Impact of COVID-19 on Marketplaces

1. Impact of COVID-19 on Marketplaces Rapid economic, social and technological changes have fueled tremendous growth in the e- commerce sector. But traditional online stores are being eclipsed by the surging popularity of 2- sided or peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplaces, where buyers and sellers exchange goods and services via online platforms owned by someone else. One report suggests the global sharing economy should reach $1.5 trillion by 2024. COVID has changed the consumer behaviour. As everyone is coming to terms with the social distancing means that physical contact is limited or totally avoided. With that the growth of online shopping has been skyrocketing and people have moved from bulk-buying to on-demand buying habits. Given the consumers changing demands, businesses across the industry have to think about supply chains and their operating model. They are starting to look at online marketplaces as an effective alternative to their retail counterparts. Online Marketplace platforms are uniquely positioned as they allow businesses to add new sellers increasing their inventory count and the options for consumers. Online marketplaces serve to fill the void of physical malls to provide an ability to collective buying and selling. Consumers are able to find goods and services in a common place and the businesses are exposed to large and expanding consumer buying. Below is a testimony of how one of our clients pivoted during COVID When COVID-19 hit hard in our region, we decided to launch a multi-vendor marketplace to support our clients by providing an additional online sales channel and peer-to-peer community.

2. Idyaflow offered a robust platform that allowed our clients (vendors) to customize their storefront, integrate e-commerce, communicate with customers (and each other), and track transactions with detailed reporting. For Innovation Guelph, the upper level client interface allowed us to brand the marketplace, customize the overall look and feel of the user experience, and access a rolled-up report of all activity on the site. During the setup process, when we encountered hurdles (e.g. delays setting up the Stripe account), Idyaflow staff were quick to step in and help us get through to the right people at Stripe to sort things out. For our clients, most found the store setup straightforward, but it was a bit of a challenge for some who had no related experience. Idyaflow quickly provided extra support and supplementary documentation to help walk them through the process—and trained our project to troubleshoot in the process. Idyaflow even implemented one or two “out of scope” changes to accommodate our unique requirements. For anyone looking to create a multi-vendor, peer-to-peer marketplace, where commerce and community meet, Idyaflow has all the flexibility and functionality you will need. Their SaaS model combined with a unique modular approach allows you to keep it simple (and cost effective) to start, then add premium features as your marketplace scales and demand warrants. Equally important, monetizing the site is easily accomplished through the Stripe setup. Anne Toner Fung, CEO Innovation Guelph IdyFlow helps entrepreneurs, SMEs and corporations of any size create the next AirBnB or Uber for whatever product or service they are passionate about. IdyaFlow is a complete platform that lets you build, scale and manage a 2-sided marketplace business. Completely cloud-based and hosted, IdyaFlow provides worry-free performance with no need for clients to worry about software upgrades or maintenance. Whether they’re integrating with an existing e-commerce program or starting a marketplace from scratch, entrepreneurs can have a secure, mobile- friendly IdyaFlow marketplace up and running in a matter of days, and at a much lower cost than a bespoke e-commerce platform. Sign-Up today! Original Source: https://bit.ly/3oNjnNB