An online marketplace is an e-commerce business model in which a platform lets multiple third-party sellers list products or services for sale to buyers, rather than selling its own inventory directly, and typically earns revenue through a fee charged on completed sales rather than an upfront cost to sellers. Because many independent sellers contribute listings, marketplaces can offer wider selection and availability than a single retailer's store, while buyers benefit from being able to compare prices and sellers for similar goods. Well known examples include Amazon, eBay and Taobao for general retail, business-to-business platforms such as EC21, and service and gig-work marketplaces such as Uber, Airbnb and Upwork.
Facts
Core MechanismAn online marketplace is an e-commerce platform where the operator handles the transaction between buyer and seller, while the products themselves are supplied and fulfilled by third-party retailers or wholesalers listed on the site rather than by the platform itself. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
Amazon operates one of the world's largest online marketplaces, hosting third-party sellers alongside its own retail listings.
Consumer-to-business transactions, in which an individual offers a good or service to a company rather than the reverse, are typically carried out through the same online marketplace platforms that support consumer-to-consumer trade.
An online marketplace is defined in its own description as an e-commerce business model, letting third-party sellers list goods on a shared platform rather than each running its own store.
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Online Marketplace
WikipediaLead sectionQuote, Lead section
In an online marketplace, consumer transactions are processed by the marketplace operator and then delivered and fulfilled by the participating retailers or wholesalers.
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