Since the beginning of the 21st century, the global workforce has shown an increased preference for independent jobs. Earlier individual freelancers only accepted contractual work because of reasons such as unemployment and inflation. But today they favor doing them over conventional career paths because of benefits such as better work-life balance and more autonomy in the job. This change in work preferences led to the rise of micro job websites and marketplaces.

A micro job marketplace is a platform where service seekers can find thousands of freelancers for doing small gigs or micro-jobs such as graphic designing, programming, marketing, or even home services like plumbing, electrician, cleaning, roofing, and HVAC. Once the micro job ends, the freelancer can select another micro-job and adjust it in their work schedule.

The micro-job industry is also expected to flourish in the upcoming years. If we consider the freelance market, its estimated market size is expected to grow from $4.9 billion to $11.7 billion in the projected period 2022-2028. On the other hand, the handyman services market is also doing well with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.5% in the forecast period 2023-2028. Considering the ease of finding jobs that micro-job marketplaces bring, it is safe to say that the industry holds lucrative opportunities for entrepreneurship.

This article will guide you through how you build your micro-job marketplace and enter the industry most efficiently.

Table Of Contents

• Market Overview
• Business Models of Micro-Job Marketplaces
• Developing a Microjob Marketplace
  – Select a Micro-job Marketplace Software
  – Deploy the Marketplace Software
  – Set Up Payment Gateways
  – Setup Website Content
  – Test the Marketplace
  – Promote and Grow
• Conclusion
• FAQs

Market Overview

The growth statistics of the micro-job industry are quite astonishing and highlight the profitability of launching a micro-job marketplace very affirmingly. There are also a few incumbents in the industry to take inspiration from. These incumbents are mentioned in the following table.

For exploring the freelance market of different geographic regions or planning a cross-border operations marketplace, you should have a look at the following growth rates:

Business Models of Micro-Job Marketplaces

To build a micro-job marketplace, it is essential to select a feasible business model that you can easily promote and follow for years. Additionally, the model should be easy to incorporate into your website. At the same time, you need to ensure that the business model is market-fit, which can also be a hybrid model – one of the three feasible models mentioned below. 

1. Direct Hiring Model

In the direct hiring model, service seekers visit your micro-job website and browse freelancer profiles. When selecting a freelancer, they can directly invite them for a job. 

Workflow Reference for the Direct Hiring Model

• Step 1: Multiple freelancers sign up on the marketplace and create detailed freelancer profiles. 
• Step 2: Customers browse freelancer profiles and select a freelancer.
• Step 3: To book a freelancer, they pay their hourly charges on the marketplace.
• Step 4: The freelancer delivers the job.

2. Job Posting and Bidding Model

In the second model, service seekers upload jobs, gigs, or tasks on the platform and freelancers place their bids after reviewing those jobs. If a bid gets selected, that freelancer gets hired for the job. 

Workflow Reference for the Job Posting and Bidding Model

• Step 1: Customers upload detailed job listings on the marketplace.
• Step 2: Service seekers browse those listings and send a proposal inclusive of the bid.
• Step 3: After reviewing different proposals, customers select a freelancer and pay the fees on the platform.
• Step 4: The freelancer delivers the job.

3. The Hybrid Model

Due to consumer preferences and market trends, it becomes essential to provide both direct hiring and job posting models on a single platform. Not only doing so will help you meet user expectations, but will also provide you with a competitive edge. 

Workflow Reference for the Hybrid Model

• Step 1: Customers upload detailed job listings on the marketplace.
• Step 2: They wait to receive proposals on those jobs and in the meanwhile, can also browse freelancer profiles for direct hiring.
• Step 3: In case of direct hiring, they invite the freelancer to the uploaded job, who then sends their own proposal.
• Step 4: The service seeker can compare this proposal with other proposals or directly hire the freelancer

Developing a Microjob Marketplace

After selecting your preferred business model, you can articulate clear and concise documentation for all your requirements. This will help you further shortlist a software that encompasses your vision for the micro-job marketplace. Once selected, you can deploy and promote the marketplace to get started with business operations.

Step 1: Select a Micro-job Marketplace Software

The modern approach to software development, i.e., using a readymade software has made the entire development process considerably easier and cost-efficient for all entrepreneurs. In the freelancing industry, there are a few no-code and low-code solutions available that you can use to create and deploy your marketplace. To find the most reliable micro-job marketplace software, look out for the following core features:

Core Features of Microjob Marketplace Software

• Detailed Profile Creation: Your micro-job marketplace software should allow users to create detailed freelancer profiles inclusive of their skills, spoken languages, experience, portfolio, and more. 
• Multiple Job Types: Customers on a micro-job marketplace tend to upload jobs in various types and categories, some of them are:
• Public Jobs: These are visible to everyone
• Private Jobs: Only visible to a few selected or shortlisted freelancers
• Fixed Price Jobs: The service charges are fixed in this type of job (mostly used for getting the market price-match)
• Biddable Jobs: Where multiple freelancers place their bids on a single job

Thus, to cater to all such requirements, your micro-job software should support all these job types.

• Direct Hiring: In the direct hiring module, customers are able to hire freelancers directly after viewing their profiles. This saves the trouble of waiting for bids and reviewing them.
• Service Packages: To simplify direct hiring operations without exploiting freelancers’ privacy by integrating a time tracker, the marketplace software should allow freelancers to create different service packages. These packages will include several options such as the service delivered, tasks covered, number of revisions, pricing, and more. Based on their requirements, clients can select the package most suitable for them. 
• Bidding Module: In contrast to direct hiring, the bidding module is immensely helpful in starting a screening process for a job. The freelancer that best matches the customer’s requirements and provides the best value for money gets selected for the job.
• Custom Task Categories: The micro-job marketplace software should allow you to create multiple task categories that freelancers can use to register. Although the software will have many pre-built categories, this option gives the marketplace owner the flexibility to accommodate the marketplace with any future trends and in-demand skills.
• Dynamic Registration Forms: For successful registration, the registration form should collect different information from varying professions. E.g., portfolios from graphic designers, writing samples for writers, traffic generation reports from digital marketers, and equipment details from photographers. This can be easily implemented with the help of dynamic registration forms that allow the marketplace owner to personalize the form for different trade professions. 
• Job Cancellation Window: If a customer cancels a job after the freelancer has started working on the project, this may lead to several losses for the freelancer. To prevent any such instances, the marketplace software requires a job cancellation window. This window will be defined by the admin and once the window is over, the customer cannot cancel the job. Another benefit of having the cancellation window option is that it will prevent all external communications and dealings between the client and the freelancer.
• Order Management: The order management option will help the marketplace owner receive real-time updates on all orders. The owner can also see the total invoice, selected freelancer, customer, and job details. Additionally, the owner will have access to all completed, in-progress and pending orders.
• Company Listing: To diversify your freelance marketplace operations, you can also let private companies and businesses register themselves on the marketplace. Those companies can further create freelancer profiles and bid on project-level jobs.
• Commission Settings: Commission charges are the primary source of earning for micro-job marketplace owners. The marketplace software that you select should allow you to set your own commission rate.
• Payment Withdrawal Settings: To maintain a healthy cashflow on the marketplace and balance to initiate refunds, you need the necessary earnings withdrawal features like minimum withdrawal threshold and minimum withdrawal interval. 
• Multi-Lingual Support: Multilingual support will allow your freelancers to add multiple spoken languages on your platform. Doing so will help you provide better service experience to customers and target a diverse audience.

Our Recommendation: Yo!Gigs

Yo!Gigs is a future-ready solution that is made to launch robust marketplaces like Fiverr, UpWork, Toptal and Thumbtack. Its new version was launched in the year 2024, making it the most advanced micro-job marketplace software with industry leading features including all the ones mentioned above. As Yo!Gigs is meticulously developed to help you with numerous marketplace use cases, it can be easily used to deliver, manage and enhance freelancer and handyman services.

For long-term business operations, Yo!Gigs comes with a lifetime usage license at one-time cost. It also supports unlimited listings, transactions and profile creations. For ensuring uninterrupted business operations, 12 months free technical support and onboarding support hours are available with Yo!Gigs.

Readymade Software vs Bespoke Development: Time and Cost Analysis

A micro-job marketplace is a complex software that includes various interfaces and numerous webpages. On the top of it, the marketplace requies vast functions to operate. Thus, the overall timeframe to custom develop the software can take up to 1000 hours or even more. On the other hand, a no-code solution that comes with all essential features and webpages pre-built into the software. As the marketplace owner, you only need to configure them. Because of this, readymade no-code solutions can help you get started with your business operations within 2-4 business days.

For cost estimate, we performed an evaluation of all traditional and modern development methods. To provide a close estimate for custom or bespoke development, we have taken the aforementioned timeframe of 100 hours. The country-wise pricing also varies because of their varying hourly development charges.

Step 2: Deploy the Marketplace Software

After developing the micro-job marketplace, host it on the server of your choice. The bespoke development approach or self-hosted solutions like Yo!Gigs will give the freedom to select your own hosting server. This can either be an on-premise server installed in your work premises or a reliable third-party server like Amazon Web Services or Bluehost. Our best recommendation is to to select a fast server with high security to ensure quick load times, 100% uptime and invulerability to cyber attacks. 

On the other hand, if you select a SaaS software, the software will be deployed on the software provider’s own servers. There also may be several restrictions on the number of transactions, listings and user profiles based on the subscription package that you select. To gain access to all features, unlimited listings and transactions, you will need to subscribe to the SaaS software’s most premium package.

Step 3: Set Up Payment Gateways

The next step in deploying your micro-job marketplace is to configure the payment gateways. Some payment gateways may be pre-integrated in your software solution. Depending on the software, the software provider may allow you to add more payment gateways. If you feel the need for the same, then you can select a payment gateway based on the following criteria:

• Localization: Local payment gateways that are every well known in your target region hold an unmatched trust factor. It is safe to assume that your target audience will always prefer them over foreign or international payment gateways.
  
• Uptime: Reliable payment gateways ensure a 24/7 uptime. This immensely reduces transaction failures on any type of eCommerce platform while also ensuring a positive customer experience. 
• Payment Processing Time: Payment gateways have varying payment processing time. While some can process payments within 2-4 days, others take up to a week. Some payment gateways also provide bulk payment processing at an additional cost, which processes all transactions within 12 hours. To maintain a healthy cash flow, integrating a gateway with minimum processing time is recommended.
• Security: To ensure safe and secure transactions, global organizations have released several standards, protocols, regulations, and compliances. A few such security standards that should be present in your payment gateways are PCI DSS compliance for card payments, SSL encryption, TLS encryption, 3D secure, tokenization, and Secure Electronic Transaction (SET).
• Transaction Fee: Lastly, to process payments, each gateway charges a transaction fee. This fee can vary from gateway to gateway. This transaction fee along with the aforementioned criteria can help you find a cost-effective payment gateway for your micro-job marketplace business. 

Step 4: Setup Website Content

Your micro-job marketplace content will help users receive a thorough understanding of your services. Additionally, it will help in establishing a brand image and secure high SEO rankings on search engines. As per evaluation, there are few primary webpages whose content you need to set up:

• Home Page
• Micro-Jobs Listing Page
• Freelancers Profiles Page 
• Sign-up/Login Page
• Freelancer Registration Page
• Post a Job
• About Us
• Contact Us
• How It Works
• Services Offered
• Help/FAQ
• Cart/Checkout Page
• Blog
• Resources
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Testimonials
• Newsletter Signup

While creating content for the marketplace, ensure consistency in branding, writing style, tone and voice all across the platform. You may also need to integrate search terms or keywords (look at step 6) for search engine optimization.

Step 5: Test the Marketplace

Test the marketplace to verify whether all features are functioning as intended. Your micro-job marketplace will have 4 interfaces, which are:

• User Front-End
• Admin Dashboard
• Freelancer Dashboard
• Client Dashboard

To effectively check out the various features and functionalities in these interfaces along with the user experience, create a testing account and register yourself as the admin, customer, and client. Place an order on the user front-end while analyzing various sections of the interface, such as content blocks, buttons, scrolling, payment gateways, payment methods, transactions, cart, notifications, and more.

After placing an order from the user front end, log in to the freelancer dashboard and mark status updates. These updates should be visible in the admin dashboard. Also test other features such as chat messenger, payment withdrawal settings, and more. You can also log in to the admin dashboard to see the placement of a new order. The same should be reflected in your earnings.

Lastly, test the interlinking on the platform including navigation, social media handles, and external links. See whether all the forms are working as intended and as the customer or freelancer, you are easily able to fill-in and submit the forms.

Note: Selecting a tried and tested solution that has already been evaluated on the diverse use cases by the software provider can vastly reduce your testing efforts. Thus, it is wiser to carefully select your micro-job marketplace solution.

