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Next steps
After we receive your request, one of our marketplace experts will contact you to clarify the details and arrange a meeting. We usually reply within one business day.
Don’t want to wait? Jump the queue and book a meeting with one of our marketplace experts now.
Our next step is to create a storyboard that defines your project goals and how to achieve them. It maps out user journeys and transaction flows, identifies required features, and also includes timeframes and development cost.
This will help us determine if CobbleWeb is the right fit for your project.
If we decide to work together, it’s time to sign an agreement before we start designing, building and testing an MVP version of your marketplace. Read more about our process.
FAQ
How much does a new marketplace platform cost?
Custom development by an experienced marketplace development agency can cost from £10,000 to £100,000 plus. The cost depends on factors such as number and type of features, complexity of user flows, time to market, and your platform’s development stage.
Marketplace success, especially product-market fit, is dependent on ongoing iteration and optimisation, in addition to the initial design and development. Startups should therefore include the cost of these processes in their marketplace development budget.
If you spend too little, you may be wasting your time. Spending too much or inefficiently could be a waste of your money. Carpet bombing your runway with unnecessary features and being overcharged by inexperienced developers that do not provide end-to-end assistance are some other pitfalls to be wary of.
Further reading:
How does CobbleWeb increase my marketplace project’s chances of success?
Custom development gives your marketplace concept a better chance at success:
- We help you test your assumptions and iterate towards product-market fit
- We help you plan your development road map and select the right features and revenue streams
- We help you choose the right tech stack for scalability and extensibility
- We adapt tech infrastructure and frameworks to suit your business flow
In contrast, turnkey marketplace builders, which use one-size-fits-all templates, are inflexible and difficult to scale.
Further reading:
How can I align the quote as close as possible to my project?
The better we understand your business case, value proposition, the target market and potential users, the easier it will be for us to make recommendations in line with your project goals. We appreciate any documentation you can share, such as market research, user personas, user flows and envisaged functionality.
Be clear about which features you would like to add to your marketplace and the reasons for including them in your first release. If it’s an existing marketplace that you want to upgrade, tell us what you want to change and why.
Further reading:
What are the characteristics of a good marketplace MVP?
A minimum viable product is a scaled-down version of your full marketplace concept. It allows you to validate assumptions about your target market with the least amount of effort and risk (time and budget).
Keep the following guidelines in mind:
- Stay focused on your core value proposition. Adding too many additional features will confuse your audience about what the marketplace’s purpose is.
- Focus on a small but highly relevant market segment. Don’t try to be everything to everyone from the start.
- Build for rapid iteration. Your MVP should be geared towards getting user feedback as quickly as possible. The more iterations you put in front of your target market, the quicker you will reach product-market fit.
- Existing marketplaces should focus on evaluating the limitations of their most valuable features.
Further reading:
How does your tech stack empower my business?
- We are tech agnostic and will always recommend the optimal tech stack for your business model and budget.
- We regularly analyse new technologies so we can better address our clients’ challenges.
- Our high-quality custom coding makes your marketplace platform easy to maintain, secure, adapt, and extend.
- We design with growth and performance in mind, making it easy for your marketplace to scale at pace.
- We identify and track the right technical metrics to quickly identify technical problems and opportunities for further optimisation.
Further reading:
How long does it take to build an MVP?
On average, the first version of your MVP should take between three and six months to build. This can vary substantially, depending on the number of features and complexity of user flows.
It’s worth noting that constructing an MVP is not a one-time event; it is an iterative process. You build an MVP to test one assumption in your business model, get feedback, make the appropriate adjustments, and then build a new MVP to test the next assumption.
Further reading:
Should CobbleWeb be my technology partner?
CobbleWeb works with both early-stage startups and growth-stage companies. We have also successfully collaborated with large enterprise businesses that want to expand online.
Most of our clients have established some product-market fit or industry expertise with either an MVP, single-vendor e-commerce, or a bricks-and-mortar business. They tend to understand that successful marketplace development requires ongoing investment in improvements.
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