The product marketplace: Business models & key insights

New revenue isn’t always about launching new products, it’s increasingly about empowering others to bundle, compose, and sell what you already do best. That’s the promise of the modern product marketplace, a strategic engine for growth that’s reshaping how enterprises deliver value.

Modern product marketplaces extend beyond mere e-commerce platforms. They function as lively ecosystems aimed at catering to various customer groups, fostering strategic partnerships, and revealing innovative monetization strategies. Whether you're a telco, integrating connectivity within healthcare, or SaaS vendor incorporating third-party APIs into your product offerings, the marketplace serves as your catalyst for growth.

What is a product marketplace?

A product marketplace is a digital platform that connects buyers and sellers, enabling the exchange of goods, services, or bundled offerings, often without the operator owning the inventory. But in today’s enterprise context, it's far more than a transactional layer. It’s a strategic hub for ecosystem orchestration.

Unlike traditional e-commerce platforms that focus solely on catalog listings and payment processing, a modern product marketplace:

• Supports multiple sellers and business models (e.g., commission, resell, drop-shipping)
• Offers composable digital and physical bundles that solve complex problems
• Delivers value via curated, industry-specific ecosystems

Think of it as the engine behind outcome-driven commerce, where telcos embed APIs into healthcare solutions, banks power fintech storefronts, and manufacturers offer pre-integrated IoT kits through their partner networks. Whether operated by a large enterprise or offered as a service to others, a product marketplace enables companies to scale their reach, innovate faster, and unlock new monetization paths, all while deepening customer and partner engagement.

Why product marketplaces matter more than ever

According to Forrester, 63% of vendor revenue now flows through indirect channels. This shift underscores the strategic importance of ecosystems and marketplaces as key distribution and innovation platforms.

• Canalys reports that ecosystem and channel software providers generated US $7.46 billion in 2024 revenue—projected to more than double to US $13.48 billion by 2028, driven by automation and data-led partner management.
• Within the broader ecosystem software market (US $5.3 billion), the niche for ecosystem marketplace and integration tools stood at US $381 million in 2023, signaling rapid early-stage growth.
• Data marketplace platforms reached $1.49 billion in 2024, and are expected to grow to $5.73 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 25.2%.

What makes product marketplaces indispensable?

• Low capital requirements: Sell without owning inventory
• Extended partner reach: Tap into third-party vendors and service providers
• Outcome-based monetization: Move beyond SKUs to solutions and services

With the global digital economy valued at over $11.1 trillion, marketplaces are rapidly becoming the infrastructure for B2B growth, particularly in high-tech and industrial segments.

Marketplace business models: What’s in play

Not all marketplaces are created equal. Enterprises need to choose models that align with their strategy, vertical, and target audience. Here are the most common:

1. Drop-shipping: The marketplace operator sells directly to the customer but relies on third-party vendors for fulfillment. Ideal for low-inventory businesses

2. Third-party commission: Sellers own the customer transaction while the marketplace earns a percentage. Offers flexibility and low operational overhead.

3. Reseller & white-label models: Resellers purchase products from the marketplace and sell under their own brand. Useful in B2B multi-tier channels.

Each model affects how you structure pricing, onboarding, and partner relationships, making business model configurability a top priority when choosing a marketplace development platform.