Marketplaces are as old as human history.

You can see their ancient roots in today’s physical shopping malls, supermarkets, hypermarkets (think Walmart and Costco), and transportation hubs – places where sellers can offer their wares and buyers can find the things they’re looking for.

Marketplaces still fulfill the age-old purpose of connecting buyers and sellers, but the web and digitalization have catalyzed a revolution in how marketplaces work – and created powerful new opportunities for commerce online and in the real world.

Ecommerce giants have become household names: Amazon, eBay, Airbnb, and other platform operators demonstrate the monumental power of scaling marketplaces and of reinventing the customer experience.

At first, they grew by embracing technologies to scale product listings, transactions, and logistics. They grew even more by embracing technologies to create an entirely new kind of shopping experience with, for example, personalization, real-time notifications on multiple platforms, and robust customer support.

Moreover, today’s marketplaces generate new kinds of revenue and profit opportunities because of their enormous traffic. Network effects create a virtuous cycle, attracting third-party sellers, enabling new marketing/ merchandising opportunities, and fostering lasting change in buyer behaviors.

Read the articles below to learn more about BORN Group’s proven approach to marketplace strategy and design.