People are shifting towards shopping everything online, be it clothes, furniture, or mobile phones. It makes good business sense for entrepreneurs considering startup ideas ― to build an online marketplace where people can buy gifts. According to Technavio, it is estimated that the gifts retailing industry’s market share will see an increase of US $ 14.60 bn in the period 2020 to 2025, progressing at a CAGR of 3.37%.

Online gifting marketplace websites are built to ease the buying process for the end-users. They can shop from products offered by multiple sellers.  And in just a few clicks, they can send gifts to their relatives or friends anywhere in the world.

The Diggiecorp team did an in-depth analysis of the online gifting marketplace as the business is gaining traction with people globally. New businesses are already setting an eye for this particular niche. We have gathered research for aspiring entrepreneurs to read and analyze before they plan to build an online marketplace. Read further to understand the benefits, business model, revenue model, critical features, and shortcomings of an online gift marketplace.

Business Model

Online Gift marketplace provides gift sellers with a platform to showcase their product to the customers. This gives the customers a single place from where they can choose and pick a gift for their loved ones. Online gifting marketplace is basically a niche based eCommerce marketplace. Here, sellers display their products for the customers to choose from. Following is the stepwise working of a typical gift-marketplace website:

For Users

• Register to the website
• Choose from the category what gift you are planning to give to your loved ones
• Pick the gift, select a date when you want the gift to delivered
• Add the billing address and the delivery address
• Pay for the product

For Sellers

• Register on the website
• List all the products
• Mention the specification of the product like customizable, non-returnable, same day delivery, etc.
• Wait for orders

Revenue Model

• Advertisement

Online gift marketplaces have a great way of generating revenue, they can partner with online businesses and brands to display advertisements on their website. They can strategize their campaign in such a way that only businesses whose target audience visits their website should display their advertisement.

• Membership

As there are many occasions throughout the year for which users exchange gifts, there are higher chances if the visitors like your website, they would want to be a part of it. Provide users the option to pay a membership fee after which they can get gifts delivered to their loved ones at no delivery charges. Other benefits such as an exclusive list of gift items can also be considered as part of the membership benefits.

• Additional services

The website owner can charge the customers for some service that they provide. For instance, people who want their gift to be delivered on the same day, can be asked to pay an additional service fee for faster delivery. There are other services for which the website owner can gather revenue from, make sure you keep a note of these services and mention them on the website.

• Sponsored Products

To showcase some product on the homepage, website owners can charge sellers additionally. Sponsored products get a lot of attention from the users as they are listed on the homepage and other prominent pages. The website admin can charge a monthly or weekly fee to get sellers’ product in the list of sponsored products.

Critical Features

Easy Categories- When people find gifts for their loved ones, they often like to see the options available. It is very important for an online gift marketplace to have simple categories from which the visitor can find their perfect gift. Usually, the customers have their priorities for questions such as for whom are they buying the gift? What is the occasion? What is the budget?

Blog- One of the best ways to improve traffic on your website is by adding a blog section to the gifting marketplace website. A Blog is helpful as it helps in improving the SEO of your website and also imparts knowledge to your visitors. We all have tried to find gift ideas online and have read articles on it. People would be happy to read the article and buy the product from the same website.

Live Chat- To make a conversational interface on your website, add a live chat. Live chat is important as most customers are confused as to what they want to buy within a set budget. The live chat can help them with an instant solution. Customers can chat with the business and take opinions regarding the gift. The business can ask questions to know their preference and tell them a best-suited gift or a list of best-picked gifts.

Shipping and Delivery- Gifts are something that people want to be delivered on a fixed date, ranging from the same day to a specified day in the future. Businesses should have the option to mention the date on which the customers want the gift to be delivered. They can also have a specific section where only those products are listed that can be delivered in a day.

Testimonials- A new visitor to an online gift marketplace website is unknown to the service and the product quality of the website. How to assure 100% quality and service to your website visitors? By mentioning it on the website everywhere? No, for a new visitor gets assurance of the website’s quality and service through testimonials of old customers. Have a section on your website where the customers can write testimonials and new visitors can read the same.

Personalized Gifts- Some people prefer to give a gift to their loved ones with a personal touch to it. Adding a photo in a photo frame, writing a name on a pillow, and other such practices are very common. If you have vendors who can provide you with such customized gifts, have a dedicated section for the same and let your customers customize their products according to their preferences.

Social Sharing- Social sharing buttons are very important for an online gift marketplace website. People would like to take the opinions of other people, especially friends. For example: if one friend in a group found a particular product, he/she would like to show it to the rest of the group before making the purchase.

