A directory is not a marketplace.
Early marketplace playbooks focused on aggregation: bring supply into one place, attract demand, and take a fee when the two sides meet. That still works in some categories. In many others, discovery is no longer the hard part.
A buyer might need financing. A supplier might need help with delivery or insurance. If those things are missing, finding each other won't be enough to get the deal done.
What stops the customer from transacting?
Start with that question. Adding software only makes sense if it helps the customer do something they need to do. Does it show availability, handle a payment, verify a supplier, or take work off someone's plate?
What the plus can be.
Software can be the starting point.
One way to start is with software a supplier can use before you bring them a single customer. A scheduling tool, for example, can help them run their business and give you the availability data needed for bookings. AI may reduce some of the manual work, but you still have to give buyers a reason to show up.
I want to know why someone who uses the software would also transact through you. That part doesn't happen automatically.
How I evaluate Marketplace+.
- Does the product make the transaction meaningfully better?
- Does product usage create a path to proprietary supply or demand?
- Does the marketplace improve the software, or are they two unrelated products?
- Does each transaction produce data that improves pricing, trust, or matching?
- Can the company start narrow enough to build density?