Customer-to-Customer Business Model: What Does It Mean and How Can Apps Help?

Like B2B and B2C business models, the C2C is also successful in recent times. The C2C model can achieve maximum productivity and profitability when it has a retail mobile app.

If you are an entrepreneur searching for a feasible solution to establish your business in the customer-to-customer market, then it is the right place to start your journey.

Here is the complete guide for establishing a customer-to-customer business with a C2C marketplace app. Along with this, you can check some tips to choose the best retail app development company to get an operative C2C ecommerce platform (app) through this blog.

What is Meant by a C2C Model?

In this first phase of this compact guide to the customer-to-customer business, you can check the basic explanation of the C2C model. 

As the name suggests, the customer-to-customer model allows customers to avail or buy a service or product from other customers. That means there is no intervention of a business entity here to sell or buy a product/ service. The customers can sell or buy any product or service from other customers. 

Nowadays several front runners are achieving success in the C2C market by having mobile applications and online platforms to streamline their business online. Before exploring a C2C marketplace app, you need to know more about its business model and workflow. 

Detailed Note on Customer-to-Customer Business Model

Online platforms are the important mediator that connects customers who want to sell a product to other customers who want to buy the product.  The online platform provider (admin) will collect a certain percentage of the selling amount as a fee from the seller. 

Simply by connecting the surplus and the demand of the customers over the internet you can earn money as an admin. Here are the elements of a C2C business model to understand the concept better.

• Key Resources – Nowadays, customer-to-customer businesses are taking place online. So having a C2C marketplace app, or online C2C ecommerce platform is essential and these are the key resources for your business. 

• Key Partners – Throughout the business, you need to establish a connection between local customers, who are selling their things and the buyers. Along with this, the C2C marketplace app developers are also the key partners as your business has a deal with them to get a robust C2C ecommerce platform. 

• Customer Segment – Here, the users of the C2C ecommerce platform (app) can be classified as buyers and sellers. The buyers will buy products through your C2C marketplace app and spend their money to do this process. The sellers can be creators, individual business entities, or any others who have stocks to sell through your app.

• Key Activities – The key activities can be known as the activities to do on your C2C marketplace app, to make money. Online marketing, listing seller products, user management, providing customer support and others are key activities in this business model.

• Value Proposition- Both buyers and sellers are the users of this application. So, you need to include features to make the online ordering and selling process easier. The features and facilities that are included to make the customers satisfied come under this part. 

For example, payment support for multi-currencies, shipment solutions, listing products online, and others are values of your business.

• Customer Relationship – To support users of your C2C marketplace app, you can get in-app customer support like chatbots and a communication system to connect with your dedicated customer care unit. 

• Channel –  Through the C2C marketplace app and the C2C e-commerce platform, your customers can access your services and you can provide the values. So, these can be considered as

• Revenue Model – The major cost structure for this business model is developing and maintaining a C2C marketplace app and platform. Other than this, establishing administrative entities like staff, technical devices and infrastructure is the cost for this business. 

On another hand, you can collect the specific amount as listing charges, online selling charges, and delivery fees from the seller. Other than this, your C2C marketplace app also supports freemium, premium, and subscription revenue methods. Through this, you can generate revenue.  

So, an application is one of the inevitable things to establish a business under this model. Before choosing a C2C marketplace app development company to get your app, you need to know about the types of C2C marketplace apps. 

How Does C2C Model Differ From P2P Model? 

Many business models are the same as the C2C model. For example, the P2P model is one of them. By knowing the key differences between them, you can stick to your business plan without any confusion; and it’ll help you to get a unique custom app solution. 

The P2P model means a Peer-to-Peer system that allows the exchange of any product, data, or service between any customers/ users in a particular network. There is no other third party between buyer and seller. But in customer-to-customer, there is a third party (admin) who will interact between the buyer and seller. 

Another thing that should be noted before the app development is the types of C2C business apps. Generally, the C2C marketplace app has been classified into three common types; they are,

1. Auction Platform – Such application is used to conduct online auctions between the buyer and seller,
2. Exchange Platforms – This kind of application is helping the users to exchange their products with others for a particular amount of money.
3. Classifieds – It is a platform that allows the sellers to list their products and sell them with the platform. Other than this, the intermediate entity will not be involved in additional services like delivery,  

So, these are the important types of C2C business applications that you need to know before choosing an app development company to develop a C2C marketplace app. 

C2C Marketplace App Development: How Does It Beneficial?

A C2C marketplace app is not only a vital part of a customer-to-customer business model but also the revenue model. Only by having a C2C ecommerce platform, can you unlock many additional revenue streams like ads, subscriptions, listing fees, premium listing fees, and others. 

• Brand Awareness: With a C2C ecommerce platform you can run referral programs to attract and reach more customers. This will help you to raise brand awareness and customer base. 

• Scaling Your Business – With powerful insight tools the application will help you to monitor the business growth, the progress of marketing strategies, customer journey, and buying process. 

• Automation and Security- This application helps you to streamline and automate the online booking, and selling process. All the records are stored in a secured data management system, and all the processes that take place within the application can be tracked. So, the buying and selling process can be reliable. 

• Payment Data Security – While users pay online with this application, they expect high-end payment data security. It can be obtained by availing of a C2C marketplace app

• Financial Data Management – A C2C marketplace app can help you to manage the minimum service charge for listing (or) advertising a product, commission rate, and also delivery charges if any. So, the currency flow through your application is always in control. 

• Customer Satisfaction – The C2C marketplace app allows users to manage their profiles, products list, description, offers, and ratings. So, any buyers can check their previous products and their reviews to validate their credibility. It makes your C2C marketplace app reliable for users. 

But these benefits can be obtained only if the application has effective tailor-made features. That means you need a custom application for your business. Now let’s check how to get such a robust application.

How to Get a Custom App For your C2C Business?

Choosing the best C2C marketplace app development company is the first step to getting a functional mobile application. Such a retail app development company should have a team of experts who can develop custom mobile applications.

Uplogic Technologies is one of the C2C marketplace app development companies that have eminent C2C marketplace app developers who have the potential to develop an application from scratch. From us, you can get a custom-made application with the following features. 

• User Data management,

• Easy Sign-in and Sign-up Process,

• Powerful Search Tools,

• Payment Integration,

• In-app Communication,

• Advanced Profile Management Tools,

• In-app Wallet and Other Advanced Features.

Besides this, you can get any custom features from our team of C2C marketplace app developers. So, choose the best feasible way to establish a customer-to-customer business that can be reliable for revenue. 

To Sum Up

Overall, like B2B and B2C business models, C2C business models also need mobile applications to get a more customer base and obtain additional benefits. Uplogic Technologies, a retail app development company, can produce a custom C2C marketplace app for your business. Through that, you can unlock many additional revenue streams, execute marketing strategies and provide customer-centric service to the users.