Multilingual & Multicurrency– It is important that a gift marketplace website must have multilingual and multicurrency options to help people of different language and currency preferences can send gifts without much hassle. For example: – A son in Australia would want to send a Mother’s day gift to his mother in the US. He would prefer to pay in Australian Dollars.

Competitive Advantage of building an online gifting marketplace

The eCommerce space is getting competitive for generic marketplaces that have products from various categories on offer (Also called horizontal marketplaces). Especially for markets where the more prominent players like Amazon operate. The startup competes directly with these marketplaces and it becomes difficult to leverage a USP to the target audience.

On the contrary, when an online business narrows down on offering products or services from a niche, it has a competitive advantage that can be leveraged to gain consumers’ attention.

Etsy, Airbnb, Fiverr, and others are examples of how niche-based marketplaces can be potentially disruptive in the competitive space.

An online marketplace for gifts is a niche that is gaining popularity ― offering entrepreneurs an opportunity to enter the eCommerce space with a USP that can help it gain traction amongst a user base. 

Let’s understand what benefits can be extended with a gifts-exclusive marketplace.

A well-defined business: 

With a well-defined purpose of the website ― customers visiting have clarity of what to expect. It is time-saving for them as well, since they can jump straight to what they want, especially if they are considering choices for the same.

Likewise, it is easier to onboard sellers and market the business.

Offer more value to the customer: 

With clarity on customers’ intent, gift marketplace businesses can tailor marketing strategies to offer more value to the customers.

Special prices, marketing campaigns on festivals and occasions ― when a higher sale is anticipated, and showcasing bestselling or unique gift items are some of the many ways that businesses can implement to enhance the shopping experience and encourage sales on their marketplace.

Offer targeted allied services:

Gift marketplaces also have the opportunity to add value to their business by tailoring purpose-driven allied services around the products on offer.

For instance, wrapping is an essential part of gifts. The business can offer multiple customizable wrapping choices to the users. As discussed above, these services also open up additional revenue streams for the marketplace.

Launchpad unique products 

A gifts marketplace can also be a platform for sellers to launch unique products, suitable for gifting.

It can help audition such products, which otherwise will be lost on less focused horizontal marketplace platforms.

How to Build Online Gifting Marketplace 

Step 1: Ideate 

The first step, as with any business undertaking, is research. The scope of a marketplace is extensive. The success of the business will depend on building online marketplace with features that gives end-users an enhanced shopping experience and encourages conversions, empowers sellers to sell conveniently with result-oriented tools, and allows the admin to manage eCommerce operations effectively.

By conducting market surveys, a definitive action plan can be chalked out.

Step:2 Build Online Marketplace 

There are two popular approaches to building an online marketplace:

One approach is to hire a development team to build the marketplace from scratch. This approach is best suited for existing online businesses with a precise plan or someone with an in-house development team. Moreover, this process is resource-intensive and time-consuming.

The second and more popular approach is to employ a customizable turnkey eCommerce marketplace software and customize it in line with your business plan.

This approach involves fewer resources and can extend a competitive advantage by way of faster time to market.

Moreover, readymade marketplace solutions, that have been in use in the industry, lend the assurance of a tried and trusted product. Reviews and ratings from third-party sources would confirm that.

Step 3: Launching an MVP 

A Minimum Viable Product or MVP is the version of a product with a minimum set of features that makes it usable and allows you to gain feedback from the early adopters of the product.

The feedback can propel further development or changes if needed. This approach minimizes risk by giving an option to pivot. It reduces development costs further along with the reduction in time-to-market. Additionally, it gives you the opportunity to pitch the idea to the investors in a working model, unlike a prototype.

Step 4: Streamlining with API integrations

Third-party API integrations ease eCommerce operations in the marketplace. Analytics, tax management, marketing add-ons, shipping fulfillment providers, and many other integrations can be added in line with the business plan. Integrations can be done at the start or gradually as the scope of the online business grows. This is an additional advantage of an MVP-first approach ― it lets a business scale align with customer feedback.

At this stage, appropriate payment gateways can be decided and integrated.

Step 5: Marketing the eCommerce business 

Now, coming to the business end of your eCommerce business ― gaining the attention of customers and sellers to your online marketplace.

Your marketing strategy will start with first identifying and understanding the target customers.

Next, identify the USPs of your marketplace. A gift-marketplace is a niche vertical business so this step will be easier. Any additional service or advantage over the existing competition can be a significant leverage tool.

Based on those insights, develop a brand voice that resonates with the target audience, keeping the business objectives at its core.

Ideally, a multi-pronged marketing strategy that includes several marketing channels can augur well.