Step 6: Promote and Grow

To start business operations, you need to onboard some freelancers. This can be done by providing various incentives to the first freelancers, such as zero commission rates and featured listing spaces on the marketplace. At the same time, you need to promote the microjob marketplace to attract customers. SEO will be beneficial in fulfilling this purpose. With accurate search terms (example: hire graphic designer online), you can compete with other players in this space.

Additionally, launch various markdown strategies to draw customers. These can either be discounts on the first three jobs or a referral bonus strategy. After customers find out the convenience of finding freelancers on your microjob marketplace, you can expect them to become repeat customers and increase their customer lifetime value.

As your marketplace will be comparatively new, you will need to focus your marketing efforts on paid campaigning as well. When your organic SEO presence grows strong, you can reduce your expenditure on paid campaigns. Doing so will help you stabilize your overall customer accusation costs and reach the breakeven point faster.

Conclusion

During times of adversity when unemployment increases, micro-job marketplaces emerge as the only solution to help talented professionals survive. The great economic recession of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic are evidence to that. However, once professionals get used to working on these marketplaces, they don’t want switch back to traditional 9-5 jobs because of several benefits such as higher profit margins and work autonomy. Additionally, the change in the modern workforce mindset remains to be a strong growth factor for the marketplace industry.

FAQs

Q 1: How Much Does It Cost to Start a Micro Job Website?

The cost of developing a micro job website depends on the selected software technology and development approach. Via the traditional development approach that is charged on a per hour basis, the overall cost can range between $60,000-$150,000. Via the no code or low code development method, you can easily drop this cost to $3,000 – $40,000. 

Q 2: What are Some Common Challenges Faced by Micro Job Website Owners?

Onboarding freelancers is the primary challenge that micro job website owners face. Secondly, they also have to ensure a smooth browsing experience and secure payments. Along with these, ensuring job satisfaction via timely delivery and quality of the work is must. All such problems can be easily dealt with by investing in a tried and tested readymade software. To discuss the challenges that FATbit’s Yo!Gigs helps micro job website owners deal with, get in touch with our industry experts.

Q 3: Can You Develop a Micro-job Marketplace for my Requirements?

Yes, at FATbit, we have a readymade micro job marketplace solution – Yo!Gigs. Revamped in the year 2024, Yo!Gigs is the most advanced job marketplace software that helps you deal with numerous use cases. It comes with next-gen features, supports 24/7 payments and can help you seamlessly connect freelancers with customers. For more information or to get a price quote, contact our experts.

The global job market is undergoing a major transition. The growing awareness of work-life balance and the increasing preference for remote work have led to a significant rise in the number of freelancers.

People are leaving their full-time jobs to provide freelancing services to clients across the globe and increase their scope of earning, all from the comfort of their homes. Startups and big corporations benefit the most from this trend as they get to access freelancers with skills that are generally not available in their local job markets.

Due to this changing mindset of companies and the traditional workforce, freelance marketplaces are witnessing significant growth. One of the leading websites in this industry is Toptal, which currently holds around 80.56% market share of the freelance engineering industry.

Let us now discuss what Toptal is, its operational model and revenue model, what features it provides and how you can build a freelance marketplace like Toptal.

About Toptal

Toptal is a freelance marketplace website that connects highly skilled freelancing talent including software designers, developers, product managers, and financial experts with clients from all over the world. It was founded by Taso Du Val and Breanden Beneschott in November 2010. The platform was officially launched in the year 2011.

Within four years of its launch, Toptal became one of the fastest-growing freelancing companies with a 2,861% annual growth and was featured in Deloitte’s 2015 Technology Fast 500™ list. In 2022, Toptal expanded its geographic footprint to 140+ countries, serving over 25,000+ clients. Currently, it is one of the top freelancer marketplaces with an estimated annual revenue of $1.3 Billion.

How Toptal Freelance Marketplace Works

Finding the right freelancer among the plethora of options is quite a cumbersome and time-consuming process. Toptal makes it easier by connecting customers with only highly skilled professionals who meet all their job requirements. Let us discuss the business model of Toptal in detail:

• The clients can post a job with all the necessary details like the type of freelancer required, specific skill etc.
• Toptal searches for the best-suited candidates that match the job requirements, and provides a list of available freelancers to the client.
• The clients can interact with these freelancers to find the most appropriate freelancer to do the job.
  
• After choosing the right freelancer, the client can pay the initial booking amount. Then the freelancer connects with the client and starts working on the job.
• The client is billed for the time the freelancer has spent on the job.

Toptal also offers a free trial period of two weeks, in which the client can assess the freelancer’s work and decide to continue with the same freelancer or find another one.

Offering the Best Freelancers – The screening process of Toptal

Toptal has a rigorous screening process that filters out most of the applications and allows only highly skilled freelancers to register on the platform. This process consists of the following steps:-

• Toptal conducts a timed evaluation that assesses the core skills of the freelancer. It is a rigorous test that only highly skilled freelancers can clear.
• The freelancers who pass the skill test are shortlisted for a personal interview where their communication and soft skills are evaluated.
• After the personal interview round, the freelancer is given a real-world project to complete within 40 working hours. Toptal requires the freelancers to share their screens during this round.
  
• The freelancers who clear the above rounds are onboarded on the platform.

Must-Have Features in a Website like Toptal

Every freelance marketplace has some distinct features depending on the niche, target audience, and budget of the marketplace. However, some crucial features are common in almost all marketplaces.

• Multiple Job Types – You can enable clients to post different types of jobs as per their requirements. These job types can include public jobs, private jobs, fixed-price jobs, and biddable jobs.
• Admin Approval – The admin approval feature enables the admin to either accept or reject a freelancer registration. This decision is generally based on the qualifications and skillset mentioned by the freelancer. Toptal uses this feature to ensure that only highly skilled professionals can join its platform.
• Social Sign-up – To simplify the sign-up process, you can provide users with the option to sign up using their existing social media accounts.
  
• Freelancer Recommendations – You can incorporate a freelancer recommendation process on your platform to provide freelancer suggestions to customers.
  
• Direct Invitation – You can allow the customers to visit freelancer profiles and send them a direct invitation for the job posting.
  
• Multiple Payment Gateways – To facilitate financial transactions through your marketplace, you need to integrate various payment gateways according to the requirements of target regions.
• Advanced Job Posting – The advanced job posting module can enable customers to provide details about the job, including images, required skill sets, and any other attachments.
• Multi-Currency Support – Providing multi-currency support is essential for expanding your business and targeting a diverse audience. Toptal has also incorporated this feature on its platform to simplify financial transactions.
  
• Featured Listings – Including a featured listing section in your platform to highlight the top-performing freelancers will help you to build customers’ trust while boosting the morale of the freelancers.
• Private Messaging – An in-built messaging facility will help the customers easily interact with freelancers and share attachments related to the job posting without leaving your platform. Toptal also enables clients to message freelancers before, during, and after the job completion.
  

• Reviews and Ratings – You can increase the credibility of your freelancers and your marketplace by adding the ratings and reviews feature. It can help clients assess the work ethics, quality of work, and the overall behavior of freelancers.
  
• Issue Resolution – An issue resolution feature is useful in cases where there is a dispute between the freelancer and the client after job completion. 

Revenue Generation Model Of A Freelance Website like Toptal

You must incorporate some revenue streams into your freelance website to diversify your income. Some of the common revenue streams of freelance marketplaces include.:- 

• Commission Charges – You can set your commission on each financial transaction that takes place through your platform. This is the exact model that Toptal uses to generate revenue.
• Membership Charges – A membership plan can be a great source of recurring income. You can offer different membership packages to customers and freelancers which can provide them with some special privileges and benefits.
• Featured Listing Spaces – Featured listings are likely to get more customer attention. Therefore, you can charge freelancers to display their profiles in the featured listing space. 
• Display Ads – The graphics advertisements in the form of banners, images, gifs, videos, etc. are known as display ads. You can generate revenue by displaying third-party ads on your freelance website and charging the advertisers for displaying these ads.  

How To Create A Freelance Marketplace Like Toptal

Building a successful freelancing marketplace like Toptal requires a lot of planning, research, and marketing. Let us have a detailed look at the process of creating a freelance website:-

1. Market Research – Before developing your freelance website, you must assess your target audience and their pain points. You should be familiar with the current trends in the industry. You should also study your competitors’ business models, revenue models, sales, and the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. These insights will help you in the next stages of the development process.

2. Developing your Freelance Platform – There are two different methods/approaches that you can use for creating your freelance marketplace- the traditional approach and the modern approach. Let us understand what these approaches are:-

a. The Traditional Approach – The traditional approach involves hiring a team of software developers to create your freelance platform. You can also outsource this task to a bespoke software development company. The benefits of using the traditional approach are:

• Complete Control Over The Source Code
• High Scalability 

Although the traditional approach is beneficial for creating scalable solutions. it comes with its own set of disadvantages, including:-

• Huge Development Cost
• More Time-Consuming 
• Not Tried And Tested

b. Using a low-code/no-code solution – A low-code/no-code software allows you to build a scalable marketplace using its intuitive user interface, eliminating the requirement of having vast coding knowledge. This software is already created as per the industry standards and can be customized according to your requirements. Some of the major advantages of a low-code/no-code software are:

• Low Development Cost
• Time-Efficient
• Tried And Tested
• Feature-Loaded Solution

While the no-code solutions are gaining huge popularity because of the benefits that they provide, there are a few downsides to using these solutions. These include:-

• Limited Control of The Source Code
• Low Scalability

3. Deploying The Software – After building your freelance platform, you can deploy it on a server based on your choice. Then you can set up and personalize the landing pages per your needs.

4. Freelancer Onboarding – In order to get customers on your freelancing website, you need to onboard some talented freelancers. To attract talented freelancers to your platform, you can offer various benefits to the first few freelancers such as lower commission rates, free featured listings, etc.

5. Marketing – The final step after launching your marketplace software is marketing and promotion. Initially, you may have to rely on paid marketing techniques to increase awareness about your marketplace. In the later stages, you can use the built-in features of your marketplace software such as discounts, offers, and SEO optimization features to promote and market your platform.

How Yogigs Can Help In Creating A Freelance Website Like Toptal?

Yo!Gigs is a fully customizable freelance marketplace software that can help you create a freelance marketplace like Toptal. It is highly scalable and can manage unlimited listings and financial transactions. It is a feature-rich solution that can be used as a base to provide essential features similar to Toptal, including:-

• Skill Assessment
• Advanced Job Posting
• Freelancer Matching
• Risk-Free Trial Period
• Multi-Currency Support
• Reviews and Ratings
• Personal Messaging
• Issue Resolution

Unlike SaaS-based software solutions asking for monthly subscription charges, Yo!Gigs can be purchased with a lifetime usage license. It comes with free technical support for up to 1 year. 

How to get started with Yo!Gigs?

Launching a freelance platform with the help of Yo!Gigs is very easy. In just four simple steps, your website will be ready to launch in the market. Let us have a look at these steps:-

1. Get A Usage License – The first step to building your freelance marketplace is to purchase a lifetime usage license of Yo!Gigs.

2. Set Up And Install – After purchasing the license, you can share details of your selected hosting server with us. We will install Yo!Gigs on your server.

3. Configure The Marketplace – After installation, you can configure your freelance website and set up the primary landing pages. You can also choose your country/region of operation, payment gateways to include, email and SMS templates, and the terms and conditions of your platform.

4. Manage Your Marketplace – Now your freelance marketplace is ready to launch. You can manage and market it using the in-built tools provided by Yo!Gigs, including task management tab, advanced analytics and reports, SEO Optimization, etc.

Conclusion

The freelance marketplace industry is booming, and Toptal’s recent success proves the tremendous growth potential for online freelance marketplaces. However, building a freelance platform from scratch requires a lot of time, effort, and resources, and is quite expensive. This is where Yo!Gigs comes into the picture. It can help you easily launch your freelance marketplace at a significantly lower cost. Yo!Gigs is a fully customizable service marketplace solution and can be used as a base to build a successful freelance website like Toptal. Get in touch with our experts for a free software consultation.

Updated On: 8th May 2024

The global consuming patterns of modern day consumers have changed. Today, consumers prefer convenience and are ready to spend for the same. This is where the handyman services industry leverages and captures the market share. Due to the modern occupied schedules and long working hours, what in the 20th century used to be a DIY-job, has been overtaken by the handyman businesses. This even includes small jobs such as assembling a table, fixing a tap, mowing lawns, decorating patios and even walking dogs.

The statistics show the proliferation of the handyman services industry across the world. To begin with, the global handyman industry is expected to grow almost 5 times in the upcoming 9 years. Its compound annual growth rate is an astonishing 17.2%¹  in the projection period 2022-2032. The North American region is the biggest market accounting 36.5% of all market share, followed by Europe with 24.80% share.

