How to create a marketplace app like Amazon

Online marketplaces are here to stay

The online retail industry is huge. Amazon alone has around 310 million active customer accounts worldwide. Although Amazon is the largest marketplace, it’s not the only one. There are more than 370 successful marketplaces with a valuation greater than $1 billion. 

These marketplaces make it easy to buy and sell goods or services. In the case of Amazon, they made a huge $108.52 billion in Q1 of 2021. These statistics make clear just how lucrative the business model is.

Key features of Amazon

Creating an online marketplace like Amazon needs a few things. Firstly, you have to understand the essential features of marketplace apps. You can’t calculate marketplace mobile app development costs until you know this. Our Amazon template comes with 67 features. Let’s look at 7 of the most important.

Login

Make it simple for users to buy from you in the future. Let them log in using their email address. Not only can you track total users, but you’ll build an email list you can market to.

Menu/Ordering

Your customers need to be able to browse the products you’re selling. A user-friendly design helps you make more sales – just add an image and a short description of each product.

Shopping Cart

Customers can add multiple items before finalising their purchase. Their shopping cart allows them to add or remove items. When they’re ready they can proceed to payment.

Payments

A secure payment gateway allows you to easily process a wide range of payment methods. Customers can save their card details to make repeat purchases smoother.

Product Recommendation Engine

Make more sales with AI-powered recommendations. Our AI analyses customer behaviour and automatically suggests the products they’re most likely to buy.

Reviews

You’ll make more sales when users can review their favourite products. This feature lets customers add reviews and a star rating for any product your marketplace sells.

Dashboard

See exactly how your business is running. Marketplace apps capture lots of data. Your dashboard lets you track key metrics, explore user behaviour and find areas for improvement.

Online marketplaces – how to build one

There are several methods you can use to create your marketplace app. If you’re a coder, you could DIY the entire thing. Just be aware, an app like Amazon is a huge undertaking – it’s around 20 million lines of code.

Another option is to hire a team that specialises in marketplace app development. They’ll make a functional online marketplace application. The problem is the price. Designing, programming and testing your marketplace idea isn’t quick. You’ll have to pay for their time.

Why not try Builder.ai?

We offer a third option. We noticed that 80% of all software is made up of the same 500 core features. So we coded these as reusable Lego-like blocks. Our AI understands your marketplace idea and quickly creates the skeleton of your app using these building blocks.

This partially completed app is passed to our team. They’ll personalise everything and code any unique features you need. You get your app much faster and at a better price because all the repetitive work is handled by the AI.

Here's your step by step guide on how to build a marketplace app like Amazon with Builder Studio

Step 1: Choose a base

Visit Builder Studio and select ‘Shopping’ from the ‘Filter by category’ section. This will show you all the shopping app templates we have available. You can pick up to 3 that are similar to your idea by clicking the plus icon. This lets us identify all the features you’d like your app to have. When you’re ready to proceed, click ‘Build Now’.

Step 2: Refine the features

Finish the signup process and you’ll be greeted by Natasha – our helpful AI. She’ll have a chat with you about the specifics of your idea. Don’t trust the robots? That’s fine, our team is happy to help. Just click the ‘Talk to the experts’ button.

Natasha recommends features based on her understanding of your idea and how related apps behave. Find out more about a specific feature by clicking the eye or add them by clicking the plus icon. How this affects your price is made immediately clear as we calculate down to the feature level. This enables us to give you a guaranteed price upfront. Click ‘Plan Delivery’ to continue.

Step 3: Plan delivery

Click the plus icon to open an overflow menu with the available platforms. Do you want to make a marketplace app for Android? It’s easy, just click the Android logo. Maybe you’d prefer to create a marketplace app for iOS? Click the Apple logo. Select as many as you’d like. The price and delivery date will update in real-time.

Next up, choose the phases of your project. The standard setup is what most of our customers need. Our designers create an elegant wireframe of your idea. Then, so you can get feedback on the user experience, you receive a basic version of your app known as the MVP (Minimum Viable Product). Finally, your completed marketplace app is presented to you.

We provide an ‘Advanced’ view that can be used if you need more control. It allows you to vary the timelines of each phase. Want it faster? That’s fine, you’ll pay a little more. No rush? Great, you can use a relaxed deadline and get it cheaper.

Step 4: Name your Build Card

How would you like us to refer to your idea? If you already have an app name in mind, this is the place to share it.

After naming your Build Card, you need to look over the selection you’ve already made. Confirm you’re happy with the features, phases, cost and delivery dates. All good? Click ‘START BUILD CARD’

Step 5: Select your payment plan

Would you rather pay weekly or monthly? Choose the option that works best for you. Payment dates and instalment amounts are shown to help make things easier. Once you’ve picked, click ‘CONTINUE’.

You’ll then be asked to provide your payment details and agree to the terms and conditions. Click ‘Continue to Payment’.

Step 6: Leave it with us

We’ll start building your online marketplace app. You can track the progress from within your dashboard. It also allows you to make changes or even put development on hold. You’re in charge.

Why choose Builder.ai?

Receive your mobile marketplace app faster and more cost effective with our no-code platform. The process is transparent – your final cost is easy to understand as we price each individual feature. That’s why we provide an upfront delivery date, a fixed price and more... 

You don’t need tech skills to make an app

Builder Studio makes building custom apps as easy as ordering pizza online. Choose your base – an app that’s similar to your idea. Then, customise the toppings until it’s just right – the unique features of your app. It’s no-code and simple to use. If you’d like a helping hand, our team is always available.

Big savings on cloud bills

Builder Cloud lets you run your marketplace mobile application from any public cloud – AWS, DigitalOcean, Alibaba Cloud and Microsoft Azure to name a few. You get access to each of those providers from one account. AI-powered analytics help you find the best option. Just last year, we saved our clients over $4.5 million.

An app you can rely on

Studio One is our aftercare service. Operating system and third-party software updates can cause errors. We run code reviews after these updates to avoid potential conflicts and keep everything working perfectly. Your app is also monitored by our AI – unexpected behaviour is flagged for our developers to check before it can develop into an issue.

FAQs

1. How do I create a marketplace app?

We recommend the no-code Builder Studio. It lets you use a similar app as a template. Then, you can customise everything until it’s exactly how you envision it. Once you’re happy with the features... we build it.

2. How much does it cost to create a marketplace app?

The exact price will vary depending on the complexity of your app. The more features you add, the higher the price. Your price also varies depending on how quickly you need it. This pricing is fully transparent and visible within Builder Studio.

3. What payment methods will my online stores support?

That’s up to you. We can add support for credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and any other services you’d like. We can even add escrow payments if you’re considering a service marketplace.

4. What is marketplace app development?

This is designing and coding a mobile platform for the selling of products or services. Whether you want to create a marketplace app for iOS or make a marketplace app for Android, the development process will look very similar.

5. What are some popular marketplaces?

Here are several examples from a range of niches: Amazon, Google Workspace Marketplace, Github Marketplace, Pipedrive Marketplace, Apple Music, Facebook Marketplace and the App Store.

6. How do I make a multi-vendor app?

The first step is to reduce this to a technical specification. You want to allow multiple potential users to list and sell products. Some apps will have feature limitations that only allow one seller account. Builder Studio makes it easy to add support for multiple users.

7. What are the possible monetization models for marketplaces?

There are many models available. Popular options include sign up fees, subscriptions, revenue share (taking a percentage of sales) and advertising.