What is the latest buzzword in HR technology these days?

Marketplace!

A concept which is the hot topic of every discussion.

The growing need of technology means there are more HR Tech buyers and more vendors. But the challenge is choosing the best solution from multiple options available. This calls for the need of a marketplace.

An average company spends about $2,000 per employee per year on various HR tools and services, and that’s a considerable figure!

(Source: peoplecart)

We can say that it is a platform where end-users and vendors come together to buy and sell technology solutions.

Marketplace is growing, and it is evident from the following:

‘The marketplace for HR tech – which includes software products, tools, and related services – is over $400 billion,’ says Josh Bersin.

According to Mark Zuckerberg, one-third of all the people in the U.S. use Facebook Marketplace, and monthly usage worldwide totals 800 million people

Which Marketplace is the Perfect Choice?

While looking for a marketplace, an organization checks the following points:

• Choosing a technology solution should correlate with your business need.
• A return on investment is a major criterion.
• The technological solutions should be sustainable.
• Flexibility in the product makes a difference.

Amazon India is the fastest growing marketplace in India and the most visited site on both desktop and mobile in the country, says Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.

Examples of Best Marketplaces Today:

Azure Marketplace

An online app and services marketplace, Azure invites end-users to buy cloud software solutions built on the platform. With more than 8000 listings, there are APIs, Saas apps and solution templates.

AppExchange

A very own marketplace of Salesforce, AppExchange helps in extending the potential of Salesforce through its solutions. Over 70K peer reviews help you in choosing the right solution.

Read more about marketplaces which have changed the way businesses work.

Marketplace Engages Customers

What an excellent way for customer engagement by offering multiple solutions at one platform! “Mark comes to a marketplace, creates his apps and makes them public allowing more users to view them. This is how he increases customer engagement and attracts more clientele.”

Marketplace Supports Innovation to Start a Community

“Steve wants to introduce a new idea in the market but needs technical add-ons in his product. Instead of contacting multiple vendors separately, he visits a marketplace which provides him with all the technological solutions he needs for his innovation. Thus, a marketplace extends a helping hand to introduce an innovation to a community.”

Create Your Own Marketplace

Sounds interesting!

But that’s the objective of a marketplace- to help you deliver more value to your clients by including add-ons in your services. As a user, you get an opportunity to build multiple use cases/workflows and create a custom marketplace for your CRM/ATS.

Benefits of Marketplace

• Economical- The platform saves you from investing in numerous partnerships. Practically, you spend less and get the right service.
• Time-Saving- As an HRTech buyer, you are availing all services through one platform. Thus, you are not spending unnecessary time searching out the best vendors.
• One-time Integration- It eliminates the need of integrating with third parties separately.
• Transparency- Developers in the marketplace can manage buyers and buyers can view the apps and other technology solutions.
• More Clientele- Just sitting at one platform helps in building networks for vendors. More connections will get better business.

What to Expect in 2019?

With the never-ending benefits of this concept, the need of the marketplace is shooting. I have no second thoughts in saying that 2019 will be the year of the marketplace. We will see more players in the market entering this platform as it is meant to solve the challenges of many. In fact, all new generation CRM/ATS have their own Marketplace, and this trend is going to expand in the coming future.

This puts an added responsibility on vendors. They have to spend more time creating an open architecture solution and need to excel in integrating with various platforms such as G-Suite, FB and many more.

AI will also play a significant role in redefining marketplace through machine learning, algorithm refinement, NLP solutions, etc.

RChilli is soon introducing its new enrichment marketplace. Stay tuned to know the exciting features it offers!

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-2019-year-marketplace-vinay-johar/