Fortunately, there is immense scope in the handyman industry for new entrants at both global and regional levels. Interested entrepreneurs can explore this guide to learn more about the industry including growth factors, top players and prerequisites to build your own handyman services marketplace.

Table of contents

Last Updated: January 03, 2024

In today’s digitally-enabled world, a wide majority of service industry professionals operate offline. They are fragmented at a level where it is arduous for them to reach new customers, eventually clipping off many growth opportunities. As a result, their services stay limited to hyperlocal despite having an impressive work portfolio and the potential to grow. Online service marketplace platforms solve this problem for service providers by providing a platform dedicated to helping them find more work and recognition.

Table of Contents:

• What is an Online Services Marketplace?
• Key Growth Drivers in the Online Services Industry
• Incumbents in the Online Services Industry
• Approaches to Build an Online Services Marketplace
  ― Operational Model of an Online Services Marketplace
  ― Important Features and Functionalities Required on the Service Marketplace
  ― Revenue Generation Model of an Online Services Marketplace
  ― Important Web Pages to Set Up
• Approach 1: Building An Online Services Marketplace or Bespoke Development
  ― Waterfall Development Methodology
  ― Agile Development Methodology
• Approach 2: Buying a Readymade Services Marketplace Software
  ― Self-Hosted Software
  ― SaaS Software
  ― Our Recommendation
  ― How to Start an Online Services Marketplace: Build or Buy?
• Conclusion
• FAQs

What is an Online Services Marketplace?

Also referred to by various terms – such as a handyman marketplace, gigs marketplace, and freelancer marketplace on the internet, an online services marketplace is a platform that allows multiple service providers to register themselves and sell their services online. These services can range from blue-collar jobs, such as plumbing, carpentry, electrician, and gardening to white-collar or common freelancing jobs such as digital marketing, graphic designing, branding and content writing.

Key perks of joining an online services marketplace platform for service providers include access to a wider audience, increased online presence, payment security, and flexibility in terms of deciding their own rates and schedules. Some services marketplaces also have a reverse search option where customers upload a task and service providers place their bids for getting the job. These marketplaces add the benefit of autonomy for service providers who get more freedom in job selection.

In this article, we have shared more insights to help you start an online service marketplace. After reading this article, you will understand the operational model of online service marketplaces and the best method to develop one.

Key Growth Drivers in the Online Services Industry

As per statistics, the handyman services market alone is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.2% in the period 2022-2032. In terms of digits, this amounts to a growth of $1.31 billion over the previously recorded $339 million, totalling $1.65 billion. The growth rate for the freelance service platforms market is equally impressive. At an estimated figure of a whopping $18.3 billion by 2031, the freelancers platform market is growing at a CAGR of 15.1% in the forecast period 2023-2031.

While the growth rate for both the handyman and freelancing industries is vividly astonishing, a wider aspect is required to understand the business potential in the overall online services industry. For instance, let’s take an overview of the primary growth factors that back the aforementioned growth statistics:

• Convenience: Hiring a service provider on a service marketplace platform is highly convenient for customers. They can browse different platforms, see service provider profiles, compare rates, ratings, and portfolios to make a more informed decision. Some online service marketplaces also provide discounts to make services more affordable.
• Commercial and Residential Renovation Projects: Metropolitan cities, urban cities, suburban areas and even rural areas have many structures aged 20 to 100 years. These structures require timely renovation and repair work to fix any plumbing, sewage, HVAC and electricity problems.
• Regular Servicing and Maintenance of Appliances: Electric appliances, automobiles, heavy equipment and power tools require regular servicing and maintenance to ensure efficiency. With online service marketplaces, consumers can hire engineers and mechanics directly through the internet.
• Technological Advancements: Installation of new technologies, such as electrical systems, security systems, house automation appliances, solar panels, etc. also requires handymen and certified service professionals.
• Digital Transformation: The surging demand for digital services such as digital marketing, branding, programming, content writing and graphic designing is the key driver behind the growth of freelancing platforms and marketplaces.

Incumbents in the Online Services Industry

The online services industry is still in its nascent stages and is yet to see exponential growth. However, there already exist well-established businesses that have captured enormous market size. Entrepreneurs interested in launching a service marketplace platform can take reference from these businesses:

Approaches to Build an Online Services Marketplace

Launching a digital venture encompasses more than having a digital touchpoint or platform to conduct operations. It further extends to having access to the right set of digital tools at your disposal to help you manage and streamline operations in time. Likewise, having a well-designed platform also cannot be overlooked. A user-intuitive and aesthetic platform incentivizes visitors to engage more and is more likely to convert. Based on this information, entrepreneurs are required to understand the operational model of an online services marketplace along with the key elements needed to launch one.

Operational Model of an Online Services Marketplace

The following operational model is only for exemplary purposes. The actual model can vary from business to business and you may also need to customize the operational model as per your business preferences.

1. Service providers sign up on the online services marketplace and create profiles
2. Customers browse service provider profiles and review their ratings, reviews and portfolio
3. With the help of a scheduling calendar, customers view provider availability and book an appointment
4. Additionally, customers can also state the job in a comment box for the service provider’s reference
5. Customers select the address at checkout and complete the payment
6. Service providers coordinate with customers to complete the job
7. Post completion, customers rate the service providers

Alternatively, some online service marketplaces also allow customers to create jobs that service providers can search and place bids. The rest of the model remains the same.

Important Features and Functionalities Required on the Service Marketplace

Having three user-types, which are the admin (marketplace owner), service provider and customer, an online services marketplace requires a separate set of features for all these user-types.

Revenue Generation Model of an Online Services Marketplace

Being an online platform, an online services marketplace owner can diversify income from various revenue streams:

• Job commission
• Featured listings
• Display ads
• Subscription packages

Important Web Pages to Set Up

To start your online services marketplace and conduct full-fledged operations, entrepreneurs are required to set up the following webpages:

• Home page
• Sign up page
• Service provider registration 
• Find a handyman 
• Post a job
• Job listings
• Admin dashboard
• User dashboard
• Service provider dashboard
• About us
• Contact us
• How it works
• FAQ
• Blog
• Testimonials
• Terms of service
• Privacy policy
• Reviews and portfolio
• Customer support

You can bookmark this article to save the features and webpages list. After having a complete idea of primary requirements, entrepreneurs can decide to build their online services marketplace or buy readymade software for the same.

Approach 1: Building An Online Services Marketplace or Bespoke Development

The first approach to building an online service marketplace platform is to rely on the traditional Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) framework. This framework defines the various processes and stages of software development including design, development, testing, implementation, and maintenance. SDLC helps software developers identify key requirements, organize source code, eliminate low-quality code, and maintain the development budget.

Even in SDLC, there are two popular methodologies:

1. Waterfall Development Methodology

The waterfall development methodology follows a linear approach to development where each and every phase of the methodology depends on the outcome of the precious phase. Meaning, at one time, developers can only work with a predefined set of requirements. To fulfill any additional requirement or introduce changes in the initial requirements, the software development team will have to restart the entire development process. As returning to a previously closed phase is not possible in the waterfall methodology, entrepreneurs and business analysts are required to carefully prepare BRD, SRS and FRS documents.

Pros of Using the Waterfall Methodology

• It is very easy to follow 
• Has a specific development timeframe and deliverables
• There are no to minimum project overhead costs
• Testing is easy considering project requirements always remain the same
• Highly cost effective in compared to other bespoke software development approaches
• Timelines are easy to meet
• Outcomes are clear right from the start

Cons of Using the Waterfall Methodology

• Requirements once defined cannot be changed
• Not possible to return to previously complete development phase
• The end-product can lack essential features, resulting in the development of an outdated software
• Longer delivery timeline 
• The client can only review the software post completion of project

2. Agile Development Methodology

The agile development methodology reduces the delivery timeline of the software by breaking the software into multiple development sprints. In contrast to waterfall development, agile also does not require a complete set of requirements to begin. Instead, the project starts with bare minimum requirements or with the development of an MVP software and then more features are added based on early adopter feedback. This process of improving the software based on early-adopter feedback in multiple repetitions is also known as iterative development.

As new features can be introduced between two different sprints of the project, there’s no need to have a predefined set of features and entrepreneurs with just a vision can opt for agile development.

Pros of Using the Agile Development Methodology

• Introducing changes in the development project is easy because of multiple short sprints
• A sprint only lasts 2-4 weeks, after which the client can review the software and see the direction towards which the development is headed
• Makes it easy to test or validate a business idea
• Improves the software based on early-adopter feedback and iterative development
• Does not require a predefined set of requirements. Due to this, agile methodology is highly suitable for entrepreneurs who are not sure about the features of the software
• Helps businesses stay up-to-date with their software technology

Cons of Using the Agile Development Methodology

• As software development primarily relies on early adopter feedback, the final outcome can vary from the client’s expectations
• While delivery timelines are short, developing a full-fledged software can take more time with agile development
• Very costly in the long run
• Requires arduous project planning and time commitment

Waterfall Development vs Agile Development

Both waterfall and agile development approaches are useful software development methods. However, in today’s time, using readymade solutions is more reliable because of multiple reasons that we have discussed below.

Approach 2: Buying a Readymade Services Marketplace Software

The second approach emphasizes saving both time and capital by investing in an off-the-shelf, readymade online services marketplace software. Such type of software comes with all necessary features right out of the box. Additionally, these features are already tried and tested in various markets to ensure business feasibility and performance. In comparison to building a service marketplace from scratch, using a ready-made software is more cost effective and time-saving. Even in the readymade software category, there are two popular types of software:

1. Self-Hosted Software

These software are hosted on the business owner’s own choice of server. Meaning, the server can be both on-premise or a third-party hosting service. The key benefit of using self-hosted software is that entrepreneurs can select a more secure or faster server for themselves. Their selected server can be a shared or private server as well, giving them complete control over the software.

Pros of Using Self-Hosted Software

• Business owners get the choice of hosting
• Due to choice of hosting, business owners get complete control over the software
• Self-hosted software also come with one time costs
• There are rarely any limitations on features and number of users
• Highly scalable and cost-effective in the long run

Cons of Using Self-Hosted Software

• The one-time cost can be too much for small startups and solopreneurs
• Due to no cap on features, the software can look too overwhelming

2. SaaS Software

You can also start an online services marketplace with the help of SaaS software. The term SaaS refers to Software-as-a-Service. In this type of readymade software, the online platform is hosted on the software provider’s server and provided to the business owner as a monthly service. As the server is not owned by the business owner, he does not get complete control over the software and has to adhere to the software provider’s terms and conditions.

Pros of Using SaaS Software

• Monthly recurring payments make SaaS software highly suitable for small startups and solopreneurs
• Often gets timely updates and changes
• Comes with multiple subscription package to choose from

Cons of Using Self-Hosted Software

• Business owners do not get complete control over the software
• The number of listings, users and transactions is often limited
• Not scalable. Monthly costs increase with time
• Access to all features is only provided in the most expensive package

Our Recommendation:

For launching a service marketplace platform, our recommended readymade software is Yo!Gigs. It is a full-fledged self-hosted service marketplace solution that comes with three different dashboards for streamlining operations:

• Admin Dashboard – Advanced order management, user management and platform management features to help the business owner manage service marketplace operations
• Service Provider Dashboard – A single place from where service providers can view their earnings and pending jobs
• Customer Dashboard – For customers to view their booked orders and coordinate with service providers.

Through Yo!Gigs, business owners can connect hundreds of service providers at one place and launch a one-stop destination for finding handyman professionals. Some other reasons to invest in Yo!Gigs service marketplace software are:

• Trust of FATbit Technologies
• Available at one-time cost 
• Comes with 1 year of free technical support
• Fully scalable and customizable

How to Start an Online Services Marketplace: Build or Buy?

Based on the aforementioned information, we can come to the conclusion that both building and buying a services marketplace have their own benefits. Still, considering the huge cost difference between the two approaches and the easy availability of advanced technological solutions, buying a tried and tested ready-made on-demand services marketplace solution makes more sense. On the contrary, bespoke development is practical in situations where entrepreneurs have very unique requirements or want their service marketplace platform to be built on a very specific technology.

Conclusion

Any business idea only reaps results when adequate efforts are put in the right direction. While an online service marketplace is an asset-light business idea, it will still require efforts on two important fronts, which are technology and management. While powerful technology will help you simplify operations for both customers and service providers, appropriate management will drive you toward your overarching goals. In the initial stages, you may also need to invest money and time in marketing but once you onboard service providers, it’d be easier to grow your services marketplace business.

FAQs

Q1. What is the key difference between building and buying a service marketplace software?
Ans: Although both building and buying options are available to founders, for the most time and cost-effectiveness, buying is a better option. This is because of three primary reasons:

1. In ready-made software, every feature and functionality is already present. With custom development, you need to develop everything from scratch, which can take up to months.
2. Readymade software is either available at SaaS pricing or at a one-time cost. Custom development includes hourly development rates, which makes this approach highly cost-inclusive.
3. As all the features in readymade software are already tried and tested, they make it a better option to build your online service marketplace platform.

