Build Local Services Marketplace

A local service marketplace is a hyperlocal business model that lets businesses find service near their living. As such marketplaces provide comfort and ease, demand for local service marketplaces is rising at its peak. Some examples of local service marketplaces are Thumbtack and TaskRabbit. So, if you are planning to build a local services marketplace, then you are at the right platform.

The rising popularity of service marketplaces has attracted several entrepreneurs and has compelled them to start a local services marketplace. With the rising demand, the competition of getting a top-tier service marketplace is in trend. So, in this blog, we are going to explain to you the in-depth process of building a local services marketplace. We have also covered some important aspects like benefits, important features to have, money-making tactics, and, in the end, the cost of getting it. Let’s get started:

Market Forecast For Hyperlocal Marketplace

Do you want to know how secure it is to invest in such marketplaces? Continue reading:

• The revenue growth in the hyperlocal marketplace is expected to rise by $3 billion before the end of 2024.
• It is growing at a CAGR of 11.07% between 2024-2032.
• During the end of the CAGR session, the financial growth is expected to reach $7 billion before the end of 2032.
• Food ordering, grocery ordering, home utility service, and logistics kind of local services marketplace will be high in demand.

How To Build A Local Services Marketplace?

Starting a local service marketplace can be a daunting but exciting venture. Now, let’s get started learning the deep process of building:

Define Your Business Niche

In the first step, businesses need to identify a category of local service marketplace they want to start. Services like handyman, pet care, cleaning, dumpster rental, food delivery, goods delivery, etc., fall under the hyperlocal market. While choosing a niche, businesses must ensure that they acquire all the necessary stuff and that the area is suitable to run that particular business niche.

Know Your Audience

As now you have the business niche, it’s time to know how many people like that sort of service. You can either conduct a survey and create an exceptional business strategy to reach the targeted people. Businesses can use social media as a tool to conduct free/paid surveys and find out people’s likes, pain points, interests, etc.

Competitor Analysis

Analyzing competition plays a vital role. It also helps decide the strength of your business and how well you can play against rivals in the same business niche. Start by examining their online presence, their offerings, pricing, features, etc. Entrepreneurs can also look after customer’s feedback and reviews to identify any gap and create a plan to bridge it.

Choose A Business Model

Now, you have sufficient data to create a marketing strategy. Gather all those collected data together and create a cutting-edge business plan. This plan will not just determine the workflow, but it will also help in deciding the business span, growth, market alignment, etc. There are specific business models for each hyperlocal service marketplace; be sure to check them.

Designing

From this stage, technology starts taking part. It includes designing the marketplace, its UI/UX, color, brand name, logo, marketplace size, etc. This also includes planning the product category and segments of the marketplace for vendors and customers separately. It requires hardcore knowledge of graphics design and HTML CSS technology to complete the job efficiently.

Development

The development stage turns the design part live with the use of modern tech stacks. It requires a strong skill set in dynamic tech stacks for front end and back end development. This step demands careful planning, symmetric coding, API integration, payment gateway integration, navigational panel, pagination, animations, server security, and so forth.

Businesses can either choose custom development or white label solutions to get a local service marketplace. Developing a platform from scratch demands time, but getting a white label solution can be very effective. It helps businesses to enter the market quickly with budget-friendly solutions and start a business from an already successful business niche. Connect with an expert on demand app development company to get the best white label solution.

Choose A Platform

While building a local service marketplace app, it is important to choose a platform. Generally, there are two types of mostly active platforms: Android/iOS. Android app development gives liberty to experiment on any development factor. It helps you draw your creativity, while the iOS platform builds top-tier mobile applications that are highly accessible and easy to play with production code. So, hire an expert development team that can provide native applications for your local service marketplace.

Testing

As much as the local service marketplace’s development is important, its testing is equally important. Testing the entire production helps find and eliminate bugs, spot and refine errors, re-check the working of features, website/app performance, etc. A talented QA and tester team is needed to complete this job.

Launching

After satisfied testing and completing every step above effectively, your local service marketplace is ready to go live. If it is a website, then consider having a custom domain name that suits the business niche. An application needs to be deployed on global hosting servers like Google Play Store and Apple Store.

Timely Maintenance

Building and deployment of a local service marketplace is not just the end. Later on, it requires time-to-time maintenance and providing updates to retain existing customers. This also includes creating a strong social media account and publishing timely posts to strengthen the user base. With this approach, businesses increase the tendency to attract a high number of users and earn ROI.

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Salient Features To Have In A Local Service Marketplace

In order to build a local service marketplace, it is important to know the list of features that can ease the application’s operation and increase its accessibility. Check the list below:

Account Creation

It is a primary feature to have in a local service marketplace that lets users and eCommerce vendors log in/sign up with their credentials.

Advanced Search Options

It lets users search for their products and services based on their requirements. It comes with a machine-learning algorithm that matches the query with the product name and shows accurate results.

Listings

This allows vendors to list their services on the platform using descriptions, pricing, uploading photos, etc. On the other hand, users can browse the listing by choosing a category.

Rating & Reviews

After receiving a service, users can write about their experience and drop star ratings based on their satisfaction with the service.

Price Range

The price range feature gives the admin the authority to hike and shrink the prices of the services based on the rising demand and subject of availability.

Secure Payment Options

This feature aids users in making the complete payment using different methods like Google Pay, Amazon Pay, net banking, credit/debit cards, etc

In-Built GPS Support

Local service marketplaces also consist of delivering some goods. So, for this senior, having an in-built geolocation map is important to indicate the delivery location and form a route to reach the destination.

Toggle Availability

With the help of this feature, service providers can easily toggle their status of availability of providing their assistance/service. It helps them manage their time with accurate planning.

Payment Management

While users can pay using different payment options, businesses and service providers can receive the payment and generate invoices on the overall payment status. It also helps them manage a refund.

Cart

A fully functional cart helps users manage multiple eCommerce and grocery items in one and checkout cumulatively.

Order History

A local service marketplace should have an order history feature so that users and service providers can check their previous history with details.

Communication

The communication feature is effective for connecting entities with each other. It helps maintain transparency and increases business efficiency.

Revenue Making Strategies For A Local Service Marketplace

Building a local service marketplace comes with lots of money-making opportunities. Let’s explore some:

Commission On Sale

Businesses can take a cut on every transaction made on the platform from the user. The percentage cut is easily decided by the business owner and can be increased and decreased timely.

Subscription Charges

Having premium features in a local service marketplace is another way to make money. The membership can be divided for both the service provider and users. To avail of this feature, users or service providers have to pay a subscription on a monthly/annual basis. It ensures repetitive payment in a business.

Priority Listings

Due to the presence of multiple businesses in the application, it is a successful means of earning income. In this, the service provider pays an amount so that his business appears first in the user's search area.

Advertisement

It is a popular money-making strategy for almost every online application and website. Ad revenue not only increases money but also helps grow the brand identity. In this model, the owner of the local service marketplace collaborates with other businesses and posts the ad. Later, businesses earn on the basis of cost-per-view, cost-per-click, pay-per-view, etc.

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Conclusion

Building a local service marketplace is the next level of providing hyperlocal service. It helps in increasing economic growth, provides business convenience, increases user base, etc. However, it demands accurate planning, designing the application, symmetric development, etc.

Are you looking to build a local service marketplace?

Whether you are planning to have a single vendor or a multi-vendor marketplace, Hyperlocal Cloud has got you covered. We hold 3+ years of experience and have 150+ developers on the floor. We provide white label solutions and custom development support for every type of local service marketplace. So get in touch with us today and discuss your thoughts.