Did you know that the online marketplace industry is growing rapidly? According to Insider Intelligence, this market is projected to surpass $468 billion in the U.S. alone by 2024. This rapid growth means more players are entering the field while existing ones are expanding their operations.
The Sharetribe platforms offer robust solutions for building online marketplaces, each catering to different needs. Sharetribe Go served as an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) for those looking to quickly launch a marketplace without technical expertise. In contrast, the new Sharetribe integrates the strengths of Sharetribe Go and Sharetribe Flex, providing a comprehensive platform that supports both no-code and code-based customization for more complex marketplace requirements.
Migrating from Sharetribe Go to Sharetribe opens the door to enhanced features, scalability, and improved functionality. By transitioning to Sharetribe, vendors can unlock new growth opportunities, increase sales, and adopt advanced marketing strategies.
Why migrate from Sharetribe Go to Sharetribe?
While Sharetribe Go provided a fast, simple setup without the need for programming skills, it had its limitations, particularly in terms of scalability and functionality.
Key drawbacks of Sharetribe Go:
- limited expandability
- no stock/inventory management
- lack of advanced mobile app functionality
- no customizable transaction flows
- no API for integrating third-party software
Sharetribe, on the other hand, offers advanced capabilities, which we will mention below.
Top reasons to migrate from Sharetribe Go to Sharetribe
Reason #1: active maintenance and support
One of the biggest challenges with Sharetribe Go is the lack of ongoing support and updates. Sharetribe Go is no longer being actively maintained, meaning it will not receive new features, performance improvements, or security updates. As technology advances and the needs of your marketplace grow, remaining on a platform that is no longer updated can leave you vulnerable to security risks and falling behind competitors. In contrast, the new Sharetribe platform benefits from continuous maintenance, active support, and regular feature enhancements.
Reason #2: enhanced flexibility and scalability
Sharetribe Go was designed as a simple, no-code solution for quickly launching a marketplace. However, as your business scales, you may find its limitations more apparent. The new Sharetribe, however, is designed to grow with your business. It combines the user-friendly interface of Go with the advanced capabilities of Sharetribe Flex, allowing for extensive customization. This flexibility means that your marketplace can evolve and adapt to new business requirements, whether you need to add new features, integrate third-party services, or support a larger volume of users. With the ability to scale effortlessly, the new Sharetribe assures that your marketplace can meet the demands of both your current operations and future growth.
Reason #3: no-code and custom code capabilities
Another amazing feature of the new Sharetribe platform is its dual capability of supporting both no-code and custom-code implementations. This means that businesses can quickly set up and launch a marketplace without any coding skills, making it ideal for startups or those looking to validate their business idea. However, as your business grows and your needs become more complex, the platform allows you to extend and customize your marketplace using custom code. This flexibility means you can innovate and implement new features as your marketplace evolves.
Reason #4: improved features and user experience
Sharetribe Go, while functional, has limitations in areas such as inventory management, listing creation, and search capabilities. The new Sharetribe addresses these limitations with a modern and customizable design, streamlined workflows for listing creation, and built-in inventory management. Additionally, it offers a more intuitive user experience for marketplace operators and customers alike. The platform also features advanced search and filtering options, ensuring users can quickly find the products or services they need. With these improvements, your marketplace can provide a superior user experience that drives engagement and increases conversions.
Reason #5: customizable transaction flows
Sharetribe Go offers a simplified, standard transaction workflow, which may not be suitable for more complex marketplace models. The new Sharetribe allows for highly customizable transaction flows, providing the flexibility to adapt to different business models and transaction types. Whether you need to configure multi-vendor payments, complex service agreements, or escrow options, the platform can tailor the transaction process to meet your needs. This level of customization can improve the efficiency of your marketplace and offer a better experience for both buyers and sellers.
Key considerations before migrating to Sharetribe
igrate the marketplace to a new solution, you must weigh all the risks and adequately prepare for the upgrade. To do this, you need to have a migration strategy to adapt the process of migrating your multivendor store or service marketplace to the new platform. Therefore, when preparing this document, you should understand what data is necessary to migrate. In addition, you should be attentive and careful at this stage, as a new look, even of habitual functionality, can be unexpected, and not all data is available for migration.
Sharetribe can migrate from Go for the following data:
- User profiles:
- User accounts, including email addresses and verified status.
- User roles (both customer and provider).
- Listings:
- Title
- Description
- Price (as a numerical amount)
- Location
- Images
- Listing fields
- Category and subcategory
- Custom fields created in Go
- Shipping data for marketplaces offering shipping, including shipping prices.
- Reviews:
- Ratings (one to five stars) and review text.
To avoid data loss, you will need the help of the Sharetribe team and thoroughly check the data after migration.
A step-by-step guide to migrating your marketplace to Sharetribe
Migrating a marketplace from Sharetribe Go to the new Sharetribe involves several crucial stages. To begin the migration process, the marketplace owner should contact Sharetribe to request a test migration. This initial step permits a preview of how the existing data will be transferred to the new platform, providing an opportunity to identify and address any potential issues before the final migration.
While Sharetribe sets up the test migration, there are different approaches depending on the marketplace owner's preferences. In the first option, if the Sharetribe team handles the entire migration process, there's no need for parallel development. The marketplace owner can wait until the migration is complete and then directly review and deploy the new marketplace without additional development efforts. This review includes checking user accounts, listings, and other essential information to ensure accurate and complete data transfer. Based on this review, the owner may need to adjust various marketplace settings, such as stock levels for product listings or availability configurations.
In the second option, if the marketplace owner wants to handle part of the process themselves, they start with a test import. After that, they can make necessary changes and conduct another test import to ensure everything is correct before moving to production. Finally, a live import completes the data transfer. The next phase focuses on finalizing the new marketplace.
After the owner is satisfied with the test environment and has made all necessary adjustments, they can coordinate with Sharetribe to perform the live migration. This crucial step transfers the marketplace data from Sharetribe Go to the New Sharetribe platform. Following a successful live migration, Sharetribe will inactivate the old Go marketplace to ensure all operations transition smoothly to the new platform.
An essential technical aspect of the migration is updating the DNS settings. The marketplace owner needs to configure their domain settings to point to the New Sharetribe environment, ensuring that the marketplace URL remains consistent for users, thus maintaining a seamless experience.
The final step in the migration process involves clear communication with the marketplace users. The owner should inform their user base about the migration, highlighting any new features or changes they can expect in the New Sharetribe. This communication can be delivered through various channels, such as email notifications or announcements directly on the marketplace platform.
We also inform you that while most data will be transferred, there is a limitation regarding transaction history. Specifically, the history of old transactions will not be migrated to the new Sharetribe platform. Users should be advised to save or export any transaction data they wish to retain before the migration occurs.
Conclusion: Contact Roobykon Software for successful migration of the marketplace
If you’re ready to scale your business by transitioning from Sharetribe Go to Sharetribe and require customizations, the professional Sharetribe developers at Roobykon Software are here to help. With over 5 years of experience working with Sharetribe, Roobykon’s team offers comprehensive services for marketplace development, migration, scaling, and support. The company’s experts provide various marketplace services: development, modernization, migration, scaling, design, testing, support, etc. Thanks to a rich experience in the industry and hundreds of completed projects, Roobykon Software engineers will implement your project quickly and according to high-quality standards.
Entrust the task of migrating the marketplace to the professionals! Contact us to get a free consultation.
Want to take the first step? Get in touch!
