Selecting the Ideal Multi-Vendor eCommerce Platform: TOP-10 Solutions for 2024

Before we dive into the comparison of the best multi-vendor marketplace platforms. Let's talk about them and discuss the main features of the perfect platforms and how to compare them the most efficiently. We will not discuss, how to build and set up a multi-vendor marketplace here, but will discuss the key insights. Let’s begin.

The market of multi-vendor platforms offering products and services is growing at CAGR 4.55 and is going to reach 73.57 billion US dollars in 5 years. As the ecommerce market generally grows and more and more technologies like AI and IoT appear, most businesses will inevitably move online to modern marketplace capabilities, often governed by AI and other tech.

Here, we are not only talking about enterprises but also small businesses and the categories of businesses and industries that are not interested in the model now. It looks like a step-by-step multivendor model will cover everything.

It looks like the B2B segment will be the first to develop their multivendor marketplaces as this market currently lacks personalization, convenience, and opportunities to choose between vendors.

When choosing the B2B multi-vendor marketplace platform that could enable you to reach all your goals, it is crucial to consider the following:

• Which business model will you choose — vertical or horizontal. Horizontal ones offer products or services across different industries, while vertical marketplaces focus on a particular niche.
• Business model type — choose if you are ready to accept the subscription model, pay commissions, or purchase your own platform that will never raise the pricing.
• Product type — different platforms are tailored to offer products or services. Decide which one you are going to use.
• Multi-vendor transactions scale — ensure that the platform is scalable and is ready to extend as you grow. The platform should efficiently manage a high volume of transactions without compromising performance or providing other necessary capabilities depending on the business needs. This is the most crucial point.

Of course, there are some features highly desired to be oj your platform (otherwise it offers an open code and unlimited feature creation like Virto):

• Vendor portals are the most important part of a frontend. They must be convenient and B2C-like easy.
• Sellers with multiple fulfillment centers support. This feature is crucial as your partners will need to integrate their own processes, and you must organize either a centralized fulfillment center or support what the vendors do.
• Automated vendor catalog integration. Many businesses forget about it, aiming to unify all the data and catalogs. Nevertheless, more vendors will be attracted if you tell them they can connect existing ones to your platform in your business model.
• Open APIs. Again, about integration. Besides connecting vendors, you will have to connect to other third-party software like ERP systems and more. Ensure your platform is API-first.
• Omnichannel order fulfillment. As much as we talk about an omnichannel approach, it becomes more and more essential as buyers and vendors all want to control any situation at any moment. This means, orders must be fulfilled with the help of any channel, and must be controllable at any moment.
• Mutli-regional support is crucial as it can potentially lead you to offering different languages and currencies support.

These and other features are mostly available in modern solutions like Virto Commerce: even if the platform lacks any feature, it is possible to quickly create and launch it due to the modular architecture and open code.

To arrive at the best possible decision regarding the choice of the best multivendor marketplace platform, you need to consider a few more things besides key features:

• How much money are you willing to spend? What’s your budget?
• What type of platform are you looking for? Is it software with open-source code? Is it a proprietary solution? Do you have to find a hosting provider? Are you willing to be responsible for the platform’s security? 
• If you happen to operate an ecommerce platform, are you willing to buy a marketplace multivendor module or an extension that connects to your own marketplace? Do you want to start from scratch? And if you don’t have an ecommerce website yet, would you want to invest in ready-made multivendor marketplace software or build a solution out of separate composable modules?
• What kind of multi-vendor marketplace are you building? What type of features do you require? Does the platform of your choice have all the necessary functionality for the successful operation of a multi-vendor marketplace? Are you going to be responsible for product management? Will your vendors have to deal with their own product listings? What responsibilities are you willing to delegate to your sellers in general?
• Are you going to operate in a local market, or do you have international ambitions? If you’re aiming at international sales, does the platform of your choice have localization options? What about payment integrations? Does the platform have multiple payment gateways? What are the preferred payment methods of your local suppliers?
• Does the marketplace vendor have an online demo or can you schedule a consultation?
• Does the platform’s vendor offer any development services?

Answering these questions will help you to arrive at the ultimate decision regarding the choice of a suitable solution.

And, of course, always think about your business scaling model: to start a multi-vendor journey, you have to be sure that your business is mature enough to build it.

Our evaluation is grounded in the comprehensive market analysis provided by THE MARKETPLACE SUITE SPOT, conducted by seasoned professionals. Virto Commerce actively engages in tender processes to assist clients in selecting solutions for the establishment of multi-vendor platforms. This involvement allows us to offer our own appraisals, drawing on our accumulated experience and expertise, which are reflected in this comparison.

CommerceHub is a leading dropshipping platform with over 40,000 retailers globally that offers everything from inventory management to delivery.

Delivery Model: SaaS (Software as a Service).

