Multi-vendor marketplaces are seductive. You do not hold inventory, you do not handle fulfillment, you just connect sellers with buyers and take a commission. Daraz proved the model works in Bangladesh, and a dozen niche imitators are emerging — for fashion, electronics, handicrafts, B2B raw materials, even pet supplies. Before you start building yours, here is the brutal checklist of features you actually need.
Vendor Onboarding
Your vendors are your supply chain. Onboarding has to be smooth or they will not bother. Essentials:
- Self-service vendor registration with email verification
- KYC document upload (NID, trade license, bank statement)
- Admin approval workflow with rejection reasons
- Vendor agreement / terms acceptance with timestamp
- Auto-email welcome with dashboard tutorial
Vendor Dashboard
Every vendor needs a private workspace where they manage their corner of your marketplace. The dashboard must include:
- Sales analytics — today, this week, this month, comparisons
- Product manager with bulk import (CSV / Excel)
- Inventory tracking with low-stock alerts
- Order inbox with print invoice and courier label
- Earnings dashboard with payout history
- Withdrawal request workflow
- Vendor profile editor (logo, banner, return policy, FAQ)
- Coupon creator (subject to admin rules)
Commission and Payout Engine
This is where most marketplaces fail. You need:
- Per-vendor commission rate (some at 8%, some at 15%)
- Category-based commission overrides (electronics 5%, fashion 20%)
- Refund commission reversal (when customer returns)
- Vendor wallet with running balance
- Manual or automated payout to bank account
- BEFTN bulk upload sheet for monthly payouts
- Payout schedule (weekly, monthly, on-demand)
Courier and Fulfillment
Bangladesh marketplaces live or die on courier integration. You need:
- Pathao Merchant API for inside-Dhaka deliveries
- Steadfast Courier for nationwide reach
- RedX for medium-distance with COD
- Sundarban Courier for remote districts
- One-click order send with auto AWB generation
- Real-time status sync every 30 minutes
- Customer SMS on every status change
- COD reconciliation dashboard per courier per day
Search and Discovery
The mistake most marketplaces make: they assume customers will browse. They will not. Customers search. Your search must:
- Show suggestions as the user types (autocomplete)
- Handle spelling errors (Bangla and English)
- Filter by category, price, brand, rating, color, size
- Sort by relevance, price, rating, newest
- Remember the user's recent searches
- Highlight matching keywords in results
Payment and Trust
Buyers worry that the vendor will not deliver. Trust features:
- Escrow-style payment — vendor only gets paid after delivery confirmation
- Customer review system with photo upload
- Vendor rating with badges (verified, top seller, fast shipping)
- Refund policy displayed on every product page
- Resolution center for disputes
- bKash, SSLCommerz, Nagad, COD — all major payment methods
Marketing Tools
You earn from vendor commissions, so you need to drive sales. Built-in:
- Flash sale builder with countdown timers
- Coupon codes (site-wide or vendor-specific)
- Featured listing slots (paid promotion for vendors)
- Email broadcasts to subscribers
- Abandoned cart recovery emails
- Newsletter pop-up with discount on signup
What to Skip on Day One
You do not need: a mobile app, AI recommendations, live chat, loyalty tiers, multi-currency. Add those when you have 1,000 active vendors and proven traction. Premature features will slow your launch by 3-6 months.
Skip the Build, Start with a Platform
Building all of the above from scratch takes 8-12 months and 30-50 lakh BDT. Or you can start with our Multi-Vendor Ecommerce platform, customize the branding, and launch in 2 weeks for a fraction of the cost. Every feature in this checklist is already implemented and battle-tested.
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