Spoiler alert right up front: In our experience, the answer to whether it’s worth building your own online marketplace or multi-shop system with an internal IT team is a clear and definite no! – at least, unless you have a million-dollar budget like Zalando or Amazon and a large, specialized IT department.
But why is developing such a system so costly and time-consuming? And what advantages does a proven SaaS solution offer in comparison? In this article, we give you a clear insight into the challenges of developing your own system and explain why a SaaS solution is always more efficient and cost-effective.
Our experience – a behind-the-scenes look
Our Platoyo system has been continuously developed for over 12 years. During this time, we have invested over 10 million euros and integrated more than 250 features. More than 10 employees are constantly working on developing new features, optimizing existing ones, and responding to new legal requirements. The costs our partners pay for using the system are very low in comparison.
Based on this experience, we want to give you an insight into the efforts you should expect if you decide to develop such a system yourself.
The advantages of a SaaS solution at a glance
A SaaS solution like Platoyo offers numerous advantages, particularly in terms of efficiency, lower costs, and rapid deployment. Below, we’ll go into detail on the key points:
1. Cost savings
The first and probably most significant advantage of a SaaS solution is the massive cost savings:
Development costs: Developing custom software requires substantial financial investments, especially for qualified personnel, tools, and infrastructure. With a SaaS solution, this effort is often completely eliminated.
Maintenance costs: SaaS providers like Platoyo handle regular maintenance and software updates. This saves you from expensive long-term maintenance and bug fixes that are inevitable with custom development. Additionally, constantly evolving legal requirements necessitate ongoing development.
2. Time savings
Time is a critical resource, and here lies another advantage of SaaS solutions:
Quick implementation: While developing a custom system often takes months or even years, a SaaS solution is ready to use immediately.
No testing efforts: SaaS providers continuously test and improve their solutions. This means you don’t need to set up your own testing infrastructure or run extensive tests. At Platoyo, for example, there are over 20,000 tests that must be completed before a new change goes live.
3. Scalability
Building a custom system that can effortlessly handle future growth requires large upfront investments. SaaS solutions, however, offer maximum flexibility:
Automatic scaling: SaaS systems automatically adjust to your growing needs—whether it’s more users, more storage space, or additional features.
Flexible pricing models: Many SaaS solutions, like Platoyo, offer scalable pricing models, allowing you to start with a smaller budget and upgrade as needed.
4. Technical expertise – experts by your side
Not every company has the necessary technical expertise to develop and maintain a complex platform over the long term. A SaaS solution relieves you of this responsibility:
No deep technical knowledge required: SaaS users don’t need extensive technical knowledge. The provider handles all the technical complexities.
Expert support: SaaS providers like Platoyo offer dedicated support teams that quickly assist you with technical problems and questions.
5. Updates and security
Ongoing software maintenance and updates are time-consuming and costly. SaaS solutions take this burden off your hands:
Regular updates: SaaS solutions are regularly updated, ensuring you’re always using the latest version of the software.
Security updates: The provider also ensures that security updates are always up to date, which is particularly important when handling sensitive data.
At Platoyo, for example, between 5 and 10 updates go live daily, continuously improving the platform. We publish our release notes weekly and discuss them with our clients to continuously enhance our platform solution.
6. Focus on your core business
A key advantage of SaaS solutions is that they allow you to focus all your resources on your core business.
Instead of investing time and budget into developing and maintaining custom software, you can focus your energy on key areas like marketing, merchant and customer support, collaboration with suppliers and brands, and optimizing your business processes.
SaaS takes care of the technical part, while you focus on growing and succeeding in your business.
7. Integration and compatibility
SaaS solutions often provide easy integration into existing systems:
Easy integration: Most SaaS systems can be integrated with other tools and platforms, enabling seamless collaboration between different systems.
Compatibility: Since SaaS solutions run via browser or cloud-based services, they are cross-platform and therefore easy and flexible to use.
8. Knowledge sharing & joint development
Good SaaS providers actively promote exchange among their clients.
At Platoyo, we have regular jour fixe meetings with our clients’ project managers and maintain constant direct contact to share experiences and develop new solutions together.