Employ a purpose-driven SEO strategy implementing Google ads, quality content, social media marketing, and others. The plan can include distributing the content amongst all channels.

Pain Points that need planning

One of the major pain points of online gift marketplace with perishable products is the expiration date. Items such as flowers, cakes, edible items, etc. are some products which have a limited shelf life. So the seller has to be very careful to ensure the date of delivery is in tandem with the longevity of freshness.

Another challenge will be the delivery of delicate gift products. The marketplace will have to find a way around ensuring delicate items are delivered with care.

Conclusion

If you think about it, every online business aims towards providing comfort to the customers. All of them make sure that they address the pain point of the customers through their website. One major pain point of customers is standing in long queues and getting a parcel delivered at the right time on the given address. This becomes even a bigger hassle at the time of a festival or a special occasion. These problems are perfectly addressed by an online marketplace for gifts. This particular niche helps in reaching out to gift senders and receivers with unmatched ease.

Given the demand, entrepreneurs can plan to build online marketplace in this niche.

The post An Extensive Guide to Build an Online Gifting Marketplace: Revenue Model & Critical Features appeared first on Diggiecorp Blog.

During the initial phase you have zero customers, zero followers on social media, zero recognition and very little capital to invest in acquiring new customers. During the initial phase you have to find inexpensive options to create a name for yourself in the market.

One of the best ways to spread your brand name across your niche market is by getting yourself covered in media.

There are plenty of benefits of getting your brand covered in a popular media publication, some of which are: –

• Increase in brand visibility
• Easy user acquisition
• Interest of partners and investors
• Easier recruitment

Below we have mentioned some tactics to get your startup featured in media/press. Follow the point which align with your business and get your brand recognition.

Throw an Event

Everyone loves to attend a party, Right? Same is the case with reporters. Do not do anything quietly, like a product release, store opening or something big, just throw a party. Invite all the reporters you know of, tell them why attending your event would be helpful – A small investment can result in a big ROI.

The event does not have to be a huge event but just make sure the reporters have a great time. If they do enjoy your event you have reserved yourself a permanent seat in the publications. After the completion, create a press release with details like who, what, where and why. Sent the press release to the reporters who attended the event and otherwise for reference while publishing the post.

Focus on Relation Building

Getting yourself published in the media is a time consuming task. The company should first focus on building relations with the reporters. Do not just randomly build relation with any reporter; make sure they are covering your niche. Once you build a relation with the reporter of your niche, it will help you at a later time. Relation building does not always means giving gifts, talking about their latest vacation or giving them passes for an event can also do the trick.

Remember to be tactful when using this approach as you do not want the reporters to feel you are offering them a bribe. Do not make the relation feel like a transaction. Understand the common interest point and connect with it.

Piggyback on trends

Reporters usually do not cover a brand in their news as it mostly looks like an advertisement. Journalists and media houses prefer to cover news related to latest news or trends. To be covered by media publications make sure that you fit your strategy into the latest theme.

You need to find an empty space in the market and create strategies how your company can fill in the void. Also keep a tab on the latest content marketing trends that will yield your business success.

For example – An ecommerce company that sells beard-related products for men, breadbrand, was able to get themselves featured in New York Times article which was regarding the renaissance of barber shops.

Offer an Exclusive

Like every other sector, media publications also competes among them striving to be the top media house. If you are trying to be published on renowned publications like Wall Street journal, New York Times, Etc., helping them cover an exclusive story.

An exclusive makes sure the publication you are partnering with will break the story before any other publication does. When you offer an exclusive to the publication, make sure you make the most out of it otherwise you will hinder all future opportunities with the publication.

Once the media house you partnered with has released the exclusive, offer a press release to other publications who would be interested in releasing your story.

Get involved in local events

If you want to get yourself published, you need to keep an eye on the local events that you know for sure will catch media attention. Get you brand involved in the event deliberately.

If you want the attention to be towards your brand on the local event make sure you do something different like keeping the staff wearing similar color or making a formal announcement about your presence by a press release. You can also host a local event and invite media personalities to it. This will bring more attention to your brand and help in making your debut in media.

For example- Sign up for a speaker of an industry event or volunteer your staff for charity event.

Further read: Improve your business’s search engine visibility with these local SEO Tips 

Sponsorship

If you want to spend less money and want to market your brand and generate exposure, then one of the best ways is to sponsor events happening in your niche market. This will help you in getting your name out in the market.

If your business is a lead sponsor on a given place, you will get mention in every media channel of that place. For example: – “The Christmas celebration event is brought to you by [Business name]”. Every place where the event is covered, your brand name must tag along; this positive mention will help in gathering attention of potential customers.