Suitability: Ideal for dropshipping, online retail, and marketplaces. Enterprise retailers and brands are also a good fit.

Solution Features: Offers catalog harmonization, seller onboarding options, AI-based categories and products, and more.

Ideal Customer: A retailer company that decided to enter the dropshipping market.

Web Site.

Logicbroker is a mid-market and enterprise-level marketplace offering mostly dropshipping options. The platform aims to build a hybrid model with all the necessary features combined.

Delivery Model: SaaS (Software as a Service).

Suitability: Designed for dropshipping mostly, fits ecommerce automation, and supports supply chain management. A multivendor marketplace model is also available.

Ideal Customer: Fits medium and enterprise-level businesses with a lower volume of sellers.

Web Site.

Marketplacer is a retail-focused solution from Australia. Aiming for the customer's success, the platform offers great opportunities for companies working directly with their end clients.

Delivery Model: SaaS (Software as a Service).

Suitability: Retail businesses focusing on global sales often choose the solution for its great set of features for this niche.

Solution Features: With many integrations like Adobe Commerce and Shopify Plus, the platform offers multilanguage support, multiple currencies and other features related to global sales.

Ideal Customer: Small businesses aiming to reach the middle level, and the middle ones aiming to go global and sell their goods worldwide.

Web Site.

Mirakl is one of the biggest players among those listed here. This solution is tailored to do more than B2C operations: Mirakl is setting benchmarks for functionality, scalability, and more.

Delivery Model: SaaS (Software as a Service).

Suitability: Tailored to handle massive operations, the solution is good not only for basic selling needs, but also for marketing purposes.

Solution Features: great personalization features, catalog management and content generating.

Ideal Customer: This is a good fit for enterprises and mid-market businesses that seek their first comprehensive B2B ecommerce platform without aiming to extend right now.

More about Mirakl.

This platform is comparatively young: first launched in 2020, in four years it developed into a multi-vendor commerce system. The solution aims to provide more flexibility and customization.

Delivery Model: PaaS (Platform-as-Service model).

Suitability: Suitable for B2B and B2C marketplaces, supporting both physical goods and services to help companies faster take their niche in the market.

Solution Features: Provides features for marketplace creation, management, and expansion, headless frontend, built-in fintech features.

Ideal Customer: SMB to mid-market digital commerce operators choose the platform for its bold vision and modern features.

Web Site.

This is a separate ecommerce platform that can be also used together with other platforms thanks to APIs.

Delivery Model: SaaS (Software as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service).

Suitability: This is a good fit for tech-related businesses that require scaling.

Solution Features: Besides multiple marketplace features, the platform provides international features like multicurrency support, personalization and marketing capabilities.

Ideal Customer: Big SMBs that aim to become enterprises.

Web Site.

Virto Commerce is an enterprise-level ecommerce platform tailored to grow strong businesses. Mostly working with B2B enterprises, the solution is ready to cover all your needs.

Delivery Model: PaaS and on-premise.

Suitability: Focuses on complex B2B scenarios and multi-vendor marketplaces.

Solution Features: Designed for scaling mid-market and enterprises, includes basic B2B ecommerce platform features and offers easy-to-change open code that enables businesses to quickly create what they exactly need, in a modular form.

Ideal Customer: Large enterprises looking for a robust and scalable solution that will always be enough and will never be outdated.

More about Virto Commerce.

VTEX is the platform tailored to create marketplaces with strong order management capabilities. Mostly used by retail companies, the solution offers API-first and headless architecture.

Delivery Model: SaaS.

Suitability: Mid-market sales that require multiple vendor support and complex onboarding.

Solution Features: Inventory management features, headless storefront, fulfillment and retail optimization.

Ideal Customer: Mid-market retail companies seeking marketplace functionality and a rapid-launch storefront with ready features. Not the best solution for complex B2B sales.

Web Site.

Webkul is not a separate platform but a plugin that fits Magento, Shopify, BigCommerce and Woocommerce. This is a B2C and B2B marketplace with great API capabilities and ability to interconnect with bigger solutions.

Delivery Model: Platform Extension Plug-ins.

Suitability: This is a good fit for the ready SaaS platforms that do not offer good functionality for developing marketplaces.

Solution Features: Deep product management, vendor management, standard CRM and payment features.

Ideal Customer: Small businesses that aim to grow and MVP enterprises that start their marketplace journey and wish to give it a try.

Web Site.

This is an open-source platform mostly tailored for manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors.

Delivery Model: Available in both SaaS and PaaS models.

Suitability: This is a good fit for developing complex connections between the participants in manufacturing and wholesale.

Solution Features: product catalogs, multi-website support and deep personalization.

Ideal Customer: Midsize and large enterprises starting their multivendor journey in complex niches.

Web Site.