A B2B marketplace is an ecommerce platform where businesses can buy goods or services directly from a variety of businesses.
Research from Mordor Intelligence finds that marketplace purchasing accounted for 65% of B2B ecommerce market share in 2025, with the market projected to see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 14% through 2031. Forrester data also predicts that from 2025 onward, more than half of large B2B purchases will be processed through channels like marketplaces.
Read on for a step-by-step guide on starting your own B2B marketplace, including tips on choosing your model, building a storefront, and setting up your business for success.
What is a business-to-business marketplace?
A business-to-business marketplace is an ecommerce website that connects multiple B2B sellers of goods, products, or service offerings with buyers. In an online marketplace business model, the digital platform serves as an intermediary, taking a cut of sales or charging seller fees. Popular examples include Amazon Business, Alibaba, and Faire. On these platforms, enterprise buyers purchase items, either for their own use or to sell to consumers or other businesses.
How to start a B2B marketplace
- Conduct market research and validate demand
- Choose your marketplace model
- Build or select your platform
- Recruit sellers and establish marketplace policies
- Create a buying experience that builds confidence
- Launch and monitor your marketplace
While every multi-vendor marketplace is different, these six steps can help you plan, launch, and grow your B2B marketplace.
Conduct market research and validate demand
Before building a marketplace, confirm that there is demand from both sides of the platform: businesses looking to buy and vendors willing to sell. B2B marketplaces create value in fragmented industries with many buyers and suppliers, where a centralized platform makes it easier to discover products and compare options.
Research your target industry, identify gaps in existing marketplaces, and talk directly with prospective buyers and sellers to understand their needs. Focus on understanding the problems they need solved.
Ask buyers what slows down purchasing or makes it difficult to find the right suppliers, and ask vendors what limits them in reaching new customers. This can help you determine if your platform addresses genuine market demands and which features you should prioritize for launch.
Choose your marketplace model
Your own marketplace structure should reflect the needs of the industry you’re serving. New marketplaces can benefit from focusing on a single industry or product category before expanding into adjacent markets. These vertical marketplaces offer a simpler approach when recruiting sellers, tailoring the buying experience, and establishing credibility with your target audience.
You’ll also want to decide how your marketplace will generate revenue and how sellers will join the platform. There are two common approaches to each:
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Commission vs. subscription. Some marketplaces earn money through transaction commissions, while others charge vendor subscription and listing fees or combine multiple revenue streams. As you evaluate each model, consider what pricing structure will be sustainable for your business while remaining attractive to vendors.
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Open vs. closed. Open marketplaces grant access to nearly all qualified vendors, while closed marketplaces accept only carefully reviewed and selected sellers. Choose an approach that balances growth with the level of trust and consistency your buyers expect.
Making these decisions early will help shape your technology requirements, vendor recruitment strategy, and long-term growth plans.
Build or select your platform
Choose a platform that supports multi-vendor commerce and can scale as your marketplace grows.
Whether you build a custom solution or use an existing platform, look for marketplace features like seller management, payment processing, and shipping and accounting integrations, as well as B2B workflow support, such as bulk ordering, negotiated pricing, and invoicing.
The Shopify App Store includes several third-party apps, including Multi Vendor Marketplace and Shipturtle, that help you turn an online store into a marketplace.
As you evaluate platforms, think beyond your initial launch. Migrating vendors and product listings to a new system later can be disruptive, so choose a solution that supports your long-term growth.
Recruit sellers and establish marketplace policies
A marketplace succeeds only if it attracts a critical mass of quality vendors. Develop an onboarding process that verifies sellers, collects required business information, and explains marketplace expectations. Create clear policies for product listings, pricing, customer data, commissions, order fulfillment, returns, and dispute resolution so buyers have a consistent experience regardless of which vendor they purchase from.
Recruiting sellers can be a challenge in the early stages of your marketplace. Start by identifying businesses that already serve your market, whether through your existing network, industry associations, trade shows, or online directories. As you recruit vendors, communicate the benefits of joining your platform, such as digital marketing support or streamlined selling tools.
Create a buying experience that builds confidence
Research from Gartner shows that most B2B buyers prefer a “rep-free sales experience,” but self-service buying can result in higher levels of purchase regret when buyers don’t have enough information to evaluate their options.
Successful B2B marketplaces make it easy for businesses to compare products and access the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions before requesting a quote.
The right features often depend on your industry. Buyers making complex or high-value purchases may benefit from detailed product specifications, comparison tools, ratings and reviews, or educational content. For products businesses buy repeatedly, features like saved purchasing lists, quick reordering, negotiated pricing, or flexible payment terms may provide greater value.
Launch and monitor your marketplace
Consider launching with a small group of trusted vendors and buyers before expanding broadly. A phased rollout allows you to test the marketplace, identify technical issues, and gather feedback before opening the platform to a larger audience.
After launch, track your marketplace performance. Relevant metrics may include gross merchandise value, conversion rate, customer retention, and time to fill orders. The right key performance indicators (KPIs) will depend on your immediate priorities—for example, increasing transactions or retaining users.
Review your chosen metrics on a consistent schedule, such as weekly, monthly, or quarterly, and use the results to guide improvements.
How to start a B2B marketplace FAQ
Is it hard to start a B2B marketplace?
How hard it is to start a successful marketplace business for a B2B audience depends on your scale and scope. Launching a company with multiple vendors or aimed at multiple audiences (such as B2B and D2C) comes with greater operational complexity than a single vendor, single audience model. Whichever model you choose, an ecommerce platform can help you build your customer experience and manage your operational efficiency.
How much does it cost to start a B2B marketplace?
The price of starting a B2B marketplace depends on whether you are building a new platform, buying an existing solution via a web hosting platform or third-party ecommerce provider, or expanding an existing site offering into a marketplace. Solutions that require less technical work are typically lower cost, such as using third-party platforms or expanding existing sites.
What’s the difference between a marketplace and a wholesale store?
A business-to-business marketplace connects B2B sellers to other business buyers. A wholesale store can be a type of B2B marketplace that focuses on selling large quantities of wholesale goods at a lower cost than smaller orders.
