiculed when he introduced his vision of a crowdfunding stage and web development ideas in the first days of its inception. The industry’s pervasive thinking back then was: why would anyone help to fund someone else’s ideas?

When attempting to make a new market or market class, you have to believe in your thought even if nobody else does. But, having faith does not mean turning a blind eye to advertise responses. You should always search for smaller signals that you are on the ideal path. These include enhanced word of mouth in the early adopters, greater repeat use from buyers, improved listings from vendors, and positive consumer comments.

Last thoughts

Building out each side of the market simultaneously can appear exponentially more challenging compared to a transaction version. However, as soon as you reach scale, things really begin clicking and a recognized marketplace is difficult to unseat as a result of the powerful network effects in play. If it is possible to provide your company a long enough runway to construct out either side, there are lots of market niches ripe for your following Uber, Kickstarter or even AirBnB.