Q2. Can I develop a service marketplace platform like Angi, Bark, and Taskrabbit with readymade software?
Ans: The answer is yes. Service marketplace software comes with in-built support for business models like Angi, Bark, and TaskRabbit. You can easily onboard service providers and customers and let them connect. Furthermore, readymade software also allows you to manage service providers and set your commission rate. With a plethora of similar features that streamline marketplace management, building a platform like Angi and TaskRabbit is possible with readymade service marketplace software.

Last Updated: 30th October, 2023

Digital peer-to-peer marketplaces have been foundational to the growth of the sharing economy, enabling individuals to transact directly with one another at an exceptionally large scale. Conceptually, a peer-to-peer marketplace can be thought of as a particular type of two-sided market, in which an intermediary facilitates transactions between two interdependent customer groups such as supply-side and demand-side participants or producers and consumers.

This robust idea of the peer-to-peer marketplace has been readily adopted by several businesses in the global market. The revenue of the P2P marketplace was $1078 Million in 2021 which is expected to reach $5.1 Billion in 2032, growing at a CAGR of 15.5% from 2022 to 2032.

Although investing in a peer-to-peer marketplace has become a trend today, some people still find it challenging to create a peer-to-peer marketplace website similar to eBay. This blog post will describe the main types of peer-to-peer marketplace websites, the reason for their growth, challenges, famous players in the industry, must-have features, and building a website via both custom development and peer-to-peer marketplace software.

So, without further ado, let’s get started!

Table of Contents:

• Types of P2P Marketplaces
• Why are P2P Marketplaces Growing in Popularity
• Benefits of Building P2P Marketplaces
• Challenges of a Peer-to-Peer Marketplace
• Key Players in the Peer-to-Peer Business
• Essential Features of a Peer-to-Peer Marketplace
• How to Build a Peer to Peer Marketplace
• Summing Up
• FAQs

Types of P2P Marketplaces

Based on the services they provide, all peer-to-peer marketplaces can be classified into three major kinds.

Rental Marketplaces

A rental marketplace is a type of peer-to-peer platform that provides users access to diverse equipment for rent. Previously, people only rented out properties but with changes in time and the rise of the rental economy, now consumers can rent a wide range of equipment such as party supplies, audio-video products, designer wear, adventure gear and even automobiles. 

Marketplace owners do not need to own any of the equipment that is listed. They only need to manage the online portal and oversee timely returns & delivery.

Product Marketplaces

A product marketplace allows merchants to list any goods online in exchange for a charge. Individuals that want to sell their products online can create listings. They don’t need to own brick-and-mortar stores, pay for rent, or pay salaries to employees to be able to offer things for sale.

However, when an item is sold, merchants are charged a percentage by the platform’s owners.

Services Marketplaces

An online services marketplace that helps service seekers connect with service providers. These service providers help consumers with home repair tasks such as carpentering, plumbing, cleaning, gardening, roofing, and electrician services. On a services marketplace, buyers can hire service providers directly after viewing their profiles or upload their budgets and gigs. Service providers will view their gigs and place bids accordingly. The winning bid gets the job.

Why are P2P Marketplaces Growing in Popularity

Unquestionably, launching a peer-to-peer platform benefits both sellers and buyers. Let’s see why its popularity is growing among its users.

Sellers

• Joining a peer-to-peer marketplace for selling products/services is an affordable solution, instead of building a platform of your own.
• Sellers get access to a large audience in a marketplace and do not need to spend time looking for buyers. Instead, the buyers are already looking for the products/services that the seller has to offer.
• Sellers do not need to track inventory by themselves as the marketplaces automate the tracking processes for hassle-free operations.

Buyers

• Buyers have the advantage of buying from a great number of sellers helping them find the best options in terms of quality and price.
• The simple buying and checkout process on a marketplace encourages the buyers to make the purchase right away. To make the process even faster, buyers also have the convenience of paying on the platform itself.
• Buyers do not need to worry about fraud in the marketplace as the owner ensures security by holding the sellers’ payment in the escrow account until the product or service is successfully delivered to the buyer.

Benefits of Building P2P Marketplaces

Peer-to-peer marketplaces bring benefits not only to sellers and buyers but also to entrepreneurs. Here are some of the distinguishing benefits of peer-to-peer marketplaces for business owners.

Financial Edge

One of the biggest benefits of a peer-to-peer marketplace is that there is no investment required in terms of production, supply, shipping, and marketing. Its business model becomes the most viable option to start a successful business as it only requires a website or an app to function.

The business owner does not need to own the products and services that are being offered. In addition to this, the maintenance costs are also relatively lower than any other business. Once the marketplace is set up, you can focus on improving its functionalities while the revenue continues to grow.

Network Effect

The network effect on the online marketplace eliminates the efforts required to attract users (sellers & buyers) to the platform. Each new user on either side attracts new users; trusted and reliable sellers on the platform selling high-quality products make customers’ heads turn towards your website, and sellers are attracted by seeing a growing number of buyers on the platform.

Users themselves market the platform and make it recognizable which is required for that first push of popularizing your platform.

Hassle-Free Development

Due to the growing demand for P2P marketplaces, building and launching a marketplace is not difficult. There are several readymade peer-to-peer marketplace software available in the market that can be easily deployed to launch a multi-vendor platform. The readymade software from an experienced software provider can turn your idea into a customized peer-to-peer marketplace for a scalable business.

Geographical Freedom

As the marketplace will be running online, users will not be limited to any particular location. Global users can register on the platform increasing the potential number of users dozens of times.

Challenges of a Peer-to-Peer Marketplace

Building and running a peer-to-peer marketplace has some learning curve; that requires business owners to go through some challenges:

Solving the Wrong Problem

Prior to investing huge time and money into the marketplace, it is important to find a problem and build a solution for it. Business owners need to validate their idea at the initial stage by launching an MVP of their marketplace as soon as possible. The feedback received during the MVP stage from the early adopters can significantly help in determining the further enhancement required in the marketplace.

Deciding on the Right Business Model

There are different options for business models to choose from for a peer-to-peer marketplace. Deciding on a sustainable business model that works for sellers, customers, and you is important for the success of the marketplace. Make sure the business model is capable enough to scale with the business in the near future.

Building Buyer’s Trust

As a new name in the market, your brand won’t have the significant level of trust that people implicitly have in established brands. However, there are some strategies that can be used to build buyers’ trust. Also, it is something that takes time to build. Business owners can strive to provide extra safety which can become a competitive advantage for their business.

Key Players in the Peer-to-Peer Business

If you still don’t have enough motivation to join the bandwagon and launch a groundbreaking peer-to-peer business, let’s read about the key players in this industry and their growth.

Uber

Founded in 2009, Uber is a service provider allowing users to book a cab and driver to transport them. Without owning a single vehicle, the company operates in almost 72 countries and 10,500 cities. The fares of the ride, which are based on a dynamic pricing model depending upon the supply and demand are quoted to the buyer in advance.

Uber generated $31 billion in revenue in 2022, an 83.2% increase year-on-year. Uber drivers completed 7.6 billion trips in 2021 with over 131 million people. The company has received a total funding of $20.9 billion from 2011 to 2019.

Etsy

Founded in 2005, Etsy is a network where one can buy and sell handmade, unique, and vintage craft items like jewelry, bags, clothing, home decor, furniture, and toys. The platform has helped thousands of craftsmen to make revenue by selling their products online. The platform generates revenue from sellers in the form of listing fees and commissions from each sale.

Etsy’s annual revenue in 2022 was $2.56 billion. The platform has 7.5 million sellers and 96 million active buyers.

Airbnb

Based in the USA, AirBnB helps travelers find affordable accommodations all over the world. The business was established in 2008 where the platform works as an intermediator connecting homeowners with travelers who are looking for affordable accommodation while Airbnb makes a profit from the commission from each booking.

The platform was valued at $133 billion in 2021 and saw its revenue increase by 73% which is $5.9 billion in the same year. The platform has over 7 million listings run by over 4 million hosts.

TaskRabbit

Launched in 2008, the company has been growing steadily and has competitors like Hassle, Zaarly, and Thumbtack. TaskRabbit matches freelance labor with local demand, allowing consumers to find help with everyday tasks, including furniture assembly, moving, delivery, and handyman work.

Headquartered in San Francisco, the platform serves several cities across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Monaco. The platform’s estimated annual revenue is $244.9 million and has raised total funding of $37.7 million.

Fiverr

Fiverr is the world’s largest online marketplace for freelance services connecting freelancers to people or businesses looking to hire. Launched in 2010, Fiverr is unparalleled in helping people find skilled professionals at remote locations for short one-time tasks. The platform consists of quite useful website features for service providers and service seekers.

Fiverr was valued at $1.18 Billion in 2022 and has raised a total funding of $111 million in 8 rounds.

Essential Features of a Peer-to-Peer Marketplace

Now that you have seen marketplaces growing immensely in the peer-to-peer industry and are planning to launch your own marketplace, it is important to know the features required in your platform. Although the peer-to-peer business model has proven viable, it is still imperative to have the right set of features in your platform.

Here are the features that peer-to-peer marketplaces should have:

Social Logins & Verification

Marketplace owners need to provide users with multiple ways (phone, email, social account) to register and sign in to the platform in order to boost audience satisfaction. Providing social login options is faster for the users and the linking of a social account increases the credibility of the sellers.

In addition, users should not be forced to create an account on the platform until they are not purchasing any product/service on the platform.

User Profiles

A user profile is among the main features of a peer-to-peer marketplace. User profiles should contain personal information such as name, photo, contact details, location, user type, buying/selling preferences, ratings, etc. Creating profiles is an essential part of building trust between buyers and sellers. You can also add an option to verify phone numbers and identities, which can or can’t be shared with others.

Reviews/Ratings

Reviews are an essential part of any eCommerce business to build transparency and trust among users on the platform. As buyers these days are fully aware, probably the first thing they would do after finding a product is to check its reviews. Missing product or seller reviews may encourage them to give up on the product and look for the product in a different source.

Notifications

This feature is essential to speed up the interactions and make communications between parties seamless. Integrating this feature allows sellers to send emails and notifications about order status, price reductions, special offers, product availability, and much more. Notifications make sure that the buyers and sellers can communicate with each other quickly without the messages being lost in history facilitating the closing of the deals more quickly.

Product Listings

It is equally important to implement product listings when building a peer-to-peer marketplace. You need to implement this feature correctly as it works differently for vendors and consumers. As far as vendors go, they should be able to add, remove, revise, publish, and unpublish listings. Customers should be able to filter, search, and view those listings with detailed descriptions.

Website Search & Navigation

In order to enhance the user experience on the platform, the website should have a smooth search & navigation. Well-structured and thought-out website navigation helps boost user retention and interest in the website. The option to search for products using keywords, filters and categories makes sure the buyers can find the products and services they are looking for.

Online Payments

Customers need to be able to pay for their purchases or bookings right on the marketplace. To offer this, integration with different payment gateways is essential. Make sure to allow different types of payments, including credit/debit cards, PayPal, digital wallets, net banking, cryptocurrency, and country-specific payment options.

Communication

For efficient communication between sellers, buyers, administrators, and support, the marketplace needs to have a messaging system integrated. Users should be able to write a message and send it to any other user to avoid disputes and communicate quickly for a seamless experience on the platform.

Cross-Selling & Upselling

This is a common feature of online marketplaces to have. Implementing sections like “Recommended” or “Users also bought this” on the product page may entice users to purchase more increasing your revenue and profit as a platform owner.

Bookings

A peer-to-peer marketplace that offers services instead of products needs to have a booking system in place. To mark the availability/unavailability and to book the slots to eliminate any chances of errors, a calendar needs to be integrated into the marketplace.

Commission Settings

In order to generate revenue, the business owner should get the option to set their own commission rates. The commission rates can vary for different product categories. Additionally, the option to set a flat rate commission or percentage commission gives more flexibility to the business owner. 

Earnings Withdrawal Settings

As the marketplace owner, you should get the option to set an earnings withdrawal policy. This feature is important to ensure the smooth functioning of certain processes, such as refund and returns processes. 

For example, you should have the option to set a minimum withdrawal limit so that sellers are only withdrawing their earnings once they hit a certain threshold amount. Till then, the amount accumulated in a seller’s account can be used for processing refunds for that particular seller’s products. Similarly, you can set a minimum withdrawal interval period so that a fair withdrawal policy can be upheld for all small and large vendors.

How to Build a Peer to Peer Marketplace

We have reached the most crucial part of the article (How to Build a Peer to Peer Marketplace). A peer-to-peer marketplace can be built by multiple approaches. Two of them are:

• Custom Development
• Readymade Software

Custom development from scratch is a sound idea if you need extended functionality or a high level of customization. However, this needs to be kept in mind that this approach consumes most of the time and money. You need to hire a development team that can help you with the technical aspects and guide you on the way to product launch and even after that.