After industry events like trade shows, we report on innovations and establish connections to initiate collaborations that could be valuable to our clients. All of this contributes to the growth of our clients.
Typical questions from IT managers and decision-makers
Before deciding on a SaaS solution, there are often a few questions and concerns. Here, we address the most common ones and show how SaaS solutions tackle them—especially in terms of your IT resources and potential dependencies.
But we already have an IT department—what will they do?
Even if you already have an IT department, there will still be plenty to do. Your IT team can continue to focus on important tasks such as managing the various participants (e.g., PIM, ERP systems, etc.), performing configuration work on the platform, or implementing your own complementary projects like app development.
Am I becoming technically dependent?
In general, there is always some level of dependency in software projects. With internal implementations, the dependency lies with specific skilled employees ("single man risk") or entire IT departments that are often resource-constrained and juggling multiple projects at the same time.
Of course, there is also some dependency on external software. But that's precisely why you should choose your provider carefully. Pay attention to the following points:
- Long-term contracts: Ensure that you sign contracts that offer long-term price stability.
- Focus: Many agencies offer a wide range of solutions, which can be risky. Development often depends on available budgets and may stagnate until new orders come in, making continuous improvement difficult. That’s why you should look for specialists who focus solely on developing one software.
- Other customer experiences: Look at what other companies are using the solution, and talk to them to gain first-hand experiences.
- Financial stability of the provider: Obtain a credit report on the SaaS provider to ensure that the company is financially sound and well-managed.
- Involve the SaaS provider in the platform's success: At Platoyo, we treat our customers' projects as if they were our own. A success-based model secures the necessary resources to achieve long-term success together.
Whether internally or externally, there is always technical dependency in IT. However, if you take the above points into account, this dependency doesn’t have to be harmful.
I want to use Shopware or Shopify with appropriate plugins—does that make sense?
The idea of using Shopware or Shopify with appropriate plugins may seem appealing at first glance. However, in practice, we are not aware of any successful projects where this solution worked. The associated challenges and limitations are detailed in our comprehensive blog post: Where Shopify and Shopware reach their limits.
We want something truly unique—isn’t SaaS just an off-the-shelf solution?
The core requirements for a multi-seller system like an online marketplace are 90% identical in all projects. These include central functions such as:
- Product data import
- Synchronization with ERP systems
- Search and product detail pages
- Provision of legally required information
- Cross-merchant shopping cart
- Returns management and shipment tracking
- Automatic settlement with merchants
- BaFin-compliant cash management
These features are fundamental and highly complex. It doesn’t make sense for everyone to develop these from scratch. It is much more efficient to use a proven solution that provides all these functions while offering comprehensive customization options—such as Platoyo:
- Customization of design and layout with hundreds of configuration options
- Integration of external applications
- Headless usage: You can create your own frontend while our API provides the data
- Custom apps: You have the option to develop your own mobile apps that access the main system via our interface
This way, you get a flexible and scalable solution that can be tailored to your specific requirements without sacrificing essential core functions.
How much does in-house development actually cost?
Quite a lot! We’ve broken down the task blocks and added values based on our experience. You can find the result in our detailed blog post, including a cost table that you can copy and adjust for your own planning: What does it cost to create an online marketplace or multi-shop system?
Conclusion – Why SaaS is the smart solution for your company
Developing your own online marketplace or multi-shop system is tempting but almost never the best path. The high costs, enormous time investment, and technical challenges make it unprofitable for most companies. SaaS solutions like Platoyo offer a scalable, cost-efficient, and powerful alternative that allows you to focus on your core business.
For IT decision-makers and CEOs looking to drive digital transformation, SaaS is the strategically smart choice. It provides flexibility, security, and future-proofing without the need for a million-dollar budget or a large IT department.
🚀 Find the right solution for your business – chat with our experts
With SaaS from Platoyo, you are well-equipped to meet the growing demands of the market and position your company for long-term success with a multi-seller platform, such as an online marketplace or storefinder. Sounds interesting? Just book a call with our team to find out if our Omnichannel platform solution could be the right one for you: Meet Platoyo