 Viral Marketing

Till now we were using the approach where when a news is covered by media it will gain the attention of many others. However if a brand uses viral marketing approach they do not have to approach the media – the media house will want to cover the brand.

Brand has to put in a lot of thought when deciding what their approach is to market their brand. As huge number of people connect and engage with the viral content, the media will want to cover the news automatically.

Paid PR

If you are want yourself to be featured in a media channel but do not have the time or resources to plan the above mentioned points the best thing is to resort to outsourcing the work to a PR firm.

A PR firm has good relations with journalist and media houses and has clearer idea of how to craft your content so that it catches the attention of media.

Over to you

After you have gone through the entire article, you must have understood that getting yourself published in the media is not a daunting task. It just requires understanding of who you are preaching; building relations and analyzing the demographic you are trying to reach.

Keep your focus on your end motive, whether it is selling a product, trying to get investors for your startup or simply grabbing media attention for your business.

P.S: You cannot take a back seat and let press do the wonders and engage people. It is very important that your business is purposeful.

The post How To Get Your Startup Featured In Media appeared first on Diggiecorp Blog.

There are many successful online businesses that serve as prototypes for new startups. But still, setting up an eCommerce business remains a challenging undertaking. The ever-changing dynamics of the eCommerce industry coupled with the technical complexities inherent in eCommerce website development make going quite tough for aspiring entrepreneurs. 

To ensure the startup journey is a smooth one, entrepreneurs can opt for ready-made eCommerce systems, which considerably cut down the development cost and time.

However, with so many readymade eCommerce systems available, finding the best ecommerce system for startups is not an easy job. Moreover, choosing an ecommerce solution that boasts of being a “jack of all trades” is not ideal. It’s important to select an eCommerce solution that gives your business the best chance of fulfilling its unique requirements.

Make sure the eCommerce solution that you choose:

• meets your business needs
• is customizable (So that you can make changes as per changing market scenarios)
• is SEO friendly (You want your ecommerce website to show in search results, don’t you?)
• is easy to manage

To make the overall process of choosing the best ecommerce platform easy for entrepreneurs, we have curated a list of few ready to launch ecommerce systems catering to the popular ecommerce niches:

1. Yo!Kart

This award winning multivendor ecommerce software is ideal for setting up an online store for apparels, electronics, personal care products, home appliances and digital products.

Loaded with marketing, payment, product management and reporting features, Yo!Kart offers everything that is necessary to run a successful online business. Some of the features Yo!Kart offers include – multiple payment gateways, PPC Module Integration, fully customizable script, SEO ready website, blog integration, smart product recommendations and sales tracking & reporting.

By paying a one-time fee of $250 for Yo!Kart startup package, you can turn your entrepreneurial dreams of launching an ecommerce marketplace like Amazon and eBay into reality.

2. Yo!Rent

Yo!Rent is a proficient online rental software to build a rental marketplace. The solution comes with multi vendor capabilities that help run an online heavy equipment, AV, travel gear, dress, clothing, furniture etc. rental marketplace in a convenient way. This online rental marketplace solution has helped revolutionize the renting and sharing economy by providing entrepreneurs with a quickfire way to start their own rental marketplace.

YoRent Rental software comes with real time inventory management and user-friendly CMS to help entrepreneurs launch a scalable marketplace. The biggest advantage of starting an online rental marketplace with Yo!Rent is customizability to mold the look and functionality according to business requirements and target audience. Know about the latest version of YoRent rental software, YoRent-V3.

3. Yo!Coach

Yo!Coach is a ready-made online tutoring and consultation software, designed for entrepreneurs to launch their online tutoring/consulting business with ease. It is fully customizable and can be tailored to launch platforms like Preply, italki, Verbling, Cambly, and so on. Furthermore, Yo!Coach encapsulates an array of exemplary features, using which tutors/consultants can deliver one-to-one and group online sessions to learners.

 It also comes with a powerful admin dashboard that offers reports and analytics using which the platform owner can track key metrics, blog management for content modification and publishing, commission management to set different commission rates, and so on. Yo!Coach is a white-label solution that comes equipped with robust mobile apps for on-the-go learning.

4. Yo!Coach Plus

Yo!Coach Plus is a one-stop online course marketplace software that is built to help entrepreneurs launch an eLearning platform like Udemy and Coursera with ease. It is self-hosted and GDPR compliant.

Yo!Coach Plus also packs a powerful admin dashboard and incorporates powerful features such as reports and stats, progress tracking, resource management, dynamic search filters, automated refund, and more. In addition, it has all the features of synchronous learning that are offered by Yo!Coach.

