The Digital Marketplace

You may not notice right off the bat, but the idea of the digital marketplace is slowly taking over the world. A digital marketplace is an online store in which users have the ability to not only be the customer but become the seller as well. Take Amazon for example, arguably the most revolutionary of the sort, but its right there in your face. Amazon has not dipped below TWENTY-FIVE BILLION IN NET SALES (had to spell it out for you) since the beginning of 2017 according to their quarterly sales reports. The answer is plain and simple: small businesses are popping up faster than ever and the demographic consumer is beginning to lean towards resourcefulness. Being your own boss is the new pop trend. 

The future is here,

There are many reasons why there is room for unparalleled growth in this field.

• Flexibility- A marketplace opens up your business on a 360-degree scope. Most manufacturers/distributors/retailers are locked into a customer type i.e.(B2B/B2C), but a market place opens up all business fronts for concepts like C2C and C2B. But are you still the C if you're selling to the B?
  C = Customer; B = Business
  
• Limitation- A marketplace defeats what modern retail has been aiming to defeat for decades: stock issues. Concepts like drop shipping have been aimed at destroying the idea of needing an inventory, but even then, you're just putting off that issue further down the line. However, allowing the customer to make a sale makes your untapped market limitless.
  
• Initiative- digital marketplaces have tendencies to combine the concept of reused goods (eBay, Facebook Marketplace) and personal branding (Etsy, Depop); and this could be a heavy hitting concept for years to come, especially with the influx of influencers and start-up companies in the recent half decade.