Using readymade software cuts the time and costs of marketplace development greatly. The software has all the essential features required to build and launch a peer-to-peer marketplace. The software is developed by a group of experienced professionals, hence, it addresses the problems that may get overlooked in the custom-developed platforms.

One such readymade P2P marketplace software is Yo!Gigs. This is a fully customizable and all-in-one home services marketplace software purpose-built with all the essential features to streamline the operations of a peer-to-peer marketplace. Yo!Gigs comprises a unique and powerful suite of features to build a robust peer-to-peer marketplace.

If interested, you can book a free personalized demo with experts.

Summing Up

Building a peer-to-peer business has never been easier than it is today. With unlimited potential for creativity and growth in this business model, the odds of becoming successful are definitely high. All you need to do is identify the strong and weak sides of the business and discover how to address the pain points to gain a competitive advantage.

FAQs

Q1. Is there any readymade Peer-to-Peer marketplace software available?

Ans: Yes, there are several readymade peer-to-peer marketplace software available in the market. They are available in both SaaS and self-hosted options. For self-hosted solutions, you can check out our range of products:

• Yo!Gigs: For launching P2P service-based marketplaces
• Yo!Rent: For launching P2P sales and rental marketplaces

All these solutions are available at a one-time cost and are highly cost-effective in the long term. Moreover, you also get one year of free technical support with these solutions.

Q2. What is the cost of building a Peer-to-Peer website?

Ans: The cost of building a Peer-to-Peer marketplace depends on various factors such as the method of development, development country, and the reputation of the developer. As stated above, it is wiser to select a readymade software to reduce the overall development cost and time. In addition, you also get tested and tried software to run your P2P business. Generally, the cost of P2P marketplace software varies from $1,500 – $5,000.

Q3. Do I need to be tech-savvy to operate an online marketplace?

Ans: With readymade software, you just need basic computer knowledge to run and operate everything. This is because readymade marketplace software comes with a Graphic User Interface (GUI) with in-built options and settings that help you manage the marketplace. Thus, you only need to click on readily available options in order to manage your marketplace. No technical knowledge is required.

Q4. What are the top Peer-to-Peer marketplace ideas to invest in?

Ans: Without going into much detail, all industry stats show the immense scope of business in launching the following types of P2P marketplaces:

• Handyman Services Marketplace
• Home Services Marketplace
• Freelancers Marketplace
• Gigs Marketplace
• Babysitters Marketplace
• Car Rental Marketplace
• Dress Rental Marketplace

 Last Updated: 29th December, 2023

Cleaning the house is a laborious chore and people these days do not have a lot of time and energy to do it by themselves. Particularly, the working professionals leave their home cleaning tasks to cleaning services providers without any second thought in their mind.

This trend offers a good opportunity for entrepreneurs to cash in some extra income by starting a cleaning service-based business. The global cleaning services market size is expected to reach $468.2 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 6.1% from 2020 to 2027, according to a report by Grand View Research, Inc.

Clearly indicated by the numbers, cleaning services have already had a major impact on the gig economy and will continue to do so in the years ahead. These growing numbers are one of the main reasons entrepreneurs are looking to get into this business. Moreover, being one of the most flourishing markets out there also makes it a more lucrative business opportunity for entrepreneurs.

This article consists of a detailed breakdown including market scope, ongoing trends, opportunities, challenges, and much more to make it easy for the entrepreneurs planning to join this industry.

How Does a Cleaning Service Website Work?

A cleaning website connects clients looking for cleaning services with cleaning service professionals. Cleaning services encompass a wide range of services such as window washing, floor cleaning, vacuuming, furniture cleaning, carpet cleaning, air duct cleaning, water damage restoration, and other similar services. These services are used by both commercial and residential customers.

Key Niches in The Cleaning Industry

The application of cleaning services is increasing across new segments of the economy. Here are some major niches in the cleaning industry where entrepreneurs can plan to expand their services.

Residential Cleaning

Shortage of time is the biggest driver to push the residential cleaning industry. While in the past, this service was availed mostly by elderly people, reports suggest that people in their 30s-50s are also appealed by this service these days. The reason for this gaining popularity is people get to spend time with their families instead of fussing over the chores at home.

Commercial Cleaning

Commercial cleaning reigns as the most promising and profitable segment of the cleaning industry as employers have realized the importance of providing a conducive and clean working environment for the well-being of employees. The on-demand commercial cleaning jobs will be the most popular segment in the near future and will definitely come in handy to cash in some extra revenue.

Specialty Cleaning

Most people have no idea how to clean rugs and carpets at home. Moreover, the way cleaning services deep clean the carpets is no way possible by the homeowners, even if they use vacuum cleaners. Specialty cleaning providers offer professional cleaning of windows, floors, carpets, sofas, etc.

Ongoing Trends in Cleaning Industry

Trends in any industry evolve with time as the needs and expectations of consumers change. Similarly, it is necessary for the cleaning businesses to keep abreast of the industry trends and adapt modern practices to fulfill the latest demands of the market. Below discussed are the current trends in the cleaning industry to be kept in mind by the aspiring entrepreneurs of this industry.

Improved Hiring & Training Practices

The on-demand cleaning services market is becoming increasingly competitive because of which, consumers don’t hesitate to switch one cleaning service provider with another if they are not satisfied with the service. The cleaning companies need to emphasize more on hiring and training the employees to make sure they are capable of offering quality service to the customers.

Also, many industrial and commercial businesses prefer to work only with the vendors who provide national background checks of their employees to ensure the safety of the clients. Thus, it becomes essential for businesses to screen the candidates properly using the industry standards before hiring them.

Healthier Indoors

The general public’s increased concern over health has made the cleaning companies more focused on creating healthier indoor environments rather than cleaning only for appearance. The cleaning professionals are expected to hold higher standards of cleaning when public health is concerned. Focus on using technologies, products, and processes that meet the health and safety standards is required to remain compliant with the regulatory rating organizations.

Vendor Specialization

The consumers look for a single entry point to avail themselves of a wide range of cleaning services. This makes it vital for the cleaning companies to offer specialized services like HVAC cleaning, carpet cleaning, etc. along with general services. To take advantage of this growing trend of vendor consolidation, the cleaning companies need to market themselves as capable of meeting all of their customers’ needs.

Building a Cleaning Services Website

The demand for the cleaning services marketplace is constantly growing. Yet, there’s still a lack of awareness as to what goes inside in building a website. In this section, we’ll take a step-by-step look at the process of building a cleaning services marketplace.

Determine Your Cleaning Niche

The cleaning services can be divided into two categories.

• Residential cleaning services
• Commercial cleaning services

Residential cleaning services are essentially house cleaning services. The target audience for this niche are homeowners or busy renters who are looking for help with cleaning tasks around their homes. Residential cleaning services include:

• Pool cleaning
• Backyard cleaning
• Move-out cleaning
• Post-renovation cleaning

Commercial cleaning services are required by various organizations like government offices, private businesses, etc. This is more challenging than residential cleaning services as you need to negotiate complex, enterprise-grade contracts to stay afloat. However, commercial cleaning businesses are less vulnerable to economic fluctuations. Commercial cleaning services include:

• Office cleaning
• Post-construction cleaning
• Sanitization
• Medical cleaning
• Gym & sports facilities cleaning
• Entertainment venue cleaning

It’s quite evident then, that you need to carefully pick a niche and plan your operations accordingly.

Understand Your Target Audience

Comprehending your ideal customer and target market is another critical element of your cleaning business. Not knowing your target audience will fail your marketing efforts. Begin by creating your user persona, which accounts for what they do, where they live, how they act, etc.

Doing this will help you better connect with their problems, interests, and needs and you will be able to communicate with them in a better way. This will definitely give the right direction to your marketing efforts. 

Decide Feature List

Try to make the marketplace simple and smart for both service providers and seekers to browse the website easily and make the transaction effortlessly. There are different types of users in a marketplace that require different features. At the same time, features of all these user types should coordinate and respond to actions performed by each other.

Let’s have a look at the essential features of the cleaning services website.

Search & Compare

Implementation of a robust search and compare feature is vital in a cleaning marketplace. Customers should be able to easily find and narrow down the list of service providers who meet their criteria. Furthermore, customers should be able to compare the shortlisted candidates before requesting quotes or further inquiries.

Simple Signup Process

Keep the signup process transparent, short, and straightforward for the customers as well as vendors so that they can complete the registration process in minimum time. Too many steps and complications can discourage a user to register on your website and you can lose a potential customer.

Review/Rating

It is a known fact that customers check out previous reviews prior to purchasing any goods or services and testimonials hugely influence their buying decisions. Therefore, by integrating a review and rating section in your marketplace you can build the trust of the consumers on your platform.

Integration with Payment Gateways

Your marketplace should offer multiple payment gateways to users that have a global currency and compatibility with eCommerce platforms. Having payment gateways make it easy and smooth for the customer to make the transaction directly from the website. PayPal, Stripe are some of the popular payment gateways that can be considered to integrate.

Reports and Analytics

It is essential to analyze the user experience of your website along with tracking to identify the weak links in your business. Prompt analytics like user behavior, abandoned purchases, user actions, preferred services, session time, etc. can help the business owners to know where to put focus and how to retarget the lost customers.

Apart from these, there are many other features required by the cleaning services marketplace to survive in today’s cut-throat competition. However, it is suggested to always start by building an MVP with the most important features like payment processing, user profiles, listings, etc., and test the waters instead of fleshing out a fully-featured website at the initial stage.

Building a Cleaning Service Website can be done in two ways

1. Custom build from scratch
2. Use readymade software

Building the cleaning website from scratch will allow you to build everything from start to finish and customize it as per your requirements. However, it is quite a time-consuming and costly affair for cleaning companies as it requires them to have the technical knowledge and a team of developers. Building a cleaning business website using readymade service management software is an easy way that does not require any technical knowledge.

You will be able to set up your website in a short span of time with all the basic features. And, once it has gained sufficient popularity, you can also incorporate advanced features as per the requirements. The cost and time taken to build a cleaning website using readymade software are much less when compared to building from scratch.

Successful Cleaning Services Businesses

We have been observing the cleaning businesses across the globe and came across a whole lot of interesting ones. Let’s have a look at our compiled list of top cleaning services businesses.

Attracting Customers to Your Cleaning Services Business

Now that you know how to build a cleaning services website, the next step is to grow your client base. But how do you find these clients and convince them to avail services from your website? It can be easier than you think. Let’s have a look.

List Professional Service Providers

The professionals listed on your platform should offer good quality services from the very beginning much before you start marketing your platform. Make sure they use a cleaning checklist and follow the standard process at every visit to deliver the same results every time. Communicating with the clients is the key to building a successful business.

Following up on estimates, discussing problems (if any), sending invoices immediately after the job is done are some ways to maintain good communication and relationship with your clients.

Advertise Your Business

Apart from identifying your clients and offering great services, your business also requires some marketing strategies to perform at its fullest. Social media presence, online advertising, email marketing are some of the popular ways to convert a potential customer into a paying one. Moreover, you can offer discounts, promotions, and other incentives to encourage people to sign up on your platform.

Create Referral Programs

People trust their friends and family when they recommend a service instead of a random advertisement they watch. Start a referral program and ask your loyal customers for a referral. Invite them to share their experience with their friends and family. Also, make sure you thank them for their referrals in the form of discounts or gift cards.

Encourage Online Reviews

As soon as you deliver a service, make sure you ask your client to leave a review that can significantly help you bring in more clients. However, before asking for the review, ensure the client is happy with the service provided. A happy client is more likely to give you a genuine and positive review.

Possible Challenges of a Cleaning Services Business and Their Solutions

A number of challenges may occur while managing a cleaning services business. It is, therefore, suggested that the business owners prepare themselves beforehand. Let’s discuss a few challenges and their potential solutions.

Building Trust Among Clients

Homeowners are quite overprotective of their house and their belongings. Handing over their house to a stranger is a matter of great trust. A cleaning service business owner cannot guarantee the behavior and quality offered by the service provider, which means that the business owner should be ready for complaints, conflicts, and even lawsuits.

Solution: Business owners are required to strive hard to maintain a good reputation for their business. It is advisable to use practices like ID and background checks, skill tests, training, and certification before hiring any service provider. Business owners can also charge fines for late-coming and no-shows.

Clients should be able to see a picture and bio of the service provider at the time of booking to feel safer about a stranger entering their house.

Booking Out of Platform

Once your platform has a good list of service providers, the risk of professional leakage increases. If the client is satisfied with the services offered by a service provider booked on the platform, they try to hire him directly outside of the platform in less price.

Solution: The solution to combat this situation is quite hard. The professional service providers are looking for better compensation. And, the clients are always in search of cheaper service providers. Business owners can try to offer competitive salaries to the service providers and involve clients in their loyalty programs.