5. Growcer

Growcer is a readymade grocery eCommerce solution that offers robust mobile applications for both buyers and delivery staff. Being a white-label solution, it offers a lifetime license to its clients for using the product under their own brand name. 

Following a holistic approach, Growcer has served a spectrum of clients globally and has enabled them to scale their businesses. Equipped with a resonating design, Growcer offers a myriad of customizable features and functionalities.

Growcer is highly scalable and platforms like Instacart, Walmart, Peapod, FreshDirect, and more, can be easily built using Growcer. 

Apart from other benefits, Growcer provides free installation and 12 months of free technical support. And, alternative niches like board games, epharmacy, pet supplies, and more, are also catered by Growcer.

6. VivoCabs

If you’re an aspiring business owner rearing to own your place in the ride-hailing economy then look no further than VivoCabs for all your needs. It’s a quick, effective and reliable solution to launch taxi/cab booking mobile apps.

With Vivocabs it’s quite simple to launch driver and rider based mobile apps for both the Android and iOS platforms. Moreover, there’s a Web-Admin-Panel to manage ride details, transaction management, fare management, driver, vehicle categories and much more.

The mobile applications for drivers and riders are integrated with rich features such as SOS function, live ride tracking , push notifications, driver/rider ratings, fare estimations and much more.

At last, the best thing about VivoCabs is that it is completely customizable based on business’ unique requirements.

7. Yo!Gigs

Yo!Gigs is an ideal professional services marketplace software to assist entrepreneurs launch a viable services business in the on-demand economy. It is customizable, supports unlimited users and has separate interfaces for the businesses owner and service providers. Its multi user CMS simplifies management for the business owner and marketing features like SEO and social media integrations assist in promotion.

What make the solution feasible to launch a professional services marketplace are its distinctive modules like bidding management, payments wallet and communication features. These features not only help entrepreneurs launch a profitable marketplace but also conduct smooth business operations.

Some other types of on-demand marketplaces that can be developed with the help of Yo!Gigs are salon services marketplace, doctors marketplace, home repair services marketplace, babysitters marketplace and more.

8. FunAway

FunAway is a fully customizable travel activity marketplace system catering to the needs of entrepreneurs who want to make their mark in the online travel industry.  With features like calendar management, map integration, social media integration, sophisticated user and booking management, it is very easy to manage and handle travel bookings with FunAway.

FunAway takes into account all the crucial features required for front end users (Travelers), Host (Travel Agents/Merchants) and Admin (Website Owner).

9. YoYumm

Those thinking of starting an online food business should definitely consider YoYumm. It is an online food ordering and delivery portal builder known among the enterprise ecommerce platforms for its amazing features like intelligent order management system competent to handle any number of food orders and deliveries.

With distinct features like review management, delivery slot management, SMS integration and Discount coupon management, YoYumm clearly has an edge over other online food ordering platforms.

10. VivoGigs

VivoGigs is a result of the growing demand for an online gigs marketplace. Focused on bringing event planners/organizers and artists/performers at one place, VivoGigs is known for its useful features such as location mapping, easy gigs posting, power search, review and ratings, and many more.

It’s a comprehensive system that lets you launch your business in the most efficient manner without burning a hole in your pocket.

11. Yo!Care

Building a care service marketplace has become a walk in the park with Yo!Care. It is a revolutionary solution, offering secure wallet, map-based job search, easy job management, advance reports and appointment calendar.

It has been carefully crafted keeping in mind all the key features vital for service seekers, service providers, and website owners. Yo!Care is also mobile friendly meaning an online care services marketplace built using Yo!Care would easily run on any screen.

12. Stitch

Custom clothing is the latest fad among millennials, and what better than en-cashing this opportunity with an online custom tailoring platform powered by Stitch.

The inbuilt product customization feature which helps buyers (front end users) customize the products as per their style and requirements, makes Stitch a popular choice among those who wish to start a custom tailoring website.

This custom clothing platform is powered by a highly customizable CMS, which means you can manage the complete website without any help of a developer.

Social media integration, discount coupon management, email notification, multiple payment options and blog integration are some of the Stitch features that can take a custom clothing business a long way.

Conclusion

Readymade ecommerce systems have made it easy for anyone to launch their own startup. The solutions mentioned in this post have the potential to convert an idea into a successful startup. For those entrepreneurs who want to live their startup dream and launch their own ecommerce store, there is no better proposition than those mentioned here.

The post Start Your Online Business With These Ready-Made Ecommerce Systems appeared first on Diggiecorp Blog.