Jack Ma (a former school teacher), founder of Alibaba and his 18 tech pioneers had a dream of building a B2B online marketplace that connected chinese manufacturers, retailers, distributors to buyers worldwide. They created Alibaba – a globally connected and competitive ecosystem where more manufacturers attracted more buyers, and vice versa. Soon, Alibaba became a household name in China, generating significant traffic on the website both from within China as well as around the world.

Industry Stats

Only 17% of the time considering a purchase (B2B buyer) is spent with potential suppliers. By 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions will occur via digital channels. 43% of B2B buyers agree to prefer a rep-free buying experience. 72% of B2B buyers start their journey online.

Ways to build marketplace like Alibaba

  1. You can develop it from scratch on your own or hire a team of developers to do the same for you
  2. You can use a SaaS based ecommerce software like Shopify, Wix and then use a multivendor extension to convert the online store into a marketplace like Amazon
  3. You can use an eCommerce marketplace software like Yo!Kart which are exclusively developed to build multi-vendor marketplaces like Alibaba.

In my opinion, opting for the standalone marketplace solution is always a good option because you don’t need to rely on external plugins, extensions or add-ons. The solution is self-sufficient to build a multi-seller marketplace. It has all the features in-built that are required for an eCommerce website like Alibaba.

Features that a multivendor solution should have:

  • User Management
  • Multilingual & Multi-currency
  • API Integrations
  • Tax & Shipping Management
  • Multiple Payment Methods
  • PWA Compliant
  • User-Centric Design
  • Abandoned Cart Management
  • Multicart Checkout
  • Separate Vendor Storefronts

In my opinion, choosing a one-time fee solution is the best option. So,

  1. If you want to build an eCommerce website like Amazon with Yo!Kart, you can select a package starting from $1249 (one time fee, lifetime license).
  2. And, if you want to build a B2B marketplace like Alibaba, then Yo!Kart B2B pricing starts from $1499 (one time fee, lifetime license).

Why Yo!Kart?

  1. Yo!Kart is a self-hosted and 100% white label solution. That gives you complete freedom to build and maintain your marketplace
  2. Yo!Kart gives you lifetime license with source code ownership
  3. Yo!Kart also offers up to 12 months of free tech support
  4. Yo!Kart marketplace solution is fully customizable and you can hire Yo!Kart developers at affordable prices for further customizations
  5. All the packages include all essential multivendor eCommerce features in-built
  6. Yo!Kart B2B offers all the B2B specific features
  7. All the required business APIs and payment gateways are pre-integrated in Yo!Kart
  8. You can schedule a demo with their team to check and test their software solution absolutely free of cost

Visit their website for more details. Please share your further questions if you have any regarding setting up a b2b marketplace like Alibaba.