The 6 Golden Rules for a Marketplace Specification That Propels Your Retail Business in 2025
By Charlotte Journo-Baur, Founder of WISHIBAM
In a world where 70% of e-commerce sales will flow through marketplaces by 2025, the specification document is no longer a mere administrative formality but the backbone of your digital transformation.
Having guided dozens of retailers through their transition to the marketplace model, I can assert one thing with confidence: the difference between a project that takes off and one that stagnates is determined during the framing phase.
Your marketplace specification isn’t just a technical document—it’s your strategic compass, your trust contract with your teams, and your life insurance against e-commerce giants nibbling away at your market share.
In this article, I share the fundamentals of a marketplace specification that guarantees not only the success of your project but also your digital sovereignty in a rapidly evolving retail ecosystem.
Why a Specification Document is Vital for Launching a Marketplace in 2025
The Marketplace: An Essential Growth Lever for Retailers
The figures are relentless and dizzying. According to RetailX, over 70% of e-commerce sales in Europe will pass through marketplaces by 2025. This statistic isn’t just another number—it signals a commercial revolution reshaping retail’s contours.
I’ve seen too many traditional merchants say, “this isn’t for us” or “we already have our e-commerce site.” Fatal mistake. The marketplace is no longer an option; it’s a vital necessity. Why? Because your customers are already there. They compare, purchase, and become accustomed to this fluid, centralized shopping experience.
Consider this regional furniture retailer we supported last year. Despite 15 successful physical stores, their revenue had stagnated for three years. Six months after launching their marketplace, they recorded 23% growth and reached customers located more than 200 km from their physical points of sale. The marketplace didn’t cannibalize their activity—it multiplied it.
Physical retailers face a simple but crucial choice: adapt or disappear. The marketplace is no longer just a growth channel; it has become a survival tool in a commercial environment where giants like Amazon capture most of the sector’s growth.
Without a Specification Document, No Clear Vision, No Sustainable Success
I’ve witnessed multi-million-euro marketplace projects collapse due to the lack of a solid specification document. The symptoms are always the same: unclear objectives, exploding budgets, missed deadlines, and ultimately, a platform that meets neither user expectations nor business needs.
The specification document is your marketplace project’s GPS. It defines the destination, anticipates obstacles, forecasts necessary resources, and maps the optimal route. Without it, you’re navigating by sight in a particularly turbulent digital ocean.
A telling example: a major French retailer launched its marketplace without a structured specification document, convinced that its internal IT team could “adapt along the way.” The result? Two years of development, a budget that tripled, and a platform eventually abandoned due to inconsistency with existing business processes.
The specification document isn’t just a technical document—it’s a strategic alignment tool. It ensures that all stakeholders (management, marketing, IT, finance, logistics) share the same vision and expectations. It secures your investments by precisely defining the project’s scope and anticipates technical, legal, or operational risks.
In a context where 68% of digital projects exceed their initial budget according to McKinsey, the specification document becomes your financial safeguard and your guarantee of results.
The 6 Pillars of an Effective and Sovereign Marketplace Specification
Key Features, Seller and Buyer Journeys: Think Usage Before Technology
The first mistake I see in specification documents is excessive focus on technical aspects at the expense of user experience. Before discussing APIs, microservices, or cloud architecture, ask yourself the right questions:
- Do you need a B2B, B2C, or hybrid marketplace?
- Which payment methods correspond to your targets?
- What logistics strategy should you adopt?
The buyer journey must be considered in detail. At WISHIBAM, we always start by mapping this journey, from discovery to loyalty. A high-performing marketplace must be fluid, fast, mobile-first, and designed to transform the first purchase into a lasting relationship.
On the seller side, onboarding is crucial. One of our clients had initially planned a 25-step seller registration process! We reduced it to 7 while maintaining necessary verifications. Result: the abandonment rate dropped from 78% to 23%.
Your specification document must detail essential features such as:
- Multi-vendor management with different commission levels
- Merchandising and promotion tools
- Rating and review systems
- Returns and customer service management
- Analytical dashboards
But beware of falling into the “feature creep” trap—the tendency to pile on features without considering their actual relevance. Each feature should address a concrete and measurable business need.
Governance, Sovereignty, and Interoperability: Laying the Foundations of a Sustainable Model
Digital sovereignty has become a major strategic issue for retailers. Your specification document must imperatively address these questions:
- Who controls your data?
- Where is it hosted?
- How do you protect your customers’ and sellers’ information?
Interoperability is the other fundamental pillar. Your marketplace won’t be an isolated island—it must integrate harmoniously into your existing ecosystem. How will you connect your ERP, PIM, and CRM? How will you synchronize inventory between physical and digital? How will you unify customer data?
A sports retailer we work with had initially underestimated this aspect. Six months after launch, they had to invest an additional €300,000 to create the missing connectors. This error could have been avoided with a specification document that anticipated these integration needs.
Your marketplace’s governance must also be clearly defined:
- Who decides on the integration of new sellers?
- Which KPIs will you track?
- Who arbitrates in case of disputes?