Transparent Policies with Service Providers

Business owners can try to have minimum to no misunderstanding between them and the service providers. A case like Homejoy can arise where service providers demanded several employees’ benefits like salaries, tax payments, insurance, leaves, and many more. 

Solution: Before you allow service providers to work on your platform, make their rights, obligations, Terms and Conditions are crystal clear to them to avoid any issues in the future. Make sure you set fair rates and make the payments process transparent and timely.

Summing Up

To sum up, building a cleaning services website is a profitable idea and the giants of this industry have already proved that. All you need to do is your homework and market your platform to the right people. Despite the competition, you can achieve the same results as Helping and Handy.

FAQ

Q1. Are there any readymade solutions to start a cleaning services business?

Yes, there are many readymade solutions in the market. Yo!Gigs is also a cleaning service solution. It differs from other solutions in scalability and hosting. Being a self–hosted software that can be hosted on any server of your choice, Yo!Gigs is a fully scalable home services software. In Yo!Gigs, there are no limitations on the number of listings, transactions, and user profiles. Additionally, you get access to all advanced features right from the beginning. Yo!Gigs lifetime usage license is available at a one-time cost with 1 year of free technical support.

Q2. Cost to build a cleaning services marketplace?

The cost of developing a cleaning services marketplace depends on the type of software technology you select. You have three options:

1. Developing the marketplace from scratch: This method is the most cost-inclusive as it requires you to pay for developers on an hourly basis. Furthermore, the entire project can last up to a year. Thus, the estimated development cost via this method is $10,000 – $20,000.
2. Use SaaS software: SaaS software includes monthly or annually recurring costs. However, these costs are never-ending. You may end up paying thousands of dollars just for the software within the first few years of operations. Lastly, there may be certain limitations that require you to upgrade your subscription package for scalability purposes. Estimated costs are $4,000 to $15,000 for a period of 5 years.
3. Use Self-Hosted Software:  The majority of self-hosted software come with a perpetual license at a one-time cost. As there are no restrictions on the number of listings and features, there are no package upgradation costs. Estimated costs are $1,500 to  $5,000 for a lifetime license.

Q3. How to choose the best on-demand cleaning services marketplace software?

There’s no definite approach to selecting a services marketplace software. To ensure the software will be helpful for your needs, check out its feature set and book a personalized demo to understand how the software will work for your requirements. Lastly, try to opt for sustainable software that you can easily use for the long term (5-6 years minimum) so that you don’t have to reinvest in your software tech. Usually, self-hosted software meets these requirements as they are available at a one-time cost, saving you thousands of dollars in the long term.

Post Updated On: 27th December, 2023

Technology companies have been busy lately developing software to hire professionals online. Cab booking services and food ordering portals are some of the popular examples. Most recent are online marketplaces to hire local professionals for jobs like house painting, home cleaning, plumbing, and more. These marketplaces are referred to as on-demand services marketplaces.

In no time, these on-demand service marketplaces with unique features have made their mark by gaining huge popularity and building a reasonably good customer base. Seeing its rising popularity, FATbit’s team of analysts conducted thorough research of the growing industry and gathered critical business insights for entrepreneurs planning to launch a similar portal.

Business Flow of an On-demand Services Marketplace

An on-demand service platform connects service seekers and providers. The flow of such a marketplace is illustrated below:

Possible Revenue Streams of an On-demand Services Business

There are several revenue streams of an on-demand services business. However, zeroing in on a couple of them which are sustainable and help businesses scale is essential. Some of the possible revenue streams are explained below:

Potential Niches in the On-demand Services Industry

The on-demand services industry is further divided into various niches. On a marketplace platform, you can aggregate services from each of these niches. Alternatively, depending on the market demand in your targeted geographic region, you can launch a dedicated on-demand service platform for a particular niche as well.

Electrical

Electricians can increase their sales by listing their services on an on-demand electrical services platform and delivering their services to customer homes and business locations.

Plumbing Services

To save clients running around a plumber in their neighborhood, an on-demand plumbing services platform helps them find and book a plumber in minutes.

HVAC

As with other on-demand services, an HVAC services platform connects HVAC services providers to customers looking for them. Customers can find as well as book a visit from HVAC services providers. 

Pest Control Services

Every homeowner takes regular pesticide control as pests pose real threats to health and damage property. An on-demand pest control services platform acts as a one-stop destination for homeowners to find all sorts of pest control services.

Cleaning Services

On-demand cleaning services for the ones who struggle hard to keep their house clean and hire maids or housekeepers for the same. 

Appliance Repair Services

Customers prefer booking and delivery of services at their doorstep which has brought a lot of popularity to on-demand appliance repair services. 

Landscaping Services

Keeping the yard, lawn, and landscaping maintained has never been so easy with the fleet of local and professional on-demand landscaping services. 

Locksmith Services

On-demand professional locksmith services are in great demand due to residential locks, commercial locks, key duplication, automotive key programming, and lock for security surveillance.

Roofing Services

On-demand roofing services are getting popular for a variety of uses like emergency services, snow removal, small scope construction projects, warranty program, etc.

Top On-demand Services Marketplaces

Things to Consider While Starting an On-demand Services Business

While the glaring success of the on-demand market worked for many businesses, the businesses that failed are also extremely huge in number. Below given are a few factors to consider when building your on-demand business and making it a success.

Market Expansion

On-demand businesses today refrain from expanding their market reach and end up being limited to a pool of loyal customers. The problem arises as soon as a new competitor with huge capital enters the market and starts expanding. The chances of them getting out of the business increase with the increasing number of competitors.

Alternate Financing Options in Place

It is extremely unwise to be dependent on funding to launch and sustain your on-demand business. No matter how well-propositioned your business model is, there is no guarantee of your on-demand business getting funded. It is better if the entrepreneurs look into alternative financing options like partner financing, invoice advances, crowdfunding, marketplace lending, revenue-based financing, etc., and not remain limited to venture capital.

Focus on Customers’ Needs

As many successful on-demand businesses have set the benchmark high, the modern customers’ expectations have also risen. Some key traits are:

• 24*7 availability
• Personalized experience
• Quick turnaround time
• Cater to the exact customer needs

Take a look at these points and identify which of these relate to your business. These points can highlight where your business can improve the customer experience by focusing on the needs of your customers.

Trends Transforming the On-demand Services Industry

Here is a look at trends that are being formed and lay the foundation for the future of the on-demand services industry.

Adoption in a Wide Range of Industries

As people are getting used to on-demand service platform, they are also looking to take advantage of more on-demand services in other industries. Moreover, becoming more ubiquitous signifies branching out to serve new industries and sectors. As a result, the on-demand economy is going to see an increase in its workforce in the coming years.

Skilled and Qualified Service Providers

So far, most of the on-demand services like cleaning, ride-hailing, food delivery, etc. did not require a special skill set or expertise, However, the growing number of service providers and niches will also require skilled and qualified service providers with relevant experience to join the workforce. Some of the examples are medicine and health care services that are becoming popular and require service providers to be skilled and experienced.

Quality Services at Consumer’s Convenience

As the number of businesses and service providers is increasing in numbers and competition is rising every day, service providers need to offer quality services at reasonable prices. The hike in the number of service providers has forced them to offer the premium services at customers’ convenience or lose a potential customer.

Necessary Background Checks

As the penetration of on-demand services increases and more people face legal issues, there will be an increased demand for background checks. Customers are hesitant to use the services if there are no background checks for the service providers. On-demand business owners should consider this to build and maintain the trust of the customers.

Business Intelligence and Analytics

As the competition in the on-demand services industry is roaring high, businesses will not be able to thrive without Data Mining and Business Analytics. These can give valuable insights into the services which are in demand. Business intelligence and analytics will help to find out the demographics of the users, whether the marketing strategies are performing well or not, and what can be done in order to streamline the business.

Building an On-demand Services Marketplace

Launching an On-demand marketplace platform is an opportunity to tap into this growing industry, however, rushing to launch a platform as fast as possible with a vague idea about the target market and business model can sink your business before it even establishes. A well-thought business strategy is a solid foundation, not only for the business but for the technical aspect as well.

Here is what you need to do when building an on-demand services marketplace.

Choose a Niche

The untapped potential of your business can go far beyond the expectations with the niches we mentioned above. Keep multiple options open for your business and refrain from the niches where other players are already doing good. Find a unique niche that actually helps the users make their lives better.

Define Customers’ Needs

While exploring the market, find out answers to a couple of questions:

• What is the audience’s age and social status?
• What are their daily challenges?
• How can your business help them solve their problems?
• What are the expectations of service providers?

Build a user persona that can greatly help you define your potential customer’s needs and enable you to fulfill them.

Analyze Market Competitors

Prepare a list of your competitors, irrespective of the fact whether they work in a similar niche or have a slightly different market. Take a closer look at their business, and try to find out insights into their business, like:

• Specialization
• USPs
• Weaknesses

Analyzing all these factors, you will be able to detect the elements their business is missing. You can then use this missing element to strengthen your business and make your business one of a kind.

Pick a Monetization Strategy

Finding the right pricing strategy is the top priority for any business. Your pricing strategy should not seem suspicious or disadvantageous for users. The most hazardous strategy is pricing the customers too high which can make you incapable of meeting the competition and undermine all the efforts taken to build the business. They should clearly realize what they are getting against their money. 

Decide on the Features

An on-demand app service delivery website will need to have different features for all the different users – admin, service provider, and customer. Have a thorough research of your market and audience and then decide on the features you will be needing in your website.

Attracting Customers for Your On-demand Services Marketplace

Studies and reports clearly portray that the on-demand services market is expanding and there is an unconfined inclination towards this economy. However, not many businesses make it big in the market and their efforts go in vain. The primary reason is the lack of proper marketing.

Rather than going rounds across the problem, let’s discuss how on-demand businesses can attract more customers and increase their revenue.

Strategize Marketing Plan

Building an on-demand platform is not all; businesses need to have a proper strategized marketing funnel to create demand and entice customers. A lot of research is required keeping in mind the target audience and the services being offered before actually launching an on-demand services marketplace.

Gain Trust of Customers

Building a better bond with the audience is always recommended in a business. Organizing webinars, interacting with the audience through different mediums, and sharing sales videos can help businesses gain the trust of and build the authority of their on-demand business.

Conduct Research/Surveys

Proper knowledge of the market is vital in any business, and on-demand businesses need it more than any other. It is essential to know the difficulties faced by the potential customers, their requirements, and how can your services help them in solving their problems. On-demand businesses need to carry out these surveys to be on the right track, or else the competitors can grab their potential customers.

Showcase Client Testimonials

Every new customer has this psyche of being doubtful towards a new company. However, if they see another customer sharing positive feedback, they are easily convinced of the services/products. On-demand businesses need to make sure they allow their customers to share their experience (video, picture, written) which will serve as a testimony of their quality and attract new customers.

Offer Lucrative Discounts

Another effective strategy to gain more customers is to provide enticing offers and discounts which can attract existing as well as new customers. The only thing to consider while offering discounts is that these offers should be realistic and do not cost much, or else they can backfire.

Build an On-demand Services Marketplace with Yo!Gigs

For a remarkable amount of time, Yo!Gigs has been helping entrepreneurs to build an on-demand services marketplace. The software comes with a multitude of features to aid in the development of a rich services marketplace. The software is readymade and reasonably priced for building a services marketplace.

An on-demand services marketplace armed with the features Yo!Gigs offers is undoubtedly going to rule the market.

FAQs

Q1. What is the best solution to start an on-demand service marketplace platform?

Ans: For on-demand marketplace operations, Yo!Gigs is a highly recommended solution. It comes with a wide range of essential features to simplify all types of on-demand service operations. Furthermore, it also supports direct hiring, job posting, and bidding to provide customers with diverse hiring options. 

To ensure quality services and establish trust in consumers, the marketplace owner gets the background checklist and verification badge features. For managing service providers, Yo!Gigs has modules such as user management, commission management, withdrawal settings, eWallet, advance deposit, etc.

To view Yo!Gigs in action, schedule a free personalized one-on-one demo session here.

Q2. What is the cost of developing an on-demand service marketplace platform?

Ans: The cost of developing an on-demand service marketplace varies on the development method. Via the custom development method, you would be paying between $25-100 per hour to develop your marketplace platform. If it takes 1000 hours to develop the marketplace, then your overall custom development cost will be somewhere between $25,000 – $100,000. On the other hand, by using a readymade solution, you can reduce the overall cost to $1000-$5000. This is possible as the solution has been already developed by the software provider and you are only purchasing a license for the software.

  Last Updated: October 12, 2023

Why should hiring a service professional always be an ordeal for service seeker? The reach of the internet and local marketplace for professional services is the ideal answer to all your queries related to finding professionals.

