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In the digital age, it’s infeasible for companies, startups as well as MNCs to build up their own software for their every need. Due to the common operational structures within the businesses, there are companies that have built software products that they offer to other businesses at nominal costs.

The tech companies now have these products built up for various business needs, such as CRM to manage contacts and clients, HRMS to manage employees and their attendances, payrolls etc. There’s POS for managing customers and sales at restaurants and F&B businesses. There’s Tally to help with accounting.

These are cloud-based software, as the code is hosted at the servers owned by the company, which provides these softwares as subscriptions — ultimately called as SaaS (Software as a service). The SaaS provider takes care of all the technological concerns while the business can focus on its operational fronts.

Why is it gaining popularity?

In recent years, SMEs and large corporations have preferred turnkey multi-vendor solutions to custom-built ones. The turnkey solution has clear benefits, such as lower costs, faster rollout and market entry, no coding headaches, and a well-tested solution.

SaaS ecommerce solutions make it easier by providing the entire software that doesn’t need to be installed, maintained, or upgraded.

Businesses can focus on growth hacking and expanding into new markets now that the technological aspects are taken care of.

Furthermore, modern SaaS-based ecommerce marketplace solutions provide superior speed, flexibility, and security at a fraction of the cost of custom-built marketplace websites. This makes them an excellent choice for commercial organisations looking to build Amazon-style marketplaces.

For business sustainability and growth, selecting the correct multi-vendor marketplace solution is critical. To meet the complex requirement, the business model is substantially different from a standard setup and requires additional modules, flows, and features.

Ecommerce, with multiple vendors, is fundamentally difficult to set up. Businesses require a comprehensive solution that can cope with shifting market conditions in order for it to work efficiently and effortlessly. This method should be automated and require little work in terms of coding or maintaining a buffer of extra resources, such as server space, to manage peak load season.

Benefits of SaaS-based ecommerce marketplace platforms

Cost-effective

Every aspect of software ownership, maintenance, and upgrade is seamlessly handled by the SaaS solution for multi-vendor. This lowers the overall cost greatly.

Comprehensive solution

Building distinct modules for each business process and aligning them to cover both core and advanced business processes is reasonably simple.

Easy to use

Various levels of users can benefit from intuitive and simple interfaces. The easy learning curve allows for quick adoption.

Easy customisation

Microservices are easily customizable allowing new features and flows to be added quickly. For out-of-the-box business ideas, SaaS-based ecommerce marketplace platforms are the ideal option.

Rapid integration

It is easy to combine a range of other software for logistics, payments, taxes, ERP, and CRM, making it the most desired solution.

Automatic upgrades

Frequent upgrades provide a technological and competitive advantage to firms. Businesses can take advantage of future-ready technical solutions rather than being stuck with outdated software’s rigid technology.

Modules are simple to add/remove

SaaS-based ecommerce marketplace platforms make it simple to add and test new modules. Similarly, modules that are underutilised or inefficient might be removed, resulting in a speedier and more efficient system

Increased efficiency

SaaS multi-vendor software increases efficiency and output throughout the firm by rapidly automating activities.

B2B markets require a more complex offering and are more likely to be SaaS-enabled than B2C markets due to the significant AOVs and complex workflows involved in B2B transactions.

This should, in principle, allow them to give greater value to their users, especially in terms of security and convenience, which should reduce the danger of disintermediation and lead to a far more loyal user base, akin to a conventional SaaS company.

Many of these B2B marketplaces may wind up resembling verticalised SaaS enterprises rather than the classic definition of a marketplace. Not only will they be more SaaS-enabled, but their revenue methods may also shift away from commissions and toward monthly fees.

For B2B marketplaces, the playbook is arguably still being written, and only time will tell which models prove to be the most effective. One thing is certain: when it comes to B2B marketplaces, there is a vast untapped possibility.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)