These organizational questions are as important as technical aspects.
A sovereign marketplace is one that truly belongs to you—not just technically, but also strategically. That’s why at WISHIBAM, we guarantee our clients full ownership of their data and complete independence from Big Tech companies.
How WISHIBAM Transforms a Specification Document into a High-Performance Marketplace
A Proven Method to Co-Build Your Marketplace with Your Teams
At WISHIBAM, we don’t sell an off-the-shelf solution—we co-build your marketplace with your teams. Our method revolves around business workshops that involve all stakeholders: management, marketing, IT, finance, logistics, and legal.
- These workshops help identify your business model’s specificities, map your existing processes, and precisely define your needs.
- We complement them with technical audits of your current infrastructure and sector benchmarks to position you effectively against the competition.
This collaborative approach has proven itself: 100% of marketplaces launched with WISHIBAM in 2023-2024 achieved their 12-month objectives. This is no coincidence—it’s the result of a methodology that places people and business at the center of the technological project.
I remember a digital director from a DIY retailer who was skeptical about our insistence on these preparatory workshops. “We know our business, let’s go straight to the technical part,” he said. After two days of workshops, he completely changed his mind upon discovering business opportunities he hadn’t identified and risks he hadn’t anticipated.
Our added value lies not only in our technology but in our ability to transform your business vision into digital reality, respecting your DNA and enhancing your existing assets.
Sovereign Technology, Designed for French and European Retailers
Technological sovereignty isn’t just a marketing argument—it’s a decisive competitive advantage. WISHIBAM offers a 100% sovereign platform: hosting in France, native GDPR compliance, total independence from American or Chinese giants.
This sovereignty translates concretely into better protection of your strategic data, simplified compliance with European regulations, and reduced risks related to policy changes on third-party platforms.
Our technology has been specifically designed for European retailers, with a deep understanding of their challenges:
- The importance of phygital
- Local tax specificities
- European consumers’ expectations regarding payment and delivery
Native interconnection with physical retail tools is our trademark. Where other solutions impose complex developments to connect online and offline, WISHIBAM offers ready-to-use connectors for the main ERPs, PIMs, and point-of-sale solutions on the market.
WISHIBAM is the anti-Amazon: an ethical, high-performing platform designed to defend your margins rather than capture them. We’re not here to transform you into a simple intermediary in your own market—we give you the tools to become the central player in your commercial ecosystem.
Conclusion: Your Specification Document, the First Step Toward a Marketplace That Reflects You
Your marketplace specification document isn’t a mere technical formality—it’s the founding act of your digital transformation. It translates your business vision into an operational roadmap and lays the foundations of your digital sovereignty.
In a context where e-commerce giants capture most of the sector’s growth, European retailers must regain control of their digital destiny. This begins with an ambitious yet realistic specification document that enhances your existing assets while opening new growth perspectives.
At WISHIBAM, we support retailers daily in this strategic approach. Our conviction is simple: technology must serve your business, not the other way around. That’s why we put so much energy into co-building with you a specification document that reflects you and lays the foundations for a high-performing, sovereign, and sustainable marketplace.
Don’t wait for your competitors to gain the advantage. 2025 will be the year of marketplaces—make sure you’re on the right side of this commercial revolution.
FAQ: Everything You Need to Know About the Marketplace Specification Document
How long does it take to draft a complete marketplace specification document?
A rigorous marketplace specification document generally requires between 4 and 8 weeks of work. This timeframe includes workshops with different stakeholders, analysis of existing systems, definition of functional and technical needs, and validation by all concerned teams.
What pitfalls should be avoided in a marketplace specification document?
The most common errors are underestimating integration needs with existing systems, lack of clear prioritization of features, and failure to anticipate legal and tax aspects. A good specification document must also avoid “copy-pasting” competitors’ features without reflecting on their relevance to your specific model.
Should the mobile version be planned in the initial specification document?
Absolutely, and it’s even a priority. In 2024, more than 65% of marketplace purchases are made on mobile. Your specification document should adopt a “mobile-first” approach rather than considering mobile as a simple desktop variation. This implies thinking differently about user journeys, features, and ergonomics.
How can I estimate the budget needed to develop a marketplace?
The budget depends on many factors: functional complexity, level of integration with existing systems, expected volume, etc. A precise specification document allows you to refine this estimate. For a medium-sized marketplace, count between €300K and €1M for the initial phase, then a maintenance and evolution budget representing 15 to 20% of the initial investment per year.
What place should AI have in a marketplace specification document in 2025?
AI must be integrated pragmatically and in a targeted manner. The most relevant use cases concern personalization of product recommendations, pricing optimization, fraud detection, and customer service automation. Your specification document should specify the business objectives expected from these AI features rather than yielding to a trend.
How can I guarantee data sovereignty in my marketplace specification document?
Your specification document must explicitly mention data hosting in Europe, native GDPR compliance, exclusive ownership of collected data, and absence of dependency on Big Tech cloud services. At WISHIBAM, we guarantee this sovereignty through technological and contractual choices that protect your strategic assets.
