Garmentory, as an e-commerce platform, emphasizes independent boutiques and emerging fashion designers. If you’d like to start your own marketplace like Garmentory, 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?
Leveraging open-source can be advantageous, offering complete control and the freedom to customize. However, these advantages often entail significant expenses. The creation of a complete marketplace solution is a prolonged and costly process, typically lasting several months to years. This insight is drawn from various marketplace project experiences.
Unless you have access to substantial funding, it’s usually more prudent to go with a ready-made, all-encompassing marketplace solution like Vendo, as recommended by someone with a long history of billing for marketplace development.
Back to the Garmentory marketplace case study
Garmentory, an online marketplace, promotes indie boutiques and emerging designers globally, emphasizing quality over quantity. It connects buyers with a diverse range of fashion boutiques, offering everything from casual wear to designer pieces for all genders and ages.
Financially, Garmentory stands out in the e-commerce fashion sector. In October 2023, it generated over $4 million in revenue, surpassing industry median but trailing behind larger competitors.
The platform saw a healthy conversion rate and a solid average order value, indicating robust customer spending. However, there was an 11% revenue decline in the last quarter compared to the previous one, highlighting market volatility.
Operationally, Garmentory improved efficiency by implementing a modern API for payments, saving significant time and enabling scalable transactions with over 1,000 boutiques and designers. This move reflects its commitment to both operational excellence and supporting its network of small businesses.
In summary, Garmentory’s niche approach in the online fashion market, coupled with strong operational strategies, positions it as a noteworthy player, despite recent revenue fluctuations and stiff competition.
How to emulate Garmentory marketplace success?
Emulating Garmentory’s success requires considering a quick launch of your marketplace, ideally in weeks, not months. It’s essential to match your product selection with your audience’s preferences and continually adapt your customer attracting strategies based on actual outcomes.
Make sure to test the market before you invest in building it from scratch.
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?
