Rental is quickly becoming the new ‘buy’. Ownership of everything from housing, furniture, and countless other home appliances is no longer considered to be important. More people are indeed on the move these days than at any time in the past. The rent, use, and return approach certainly seems more suited to the modern lifestyle. The cost to the environment is yet another factor that favors the rental model; collective usage is the key to optimum resource utilization.
The surge of the rental economy has led to a proliferation of the online rental marketplace across diverse business verticals. Online marketplaces are digitally sourced, self-service environments that provide a common platform for multiple vendors to connect with their customers.
Some of the best examples of rental marketplaces are Cort for furniture rental, Turo for P2P car rental, and Rent the Runway for clothes rental. For entrepreneurs wanting to replicate the said marketplaces in their niche, the process can be both time and cost-intensive. However, several ready-made, online marketplace platforms can significantly slash that cost and time. Let’s take a look at the top five such solutions and how they stack up against each other:
#1. YoRent
Yo! Rent is a white-label rental marketplace software developed by FATbit Technologies. Its feature catalog is quite impressive considering its affordability and flexible payment options. Yo! Rent’s capabilities extend to renting, selling, and both multi-vendor and single-vendor support. It is available in both ready-to-use and custom development options with exclusive rights to the design in the latter. The software comes with a lifetime license at a one-time cost with no recurring payments. Yo! Rent has also developed a free-of-cost, full-fledged demo for the buyers.
Website: https://www.yo-rent.com
Founded: 2015
Country: India
Features:
- Renting & Selling
- Smart-Review Management
- Multiple Revenue Channels
- Fully Customizable
- Real-Time Inventory Management
Type: Small, Medium & Large Sized Business
Business Model: B2B, B2C, P2P
Key Benefits
- Unlimited listing of products and services
- Fully customizable with exclusive rights to custom design
- Free Technical Support for 1 Year
- Available at a one-time purchase with no recurring payments
Pricing: Starting @ $999 with flexible payment options. (30 days money-back guarantee)
Clients: Gearflow, RENT FOR ALL
Demo: Free Demo Available
#2 Sharetribe
Sharetribe is a reliable platform for launching a Peer-to-peer online storefront. It is a self-hosted ready-to-use solution that does not require any download or installation. First-time customers can also visit its help center to find setup assistance. Sharetribe is a SaaS application that does not call for explicit programming to conduct rental business operations.
Website: http://www.sharetribe.com
Founded: 2011
Country: Finland
Features:
- Email marketing
- Order management
- Multistore management
- Built-in payment systems
- Mobile Friendliness
- SEO optimization
- Global Payment Option
Types: Small Business & Medium Size Business SV & MV
Business Model: Sharetribe is a C2C, B2B, B2C marketplace platform.
Key Benefits:
- Ease of use
- User friendly
- Affordable
- Flexible payment options
Pricing: Starting package @79/month
Key Clients: WheelPrice, Fittcoach, Canon
Demo: 30 days free trial
#3. Arcadier
Arcadier is a rental marketplace platform that offers subscription-based web applications. It is loaded with all the essential features for renting and selling products. On purchasing, the buyer gets 4 default themes to choose from along with the full customization option. For extended functionality, buyers can also install third-party plugins from Arcadier’s plugin marketplace.
Website: https://www.arcadier.com/
Founded: 2013
Location: Singapore
Features:
- Order Management
- Catalog Management
- Category Management
- Payment Processing
- Promotions Management
- SEO Management
- Vendor Portal
Type: Small, medium & large
Business Model: B2B, B2C, P2P marketplace platform
Key Benefits:
- Comprehensive function
- Affordable
- Available in 4 default themes and also fully customizable
- No transaction fee
Pricing: Starting at $69 month/user
Key Clients: Kindly, Snap Squad
Demo: 30 days free trial.
#4. Genstore
Genstore is a robust rental marketplace software that is based on Node JS. It comes with a mobile application with the Facebook Messenger Bot pre-installed. Genstore’s impressive features range from multiple revenue sources to automated management options. Like Yo! Rent, Genstore is also available at a reasonable one-time payment.
Website: https://shopygen.com/nodejs-marketplace-software/
Founded: 2000
Country: Thailand
Features:
- Payment Processing
- SEO Management
- Shopping Cart
- Vendor Portal
Types: Small, Medium and Large-sized businesses
Business Model: B2B, B2C, C2C
Key Benefits:
- Facebook Messenger bot pre-installed in mobile application
- Affordable
- Includes intellectual property rights
- 24/7 live chat support
Pricing: $999 one-time payment
Key Clients: Gappers, Bridalope
Demo: Free Demo
#5. ExlCart
ExlCart has a responsive layout and a feature-rich admin panel. It supports unlimited vendors and is available at an aggressive one-time payment. For more features, the buyer can opt for its premium development plan that comes with native apps for iOS and Android. ExlCart also provides a free demo to its customers.
Website: http://www.exlcart.com
Founded: 2014
Country: India
Type: Small to medium size business
Business Model: B2B and B2C marketplace.
Features:
- Multi-seller platform
- Inventory Management
- Unlimited vendors/products
- Responsive layout
- Multi-Store Management
- Customizable
Key Benefits
- Flexible payment plans
- Includes source code
- Highly-affordable
- Includes native mobile apps
Pricing: Starting@$399 one-time payment
Key Clients: Sleepyhead, Spirits4u, Fashion world
Demo: Free Trial
Conclusion
Purchasing a full-fledged marketplace solution eliminates the need to develop one from scratch. It saves resources on rigorous data collection and explicit programming. However, the efforts for making the final call should include the pitching of various factors like the hosting, the used technology stack, customization options, and the availability of mobile apps. Free demos should be used to test the features and functionality of marketplace software.
