Veziv IT marketplace: what ADK.ro was
ADK brought offers from several companies into the same online store, many of them in machinery, equipment, tools and components. Each seller uploaded their products, received orders and saw their money, while the platform collected the payment, invoiced its commission and handled returns.
The platform has since closed, and at the time of the article it was up for sale. For Veziv IT, the ADK marketplace was the school where we learned large-scale e-commerce: stock and returns, couriers, XML files, payments and commissions.
What we built for ADK.ro
A marketplace has four types of users, and each needs its own screens:
- Buyers. A catalogue with categories and filters, products with variants, cart, favourites, vouchers, online payment, an account with orders, returns and reviews with photos.
- Sellers. A portal where they sign up, sign the contract for the categories they want to sell in, and manage their products, stock, orders, deliveries and money.
- Administrators. They approve sellers and categories, manage orders, returns, reviews, banners and vouchers, and see product reports.
- Buyers on the phone. A hybrid mobile app, for Android and iOS, with the same features as the website.
Stability, speed and growth
We worked with large volumes of data, so we had to take care of three things:
- Stability. The platform could not afford to go down, especially during holiday campaigns.
- Speed. Pages had to load quickly with many visitors at once and a large catalogue.
- Growth. Every solution was designed for more products and more sellers than we had at the time.
Couriers, linked directly to the platform
The platform was linked to FAN Courier, DPD and Sameday. The seller generated the AWB (the courier waybill) from the portal, the parcel status came in automatically, and the shipping cost was calculated by rules set by each seller. Merchants could choose how they delivered. See also logistics and deliveries.
How we made selling online simpler
- Prices and promotions. Sellers changed their prices and created their own vouchers without asking for help.
- The order. Every step, from cart to payment confirmation, was shortened and checked.
- Reports. Sellers and administrators saw sales and stock in reports that were simple to read, with export to Excel.
Online payments and commissions
Buyers paid by card through PlatiOnline, with refunds when needed, and the platform also offered financing options for purchases. Sellers' money was calculated from a commission table, and commission invoices were issued automatically through SmartBill.
Lots of products, uploaded quickly
A seller could not enter thousands of products by hand. They could import them from WooCommerce, Shopify, PrestaShop, Magento, OpenCart or from their own file. For automatic updates there were XML feeds and API access keys. The platform in turn sent feeds to Google Shopping and GS1.
What a marketplace the size of ADK.ro has to connect
An ordinary online store and a marketplace differ in how many processes have to be linked together:
- XML files. Bulk import and update of products, with no duplicates and no sync errors.
- Couriers. AWBs, parcel tracking and delivery status for a large number of orders.
- Returns. The customer's request, with a reason and the condition of the product, goes through approval, gets a return AWB and ends with the refund. The customer and the seller see the same status.
- Stock. A separate service synced the sellers' stock, so a product could not be sold twice.
- Search. We integrated Algolia and Luigi Box, so products could be found quickly by title, description and filters.
Today, we build the same connections between our clients' online stores and the ERP. See online store and marketplace.
What we kept from the work with ADK.ro
- Knowledge of the market. We worked with many merchants, each with their own needs.
- Written processes. We documented what we did and kept reusable pieces for the next projects.
- Prevention. Every problem we solved taught us what to check before it comes up next time.
If you want to launch or improve a marketplace or an online store, write to us. You will find other work in our projects.