The job that used to be delivered through recruitment consultancies and agents earlier is aligned online now. Websites like Zaask, Thumbtack, Angie’s list are the top names helping connect service seekers with service professionals. The sheer popularity of such websites has generated such great enthusiasm among entrepreneurs that FATbit had to take up this business model and acquaint the readers about pros, cons, risk, and other factors associated with it.

Our team did an analysis for such websites to get an in-depth view of their business model, how they make money and key website features that would help any entrepreneur in launching a successful and popular on-demand service marketplace. Before going through the website features, let us look at the business model for a better idea of market dynamics.

How an On-demand Service Marketplace Works? – Business Model

The main aim of these marketplaces is connecting service seekers with providers.

1. The service seeker, register and lists their job on the platform.
2. The service professionals, on the other hand, register in a particular service category and access all the listed jobs. They then apply for a particular job by sending the seeker a proposal.
3. The service seeker analyses all the responses and chooses the person having relevant experience as per their requirement on marketplace for professional services.

How do such online service marketplace websites make money?

An on-demand service marketplace can generate money via different revenue models:

• A nominal membership fee can be charged by the platform.
• The service professional has to pay a fixed charge to apply for a particular job. This fee can vary depending upon the job.
• The platform can also charge the service seeker a commission on completion of every task.
• Implementing ad-based monetization can provide an advantage to the platform in generating additional revenues.

Leading Market Players

• Zaask
• Angie’s List
• Get Ninjas
• Thumbtack

How to Build Professional Service Marketplace

1. Code Yourself
2. Hiring developers
3. Readymade B2B eCommerce platforms

Going with readymade B2B ecommerce solutions like Yo!Gigs is a wise decision to save time and cost.

How it work for Service Seekers?

The business model of an on-demand marketplace for services aims to connect two entities: service seeker and service provider. When it comes to service seeker, the overall process goes through the following timeline:

• Service seeker creates account
• Job is listed on the platform and service is sought
• After receiving proposals from service professionals, service seeker analyses all of them
• Subsequently comparing the proposals, service seeker chooses a proposal, makes payment and hires a service provider.

Process flow diagram for hiring a service provider for a service

CLICK TO ENLARGE (Open in new tab)

How it works for service provider

The overall on-demand service marketplace website for professionals works in the following timeline for a service provider:

• Service providers create an account and logs in it.
• They view the jobs listed by the service seekers.
• The desired job is then chosen and a proposal is sent
• After their proposal is accepted, they start working on the job

Website Overview

What makes websites like Zaask, Thumbtack and Angie’s list stand out is their focus on user engagement. While analyzing several websites like them we came to the conclusion that a service marketplace website must be easy to use and navigate. Let us go through all of such necessary features in detail.

Homepage

When you open a homepage of a website for the first time, it takes around eight seconds to either close the window or browse further. This is why it is always advised to focus immensely on your homepage design. While some tend to go all out, by putting every bit of information right on the homepage, others keep their design language to a bare minimum. FATbit analysts are of the view that the latter approach is more beneficial than the former. Some other suggestions to make homepage more intuitive include:

1. A large banner image displaying different service professionals
2. Name of the website along with a tagline that optimally highlights what the website is all about.

How It Works Section

As more and more complex and unique business models come into existence, it becomes difficult for consumers to get accustomed to them. This is why a online services marketplace must have a dedicated “how it works” section in place, making it easy for the consumers as well as service professionals to understand how the platform works.

NOTE: Such a section would also eliminate most if not all the doubts of users.

Featured Professionals

One of the innovative ways with which online services marketplace can enhance the reach of their professionals as well as add another revenue model is featuring premium professionals right on the homepage. FATbit analysts recommend using tabbed design elements, which would allow you to feature professionals based on popular categories, making it more relevant.

Enticing CTAs

Enticing visitors to convert into customers is a nifty trick that only a few marketplaces manage to accomplish. There are several best practices, which not only enhance conversion rate but also help in increasing sales. CTAs (Call to action) are a prominent way used to boost conversion. FATbit analysts highly recommend you to follow this approach if you want to build a service professional marketplace anytime soon.

Well-defined Categories

A service professional marketplace caters to a wide array of categories ranging from carpenter to technician. To make it easy for the service seekers to browse service professionals based on respective categories, the platform must have well-segregated categories. Another essential benefit of having such categories is that service seekers can easily post their jobs into a particular category, allowing for easy discovery. FATbit analysts recommend incorporating small thumbnails along with the categories so that the users can easily identify them.

Reviews/testimonials

Reviews/testimonials are integral part of any ecommerce marketplace. It is not only useful in helping consumers make a decision, but also, garners trust of users for the platform. Proper placement of reviews is necessary for optimal impact.

Footer

Most of the ecommerce platforms do not pay any heed to the footer, terming it as unfruitful. However, the fact remains that with proper designing of footer, a platform can optimize its navigation. We recommend you to incorporate city selector within the footer, making it easy for the service seekers to find professionals only in their vicinity. Other recommendations include content-based pages as well as social networking profile links.

Assurance & Guarantee

The biggest hindrance in front of ecommerce platforms these days is the trust deficit, which they have to diminish. Most of the first time users do not hop over to a particular platform without putting in considerable thought. One way to jump over that hurdle is to offer review and testimonials, but that too helps to a certain extent. The other way of garnering the trust of the users is to offer assurances and guarantees. As far as users are concerned, you should also perform a background check of each tasker for security reasons. Highlighting the same on your website will give you ample credence.

User Types

There are two types of users on such marketplaces:

• People offering services aka service professionals
• People looking to hire people for tasks aka service seekers

The process of signing up is different for both types of users. Let us go through the same in detail.

Login/Registration Process

Service marketplace is a broad industry catering to service seekers as well as service professionals. When it comes to local service marketplaces, they are based on a peer-to-peer platform catering to both service providers as well as service seekers. This is why it needs to have multiple signup options in place. This means that a separate account is required for professionals and seekers.

Post a Requirement

After going through many service professional marketplaces, we came up with several ideas which would help in building an advanced website. You ought to put a lot of focus on UX, which would show your user centric approach. The requirement section asks users to post their requirements. Users need to input their name, email, contact number, category and location to get requests for their requirement. In this step, users have to share some information about their prerequisites, after which service professionals send their proposals. The proposal includes:

• Type of task
• How big is the task?
• Description about the task
• Task Location
• Timeframe when the user wants the professional
• Days and timings of availability
• Additional details if any

NOTE: In order to address the privacy aspect of the users, the website ought to take the consent of the users to share their contact details with the professionals. Other than that there can also be a communication mechanism built right into the platform for better interaction. More on this has been discussed later in the post.

My Requirements

After a service seeker logs into their account, they are forwarded to the dashboard, which houses all the information about their account. One of the most vital aspects of this section is “My Requirements”. This section contains all the requirements entered by the user. In this section, they can view, edit and even close a particular requirement. Other information that can be included in this section is:

• Number of responses to a particular requirement
• Posted time
• Status of the request

Billing History

In order to make it easy for the service seeker to maintain a clear log of all the payments made, the platform must also incorporate a billing history section. It will show information like the date of payment, type of transaction and bill amount. This would help the users manage and maintain all their bills at one place. FATbit analysts recommend confirming this feature while looking for a local service professional marketplace.

Verification of service professionals

No platform wants to become a hive of spam accounts. This is why it is always advised to have a verification process in place. This is beneficial to maintain a healthy and engaged community. Before making any request or creating a service professional account, users have to verify their credentials.

It’s good for a website it has a verification process for customers’ profile. A verified service-seeker profile makes the requirement look genuine and helps professionals work better.

Service Professional Listing Page

The listing page of professionals is basically their resume, based on which a user selects them. This is why it should house all the information without clogging the page. Advanced filters help in that aspect, making it easy for the users to streamline the results as per their requirement. Some of the essential filters include:

• Service Area
• Keywords
• Gender
• Hourly rate
• Type of profile: Verified/Not-verified

Users can also have the option to sort the results based on relevance, experience, reviews and latest login. Each listing needs to be displayed with all the details like contact number, location, forte, the number of years of experience as well as number of reviews.

Service Professional Profile Page

This is one of the most vital aspects for any task marketplace. Taking cognizance of this fact, the website ought to put all the information related to professionals on this page in such a way that it does not hinder the user experience. Information displayed on the profile page must include:

• Profile image, name, location, contact address and vital stats of account
• Gallery, reviews, and detailed description of the services provided by the professional

A related profile section can make it easy for the user to view additional profiles similar to the current professional.

Messaging

As discussed earlier, there must be a communication channel built right into the platform making it easy for users and professionals to communicate. FATbit analysts recommend either using contact details or a messaging engine. A real time chat would definitely enhance the user experience of both the parties.

Final Thoughts

The fact of the matter is that service professional marketplace is growing at a very fast pace. Players like Zaask, Angie’s list and Thumbtack has already made a name for themselves. Still there is a huge untapped market for startups with advanced features so the suggestions made throughout the post can come handy. In order to ensure that your marketplace is able to capture the market, incorporate all the features suggested by our website analysts. You can also hire our professional UX developers for any assistance with website design and development. Our team will be happy to help you.

Last Updated: October 05, 2023

Online service marketplaces help customers find service providers within their preferred regions for a vast variety of tasks, including carpentering, plumbing, electricity, cleaning, gardening, etc. Some of these marketplaces are TaskRabbit, Thumbtack and Handy that are aiming at connecting customers with professionals across a variety of verticals. The sheer popularity of the services marketplace business model has generated a lot of enthusiasm among entrepreneurs to enter this sector. This is why FATbit analysts did an elaborate review of key website features, business and revenue model that makes these platforms highly lucrative.

Before going through the website features, let’s take a look at the business model to get a better idea of market dynamics.

Table of Contents:

• Business Model of Local Services Marketplace
• How do Local Services Marketplace Make Money?
• Essential Service Marketplace Features
• Some other Vital Points to Consider
• FAQs

Business Model of Local Services Marketplace

The primary goal of local service marketplaces is connecting consumers with service professionals. Consumers can post their requirements on the platform in less than a minute and connect with professionals across categories to meet their specific requirements. Professionals can also highlight their skills by creating their profile, and get hired.

How do Local Services Marketplace Make Money?

Online marketplaces for local services incorporate various revenue streams for monetization. These include:

• Service Commission: Platform owners can collect commission charges from service providers on the completion of each task.
• Advertisements: These platforms can strategically infuse adverts across several of its pages in order to generate revenue.
• Membership plans: Although registering on the platform is totally free, local services marketplaces can have membership plans with advanced features.

Essential Service Marketplace Features

One of the core aspects of a local services marketplace is that it has to be highly user engaging. While analyzing several websites like TaskRabbit, Thumbtack, Handy and Angi, we found that all of them had focused immensely on keeping their website quite easy to use and navigate. This clearly shows the level of consumer friendly approach required in this industry. Special emphasis needs to be put on ensuring that the website is highly intuitive and user engaging with advanced features. Let’s take a closer look at each one of these features:

Homepage

Homepage design can make or break the user experience. While some websites go all out putting every bit of information on the homepage, others tend to take a more subtle approach and keep the design minimum. When it comes to Local Services Marketplaces, one needs to take the latter approach and implement it perfectly. Some of the key areas of homepage include:

• A big banner image related to a particular service which randomly changes
• A navigation bar on the top that houses the logo, and links to important pages like signup/login, services, about us
• The banner image can have a search bar where users can search for services they require

Overall, the homepage needs to have a clean design, which is highly recommended to enhance the user experience.

Categories

As local service marketplaces cater to several services areas, the platform must have a dedicated section displaying all the categories. This makes it easy for the users to browse service professionals based on respective categories. We also recommend incorporating small thumbnail images along with category sections so that the users can easily identify the category.

How it works section for consumers

For every platform catering to a niche market, it is vital to convey its work process to the user base. This not only lets users get accustomed to the platform, but also increases the engagement rate. This is why that local service marketplace ought to have a dedicated section on its homepage, which tells the users how it works.

In addition to it, we also advise adding user reviews, which entices new users to buy the services. We emphasize greatly on this approach while designing a local service marketplace clone.

How it works section for professionals

In addition to consumers, the local service marketplaces also cater to the professionals who can easily find jobs on the platform. This is why it should have a section related to how the platform works for professionals. Similarly the website should incorporate a testimonial section where it displays what professionals say about the platform.

Cross Platform Availability

In the current age of mobility, having a mobile app has become a necessity for every online platform. Capitalizing on that aspect, your local services marketplace should have a dedicated mobile app. You should especially highlight its presence across all the devices preferably on the homepage.

Key Facts About The Platform

Users favor platforms with wider reach and presence. This is why your website should display a dedicated section on its homepage stating key figures. Using these facts, you can easily boast of your prominence in this niche market. FATbit analysts highly recommend this approach for local service marketplace clones.

