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Platform or marketplace move

Examples checked

In one minute

Opening your store, app or network to other sellers and taking a cut of each sale.

The big idea: A marketplace earns a fee on goods it never owns, so it can grow choice and sales without tying up capital in stock. It works only once both sides are big enough that buyers come for the choice and sellers come for the buyers.

Works when
When you already have lots of buyers (or sellers) to attract the other side, and you can keep quality and trust high.
Fails when
When neither side is big enough, quality falls as anyone can list, or sellers and buyers deal with each other off the platform.
Check this number first
Gross merchandise value (GMV). The total value of sales on the platform; revenue is a share of it.
In the worked example
Profit from the marketplace: USD 45 (USD millions a year). See it add up

What it is

A retailer buys goods and resells them. A marketplace lets other sellers list their goods and takes a commission, called the take rate. A platform move turns a business that sells its own things into one that also hosts others, as online retailers, ride-hailing apps and food delivery apps have done.

  • Open the shelf. A retailer lets third-party sellers list next to its own stock.
  • Services on top. Charge sellers for delivery, advertising, payments or storage as well as the commission.
  • Super app. One app hosts many services (rides, food, payments), sharing the same customers.

Why companies do it

The economic logic, most important first. A move usually rests on one or two of these.

  • Capital efficiency. No stock to buy, so revenue grows without working capital tied up in inventory.
  • Scale. More sellers mean more choice, which brings more buyers, which brings more sellers.
  • Growth. Choice grows far faster than any buying team could manage.

When it creates value, and when it destroys it

Creates value when

  • One side is already large, so the other side has a reason to join.
  • The platform adds something sellers cannot get alone: buyers, payments, delivery, trust.
  • Quality is policed so buyers keep trusting the listings.
  • Extra services (advertising, delivery) add revenue on the same transactions.

Destroys value when

  • Neither side reaches enough size, and the business burns cash subsidising both.
  • Poor sellers damage trust in the whole platform.
  • Buyers and sellers meet on the platform, then deal directly to avoid the fee.
  • The take rate is pushed so high that sellers leave or regulators step in.

The numbers to check

Ask for these, in this order, before you recommend the move.

  1. Gross merchandise value (GMV). The total value of sales on the platform; revenue is a share of it.
  2. Take rate. The share of GMV kept as revenue: commissions plus fees.
  3. Cost to serve per order (payments, support, trust and safety). Sets the margin on each transaction.
  4. Liquidity: share of searches that end in a sale. Shows whether both sides are big enough.

Worked example (illustrative)

Rounded numbers for a made-up business, shaped like real ones. Positive lines add to profit; negative lines are costs.

An online retailer opens its site to outside sellers, who sell USD 1,000 million of goods a year on it. It keeps a 12 percent take rate.

Worked example for Platform or marketplace move, in USD millions a year. Illustrative figures.
LineUSD millions a year
Commission: USD 1,000 million x 12 percentUSD 120
Payment processing: 2 percent of salesminus USD 20
Seller support, fraud and trust teamsminus USD 30
Technologyminus USD 25
Profit from the marketplaceUSD 45

Check: the lines above add up to the total.

The numbers that decide it

Profit as a share of sales on the platform
4.5 percent
Profit on the same sales as a retailer at a 3 percent margin
USD 30

So what: On the same USD 1,000 million of sales, the marketplace earns USD 45 million and holds no stock; as a retailer the business would earn about USD 30 million and tie up money in inventory. The catch is that the take rate holds only while sellers get more buyers than anywhere else.

Real examples

Companies that made this move, by region, with what happened and a source checked on the date shown.

  • Amazon

    United StatesCreated value

    Amazon opened its store to outside sellers and charges them commissions and fees for delivery and storage. In 2025 third-party seller services brought in USD 172.2 billion, about a quarter of its USD 716.9 billion of sales.

    The lesson: Hosting other sellers multiplied choice without buying the stock, and the fees for delivery grew on top of the commission.

    Source 1: Amazon.com, annual report on Form 10-K for 2025 (US SEC) (opens in a new tab), checked .

  • Zalando

    EuropeCreated value

    The online fashion retailer lets brands sell directly to shoppers on its site (its partner business). In 2025 the partner business made up 32.1 percent of the group's EUR 17.6 billion of gross merchandise value.

    The lesson: A retailer can add a marketplace beside its own stock, widening choice while keeping control of the customer.

    Source 2: Zalando SE, Annual Report 2025 (opens in a new tab), checked .

  • Grab

    Southeast AsiaCreated value

    Grab runs rides, food delivery and payments in one app. In 2025 revenue grew 20 percent to USD 3.37 billion and the company made its first full-year profit, USD 200 million.

    The lesson: A super app spreads the cost of winning each customer across several services.

    Source 3: Grab Holdings, fourth quarter and full year 2025 results (Form 6-K exhibit, US SEC), 12 February 2026 (opens in a new tab), checked .

  • talabat

    Middle EastCreated value

    The Dubai-listed food and grocery delivery marketplace grew gross merchandise value 28 percent to USD 9.5 billion in 2025, with revenue up 33 percent to USD 3.9 billion.

    The lesson: Once a marketplace leads a city on both sides, growth and profit can come together.

    Source 4: Talabat Holding, fourth quarter 2025 results press release, 13 February 2026 (opens in a new tab), checked .

  • Meesho

    IndiaMixed

    Meesho charges sellers no commission and earns mainly from logistics and advertising. Its marketplace sales (net merchandise value) grew 38.6 percent to Rs 41,560 crore in 2025-26, but the marketplace still lost money.

    The lesson: A zero commission take rate wins sellers fast; the business then depends on what else it can charge for.

    Source 5: Meesho, Annual Report 2025-26 (NSE filing) (opens in a new tab), checked .

How to recommend it in a case

Answer first, then the reasons with numbers, then the risk and the next step. Three sentences, said out loud.

I recommend opening the site to outside sellers in the categories where we already have the most shoppers, because a 12 percent take rate earns about USD 45 million on USD 1,000 million of seller sales with no stock.

That is 4.5 percent of sales against about 3 percent as a retailer, and it adds choice without tying up working capital.

The risk is poor sellers hurting trust; next I would set seller standards and test the take rate sellers will accept in two categories.

The numbers to quote: GMV; Take rate; Cost to serve per order; Share of searches ending in a sale.

The figures in the answer come from the illustrative worked example above. In a case, use the client's own numbers.

Classic interview traps

  • Treating GMV as revenue. Revenue is GMV times the take rate.
  • Forgetting the chicken and egg problem: say which side you will win first, and how.
  • Ignoring trust and quality costs, which grow with the number of sellers.

Where it is common

Sources

Practise it

Where this move comes up in cases

Related moves