Indigene Arts is a platform that highlights and supports the art and craftsmanship of indigenous communities, enabling indigenous artists to share their creations with a worldwide audience.
If you’d like to start your own marketplace like Indigene Arts, 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?
Employing open-source technology has its perks, including outright ownership and developmental flexibility, but these come at a substantial price. The journey to build a complete marketplace solution is lengthy and financially demanding, often stretching over months or years. This knowledge comes from our involvement in numerous marketplace projects.
Unless you’ve acquired a considerable sum in funding, it’s advised to opt for an established, comprehensive marketplace solution like Vendo, a suggestion from an individual experienced in charging clients for marketplace development services.
Back to the Indigene Arts marketplace case study
Indigene Arts is a special place that showcases and promotes Indigenous art and culture. It offers a wide range of Indigenous products like artwork, clothing, and accessories, while also connecting artists with a global community.
Launched in November 2019, this marketplace carefully selects only genuine Indigenous items, creating trust in the art market. These products, from sculptures to books, come with meaningful stories from Indigenous communities, making each piece unique. Indigene Arts is more than just a marketplace; it’s a platform that supports economic opportunities, cultural preservation, and global community building.
Indigene Arts has a significant social impact. It helps Indigenous communities facing poverty, marginalization, and cultural threats. By giving these products a wider audience, it provides sustainable income for Indigenous artists, especially women entrepreneurs, reducing poverty and promoting strong communities.
Furthermore, Indigene Arts is inclusive, welcoming Indigenous artists from all around the world to sell their products and share their stories. This diversity enriches the marketplace and helps preserve Indigenous cultures globally.
The marketplace also donates a portion of its earnings to Indigenous charities, increasing its positive social impact. Indigene Arts is more than just a marketplace; it’s a movement that invites artists, crafters, community leaders, and advocates to support Indigenous art and culture.
With its focus on authenticity, inclusivity, and social impact, Indigene Arts is leading the way for a fairer and culturally rich art market.
How to emulate Indigene Arts marketplace success?
If you’re aspiring for success similar to Indigene Arts, plan to open your marketplace swiftly, preferably in weeks instead of months. Examine the compatibility of your product offerings with your audience’s demands, and adapt your customer acquisition techniques based on tangible outcomes.
It’s wise to gauge the market’s potential before fully investing in its development.
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?