Post your requirements section

This section asks users to post their requirement to start searching for qualified professionals. Users need to input their name, email, contact number, Category and location to get recommendations for their requirement.

Signup/login

Most platforms focus heavily on Signup page to make it easier for the users to create an account. When it comes to local service marketplaces, are based on a peer-to-peer platform catering to both professionals as well as consumers. This is why it needs to have multiple signup options in place. This means that a separate account is required for professionals and consumers. Let us look at consumer signup first.

Add requirements

After inputting account credentials, the marketplace can forward users to another page, where they have to post their requirement. This step, according to us, can be optional, as the users already have submitted most of the information on this form.

Additional Prerequisites

In order to help consumers and recommend ideal professionals, the website can add another step to the signup process. In this step, users have to tell some information about their pre-requisites which are then compared to the offering of the professionals for a better match. These include:

• Timeframe when the user wants the professional
• Days and timings of availability
• Additional details if any

In order to address the privacy aspect of the users, the website ought to take the consent of the users to share their contact details with the professionals. If the users want their privacy, they have the option to opt out of this.

My Profile

Under the profile section, users can edit and add their personal information like name, email, city and phone number. They also have the option to post a requirement directly from this page or ask a question if they have any query.

Help/FAQs Section

Before opting for any requirement, it is common among users to have certain queries. In order to address this, the website can have a dedicated section where users can post questions related to any category. Additionally they can also view top most FAQs asked frequently on the platform.

Billing History

To make it easy for the user to get all the details of payments, the website can make provision of a billing history section. It can show information like the date of payment, type of transaction and bill amount. Using this service, users can easily maintain all their bills in one place.

Referrals/Invite friends

One of the most beneficial features to expand the user base of an ecommerce website is via a referral program. Under this, users have an option to invite their friends over to the platform via email IDs or social networks.

Search

Search is one of the most important features of any online marketplace. It is probably the fastest way to find relevant services. When it comes to the search experience of local service marketplace, there are points needed to be kept in mind:

• The search input should be divided into two aspects; location and category.
• Features like autocomplete are highly recommended.

Professional Listing Page

The listing page of professionals needs to be designed to ensure that the users find relevant professionals in the least amount of time. Advanced filters help in that aspect, making it easy for the users to streamline the results as per their requirement. Some of the essential filters include:

• Service Area
• Keywords
• Gender
• Hourly rate
• Type of profile: Verified/Not-verified

Users can also have the option to sort the results based on relevance, experience, reviews and latest login. Each listing needs to be displayed with all the details like contact number, location, forte, number of years of experience as well as number of reviews.

Profile Page

This is one of the most vital aspects for any peer-to-peer marketplace. Taking cognizance of this fact, the website ought to put all the information related to the professional on this page in such a way that it does not hinder the user experience.

• The top section can display profile image, name, location, contact address and vital stats of the account.
• There can be different sections like profile, gallery reviews, answers and updates, which provides all the information to the users for making an informed decision.
• Users can also have the option to write a review about the professional from this page.
• A related profile section can make it easy for the user to view additional profiles similar to the current professional.

Contact Professional

Users can easily communicate with professional using either their contact details or a messaging tool incorporated in the website.

Signup for Professionals

The process for creating a professional account is different as compared to a user account. Upon choosing the professional option during signup, users are forwarded to the different signup process meant for the professionals. Users have to input their name, email, password, contact number, location, and gender. Similar to the consumer signup, the process of account creation does not end here as there are additional steps involved in creating the account.

Services Offered

After adding the account credentials, professionals are asked to choose the categories related to their service areas. A nifty search bar can bring all the categories via autocomplete, making it easy to choose relevant categories. Professionals also have to add details about all the services they have selected. This includes location of each service and timing. Like consumers, professional should also have the option to opt out of sharing their contact details with others.

Premium Membership

In order to monetize the services, you can add option to upgrade to premium membership plans, which have additional benefits. Although registering on the platform can be free, in order to have additional features professionals need to buy premium membership.

Dashboard (Professional)

The dashboard for professional account needs to be focused around offering all the relevant information on a single page. This can include:

• Recent enquiries
• Profile views
• Background check
• Alerts

My Account (Professional)

This section can house all the details related to the transactions on their account as well as account settings. This includes billing history and other preferences.

Enquiries (Professional)

The enquiries section can display all the details related to the recent enquiries received by the professional. This makes it a vital hub for all the queries from consumers. Professionals can filter the enquiries based on New, Viewed and Contacted. Other options can include general enquiries, enquiry locations and recent calls received.

Some other Vital Points to Consider:

• Single accounts for users and professionals: Earlier, a common practice among peer-to-peer marketplaces was to have separate accounts for each type of users. However, nowadays, it is more user-friendly to have a single signup option. This is why your local Service Marketplace can also opt in to have a single signup option rather than the one discussed by us earlier.
• Lengthy registration process: In both the cases of registration, ensure that the process is minimal so that users do not feel account creation to be a hassle.

There is no denying that peer-to-peer marketplaces like Angi, TaskRabbit and Thumbtack have a huge demand. Localized service areas of these platforms leave a huge ground for new startups to mushroom. However, the real concern for startups is not the competition, but the features being offered. That is where the suggestions we have made throughout the post can come handy.

To ensure that your local service marketplace clone is able to capture the market, incorporate all the features described by us. Also, make sure that it is flexible enough to support upgrades and enhancements if required. Hire a professional team with ample expertise in UX design. If you need any help with website design and development, contact us any time for a consultation session.

FAQs

Q1: Is there any solution to build a local services marketplace?

Ans: There are numerous readymade solutions available in the market. You can have a look at our in-house solution, Yo!Gigs. It comes with all essential features to launch a powerful local services marketplace and is available at a one-time cost. As it is also fully customizable and scalable (comes with unlimited listings, transactions and user profiles), it is highly cost effective in the long run.

Q2: How to select local services marketplace software

Ans: While there’s no specific criteria to select a software, you might want to have a look over a few things to find the right software. These include the feature set, pricing structure and demo. You can also reach out to the sales experts to understand if the software would be able to match your business requirements.

Last Updated: 21st July, 2023

Building an on-demand marketplace sounds like a promising business idea since it perfectly fits the direction of the modern economy and the expectations of today’s users. These marketplaces have smoothly and sweepingly entered our daily lives.

The market that on-demand marketplaces have captured is steadily spreading and expected to grow exceptionally in the near future. According to the latest PwC report, the market for On-Demand mobile apps and websites will reach a significant value of $335 Billion by the year 2025. This has pushed more business owners and entrepreneurs to invest in this booming economy.

If you are also planning to contribute to this fast-growing economy, we have shared some insights on how you can build your own on-demand service marketplace below.

Table of Contents:

• Why On-Demand Service Marketplaces Have Become Popular
• Players Ruling the On-Demand Economy
• How an On-Demand Service Marketplace Works
• Revenue Streams
• Essential Features of an On-Demand Service Marketplace
  ― Customer Portal
  ― Service Provider Portal
  ― Admin Portal
• Advanced Features to Include
• Our Recommendation
• Parting Words

Why On-Demand Service Marketplaces Have Become Popular

The boom in the popularity of the gig economy was predicted long back. Here are some pushing reasons for its increasing popularity:

• Quick access to services with just a few taps on the screen.
• Instant satisfaction with least communication with the service provider.
• Better control by allowing customers to track the delivery of the service.
• Better choices at best prices selected from a pool of service providers.
• More sustainable and ethical way of business than the traditional one.

Players Ruling the On-Demand Economy

Here are some of the key players in the on-demand industry:

• Urban Company
• Rinse
• Handy on Demand
• TaskRabbit
• Merry Maids

How an On-Demand Service Marketplace Works

On-demand marketplaces are a medium for the customers to order any product or service and get it delivered at their doorsteps. Be it food, drive, cleaning, salon, music streaming, or any other service you may think of, there is an on-demand marketplace for almost everything. This model enables consumers to access a large pool of service providers and bridges the gap between them.

Customers can browse through the services and service providers on the marketplace and book them for the services required by making the payment. As the working of this business model is characterized by delay sensitivity, customers expect the services to be delivered with the minimum waiting time. Service providers visit the customers’ homes and offer the booked services at their doorsteps.

Revenue Streams

Finding the right revenue streams and monetization strategy is essential for any for-profit business. Let’s have a look at some of the popular strategies for on-demand marketplaces that contribute to the revenue.

• Commission from each transaction
• Lead-Based – 
• Subscription for the users to use the marketplace’s services
• Sponsored profiles for promotion and more visibility on the page
• 3rd party ads once there is enough traffic and user base on the marketplace

Essential Features of an On-Demand Service Marketplace

An on-demand marketplace consists of 3 different portals for 3 different users – customers, service providers, and admin. Let’s discuss the features of all three portals:

Customer Portal

• Registration: Customers can easily register on the platform using a mobile number or email and search for the services required.
• Payments and Mobile Wallet: Customers should have the option to choose to pay via credit card, debit card, or mobile wallet for the service they are booking.
• Reviews/Ratings: This helpful feature for the new users helps them to choose the highly-rated professionals rated by the previous customers.
• Search & Filters: On-demand marketplaces are known for the ease of searching for a specific service. The search & filter feature in such marketplaces allows the users to navigate to the services page and find the required service.

Service Provider Portal

• Registration: Easy and quick registration process for seamless onboarding of the service providers.
• Communication: Service providers should be able to communicate and interact with customers to answer and solve their queries and offer required assistance time-to-time.
• Maps: Service providers should be able to navigate the route to reach the destination to ensure the shortest routes, on-time arrival, and faster delivery of the services.
• Earnings & Daily Report: Service providers should be able to keep a track of the weekly, monthly, and yearly earnings and get the cost estimation of each service provided.

Admin Portal

• Comprehensive Management: Admin should be able to manage and its various modules like, users, profiles, bookings, revenue, offers to track every aspect of the marketplace.
• Marketing Module: This module enables the admin to market and promote the marketplace properly which attracts the customers and increases the brand visibility.
• Offers & Discounts: This feature enables the admin to create offers, discounts, promo codes, etc. for the customers. This helps the admin to engage and retain the customers and grow their ROI.
• Manage Payments: To manage the payments received from the customers and disbursed to the service providers, this module helps the admin to streamline the payments and keep a track of the earnings.
  
• Reports & Analytics: To keep an eye on the progress of the marketplace, the report and analytics feature becomes a great help. Admin can have a look at the different reports customers registered, orders completed, revenue earned, etc., and formulate the future strategies accordingly.

Advanced Features to Include

• Data Security: As users today have become very possessive about their data, marketplaces should make sure to secure the users’ data and not let it out at any cost.
• Efficient Customer Care: This is an essential requirement if you want your users to be happy. The users should be able to reach out to customer care in case of any grievances. They should be able to contact customer support via call or email and get their problems solved.
• Wishlist: Many users do not purchase a service on the spot – it might be out of stock or wish to come back to it later. Adding a wishlist or favorite feature on the marketplace becomes helpful in this case. They can remember the service/product in this way and do not have to search the whole website again for that service.
• Cost Estimate: Many times customers want to know the amount for a particular service they need to avail. Integration of a cost estimation algorithm will eliminate all the guesswork and let the customers know the approximate cost of the service they are availing.
• Accepting/Rejecting Requests: On-demand service marketplace offers complete freedom and flexibility to the service providers to work on their own terms and availability. The marketplace should offer an option for the service provider to accept or reject any service request within a set period of time.
  These are the must-have and advanced features that you can definitely consider incorporating into your on-demand service marketplace to elevate the user experience and take your business to new heights. However, doing it all by yourself or from scratch is not at all recommended as it is quite tedious.

Readymade solutions to build these on-demand marketplaces are available in the market which can be considered to roll out an airtight marketplace for your idea.

Our Recommendation

To launch a comprehensive on-demand service marketplace, Yo!Gigs is an ideal solution. It is a white label software that comes with powerful industry-specific functionalities to facilitate and streamline on-demand service operations. Some of those functionalities are task management, bidding management, commission management, advanced deposits, custom task categories, etc. As the solution is also self-hosted, business owners can launch their on-demand service on any hosting server of their choice. Lastly, Yo!Gig’s lifetime usage license is available at a one-time cost so that you don’t get tied up to monthly subscriptions. For any assistance, Yo!Gigs comes with one year of free technical support.

Parting Words

The on-demand service industry has developed into a multi-billion dollar establishment. It has never been a better time for service providers to harness the power of marketplaces. Businesses can earn plentiful revenues by adapting to the changing sphere of the quick service delivery model. Combining this with the undeniable strengths that on-demand marketplaces offer, your business can supercharge itself to dominate in the service industry.

The best approach to build a successful on-demand marketplace is to draw inspiration from market leaders of the same industry and understand their strategies. Once you are done with the market analysis and know the inside out of the industry, you can curate an effective operational strategy for your business venture.