Marketplaces offer immense growth potential for businesses within B2C and B2B industries. By adopting a marketplace model, companies have the opportunity to scale at a much quicker pace while reducing risk. Gartner predicts that by 2023, 15% of medium-to high-gross-merchandise-value digital commerce organizations will have deployed their marketplaces, thereby creating an entirely new digital ecosystem. For organizations with an existing traditional e-commerce platform, a digital marketplace could be the next step in accelerating customer acquisition and increasing revenue. B2B is when businesses provide products or services to other businesses. Marketplaces are where multiple buyers and sellers transact. Therefore, B2B marketplaces are typically centralized digital platforms that enable large entities to conduct business with their partners or other organizations on a large scale.

As global marketplace heavyweights like Alibaba, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and many more continue to compete for market share, the value of online marketplaces will become even more apparent to both potential vendors and B2B or B2C businesses.

Marketplace technology can go beyond the typical “many-to-many” marketplaces. You can:

• Create a direct-to-consumer (D2C) business
• Leverage marketplaces for procurement processes
• Communicate with resellers more effectively

There are several marketplace business models, such as Standalone Marketplace, Marketplace Extension, Indirect Sales Solution, Sourcing Platform, Auction Platform, and Multi-Brand Store. The key to successfully commercializing your business services is choosing a marketplace approach that meets your business requirements.