Some digital marketplaces can really explode, and become worth billions of dollars, like Ebay, Uber, Craigslist, and Airbnb, to name a few. So how can you use their strategies to build up your business? First, they often start small (Craiglist started with just one email and Ebay started with selling only collectibles), and gradually expand into new markets, add new products and price points, decrease friction from signup to successful transaction, and grow supply, while demanding stickiness. In order to build your empire, you have to think expansion starting from day one.
Key Takeaways:
- Niche e-commerce businesses can grow by expanding into new markets, developing new products, making transactions easier, and retaining customers.
- Launching into new markets and creating more product and price choice are the more well-explored strategic options.
- Easing transactions and customer-retention strategies focus more on making the user experience more pleasant.
“When marketplaces get big, they can get really big. Some of the biggest tech successes ever – eBay, Airbnb, Alibaba, Uber – are marketplaces worth tens of billions of dollars each. And yet marketplaces often start small, in niches and weird corners of the Internet.”