Walmart is a global retail company based in the USA, renowned for its discount department stores, hypermarkets, and grocery stores, where a diverse array of products is available at budget-friendly prices. If you’d like to start your own marketplace like Walmart, you’re facing a buy vs build decision. So before you decide to build it in-house on top of Spree open-source, consider using Vendo, which is a marketplace SaaS. Go live, start selling, iterate.
Build vs Buy a marketplace?
Open-source offers many benefits, including full ownership and the ability to tailor freely, but these come at a price. The process of developing a complete marketplace solution is both time-intensive and costly, typically requiring several months or even years. This understanding is based on our experiences with a range of marketplace initiatives.
Unless you have a significant amount of funding, it’s generally more advantageous to use a ready-made, all-in-one marketplace solution like Vendo, as suggested by an expert who has long charged for marketplace development work.
Back to the Walmart marketplace case study
Walmart’s Marketplace stands as a testament to the retail giant’s transformation into a formidable e-commerce force. In recent quarters, Walmart has showcased an impressive surge in both online and same-store sales, with online sales accounting for approximately 15% of its total revenue.
Big data analysis played a pivotal role, fueling a notable 10% to 15% increase in online sales, translating to an astounding $1 billion in incremental revenue. This surge highlights the efficacy of data-driven strategies in propelling Walmart’s online marketplace growth.
The Marketplace’s allure lies in its ecosystem fostering third-party sellers, offering an extensive array of products. Leveraging this platform, sellers have witnessed substantial growth, exemplified by companies like SJM Marketplace Ventures, experiencing a remarkable 86% sales increase in 2021 and 49% in 2022.
Walmart’s strategic initiatives, including the Every Day Low Price (EDLP) foundation, contribute to increased customer loyalty and retention. This commitment to competitive pricing underpins its status as an appealing destination for both sellers and customers.
Walmart’s Marketplace is more than an e-commerce platform; it’s a testament to the retail giant’s ability to adapt. Through omnichannel strategies and a robust foundation built on data-driven insights, Walmart continues to redefine the landscape of online retail. Its success is intertwined with fostering a marketplace that caters to both consumer demands and seller growth, solidifying its position as an e-commerce giant .
How to emulate Walmart marketplace success?
To follow in the footsteps of Walmart’s success, think about quickly launching your marketplace, opting for weeks over months. Make sure your product catalog aligns with your audience’s preferences and continually adjust your methods for attracting customers, drawing on actual outcomes.
Test the market before making a full commitment to build it.
Here’s what you’d be getting with a Vendo free trial:
- Book a marketplace demo call: We’ll set up your demo marketplace and populate it with products, so you could give it a try and start selling in 14 days
- Customize your Storefront: Use the drag & drop page builder or custom CSS
- Onboard Brands: Invite your brands or choose brands from our catalog
- Select Products: Curate products and collections manually or automate it
- Embed products: Make your content, newsletters, social media shoppable
- Get Paid: Get paid as soon as products are shipped by the brands
- End-to-end automation: Brands sync, fulfillment, payouts, invoicing, taxes
When you’ve tried all that and it works, start thinking about building your own, custom-made marketplace project based on Spree Commerce. First, by decoupling the storefront and going headless with Vendo marketplace API, and later with your own backend, if you decide you really need it. Just lift and shift the storefront.
Nobody has to know what’s under the hood, right?
