Marketplace development: one cart, separate settlement for every seller
We build marketplace platforms for groups of companies, manufacturers and distributors. The customer sees one brand, one cart and one payment. The platform splits the order by seller and warehouse, sends each part to the right ERP, and each company issues its own document and receives its own share of the payment.
We start with one complete slice: a mixed cart, the order split, payment and documents for two sellers. The rest follows in stages.
Who it is for
Several companies, one customer
Each company has its own range and its own ERP, and the customer wants to buy everything in one cart.
A store wired to one company
The rest of the group’s range sells through a separate channel or not at all.
Settlement done by hand
After every order, someone works out which company issues the document and who is owed which part of the payment.
B2B and B2C with the same sellers
Retail and business customers buy the same goods on different terms, with a credit limit held separately at each company.
What you get
- Seller A
- Seller B
- Seller C
A registry of sellers, warehouses and ERP systems
Seller details, terms, payout accounts and product assignments, managed from the admin panel.
Cart and checkout for mixed orders
One address, one delivery and one payment, with a clear breakdown by seller.
Order and payment split
Order parts, rules for splitting discounts and shipping costs, and payment in the payment provider’s marketplace mode.
Integration with each company’s ERP
Stock, prices, customers, orders, documents and statuses, through a separate connection for each system.
Returns, complaints and a reconciliation report
Sub-cases per seller, corrections in the right ERP and a report for accounting: payments, splits, documents and refunds.
Panels for your team and partners
Customer service, account managers and B2B customers see orders, limits and settlement broken down by seller.
How we design a marketplace
A marketplace does not break on the product page. It breaks where one order becomes several: in discounts, payment, documents and returns. We make those decisions first, before any interface exists.
Every product has an owner
A seller, a warehouse and an ERP are assigned to a product before it can be published. You add the next seller through configuration, not a code change.
One order, independent parts
The customer gets one number and one confirmation. Each seller fulfils its own part separately, so a stock-out at one company does not block the others.
The money adds up to the cent
Discounts, coupons, points and shipping are calculated for the whole cart and split across the parts by an agreed rule. Each seller’s total matches its document and its payout.
An ERP can be down
An order is neither lost nor duplicated when one company’s system does not respond. The store shows the last known stock, and your team sees a list of errors and can retry.
| Step | Customer | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| Cart | One cart, items grouped by seller | Checks stock and prices in the right company’s ERP |
| Payment | Pays once | The payment provider routes the funds to the sellers’ accounts |
| Order | One number and one confirmation | A separate order part for each seller and warehouse |
| Delivery | One shipping cost, tracking for every parcel | A shipment and a label for each warehouse |
| Documents | The full set in one place | A receipt or invoice from each seller’s ERP |
| Return | One request | A sub-case, a correction and a refund at the right seller |
How we work
Conversation
How the companies sell today, what is settled by hand and which systems need connecting. Have a written scope? Send it ahead: we come back with questions and risks, not a presentation.
Split rules and fixed price
We agree how the order, discounts, shipping and payment are split, and quote the first stage.
First slice
A mixed cart, the order split, payment and documents for two sellers, checked on real ERP data.
Release and move
Data, customer accounts and URLs from the old platform, with 301 redirects and a cutover plan.
Growth
More sellers, warehouses, panels and markets, each stage with its own scope and price.
We have built a marketplace. We cannot name the client.
On this site, we only show work you can open and check. This one we cannot show publicly, so there is no logo, no figures and no link here. In a conversation, we will tell you what the scope looked like, which decisions mattered most and what we would do differently today.
Engagement model: a fixed price per stage
We quote a marketplace in stages. Each stage has an agreed scope, a fixed price and a working result you check on your own scenarios.
The price depends on the number of sellers and ERP systems, the rules for splitting discounts and shipping, the payment mode, the B2B scope (limits, terms, commissions) and the migration from your current platform.
Already have a scope written with another vendor? We do not start over. We work from what is agreed and point out what is worth launching first. The code of your platform belongs to you.
Questions about marketplace development
How is a marketplace different from an online store?
In a store, one company sells. On a marketplace, several sellers sell under one brand: the customer has one cart and one payment, while the order, the documents and the money are split between the sellers.
Can a marketplace run only for companies within one group?
Yes. That is a closed marketplace: the operator adds the sellers, they do not sign up themselves. The design lets you open the platform to outside sellers later.
How do you split one payment between several companies?
Through a payment provider in marketplace mode: the customer pays once, and the provider routes the funds to the sellers’ accounts according to the order part amounts. The available payment methods depend on what the provider supports in that mode, so choosing the provider is one of the first decisions.
Who issues the invoice when an order comes from several sellers?
Each seller for its own part, in its own ERP. The customer sees the full set of documents in one place. No company issues a document for another company’s goods.
Can each company keep its own ERP?
Yes. We connect each system separately, and the platform knows which ERP is the source of stock, prices and documents for a given product. The principles behind those connections are on our e-commerce integrations page.
Is Medusa a good fit for multi-vendor marketplace development?
Yes. Medusa provides ready commerce: catalogue, cart, orders, customers, promotions and an admin panel. It also has a documented marketplace pattern: a seller model, links between sellers and products, and splitting an order into seller orders. Payment splitting, settlement between companies and ERP integrations are not a ready module. We build them for your business, on the marketplace mode of the payment provider you choose.
How much does marketplace development cost?
We quote it in stages, at a fixed price for the agreed scope of each stage, so you know the cost of a stage before it starts. The price depends on the number of sellers and systems, the split rules and the B2B scope.
Show us how you split sales between your companies today.
Have a written scope? Send it before the call. In 20 minutes, we will go through the split rules, payments and integrations that decide the order of work.