Did you know that 52 percent of Fortune 500 organizations have vanished over a mere 15 years? Names like Blackberry, Kodak, and Blockbuster no longer exist. As the retail landscape shifts, we need new strategies to remain competitive and relevant in the marketplace.
The purpose of the marketplace, be it a village market or online store, is to offer an accessible place where several sellers can provide a range of their wares. Let’s discuss these vital developments.
Needs-based marketplace
At first, marketplaces aimed to satisfy basic needs, such as food, all in one place. It also fulfilled three fundamentals of customers, namely convenience, relevance and ease.
Shopping centre marketplaces
Today’s malls and shopping centres still aim to satisfy these three basic needs, building an economy around the fundamentals mentioned above. Many of these shopping centres have become more of an experience offering takeaway food, restaurants and even children’s playing areas. Many retailers are investigating how to improve the entire customer experience. We predict that shopping malls will enable third-party selling.
Classified marketplaces
Back in the day, you could only place classified ads in the newspaper. Today some publishers have their own marketplaces for cars, jobs and houses, emerging with online versions such as Realestate.com.au, Carsales.com.au and several other well-known platforms.
Mega marketplaces
Based on the success of the marketplace mentioned above, we now see many powerful platforms in the e-commerce sector. These mega-platforms are a substantial innovation, think Amazon and the like. The success of Amazon is due to its convenience factor for consumers. You can buy anything you need, whether from a local or international supplier and receive it at your door within days, without even leaving your home.
Niche marketplaces
Niche marketplaces offer specialist products in specific categories–Airbnb is only one example. Consumers flock to online marketplaces where they will find unique, curated products specific to their needs or hobbies.
