Context
An industry network already has relationships with manufacturers and wholesalers. The hard part is not “building a website” — it is digitizing trade while preserving trust and settlement clarity.
Operating design
Supply side
- Manufacturers and wholesalers as vendors
- Category taxonomy aligned to fabric / product types
- Bulk-friendly catalog attributes (width, GSM, MOQ)
Demand side
- Retailers and distributors as buyers
- Inquiry-friendly PDP patterns where pure self-serve checkout is premature
Marketplace layer
- Commission on completed orders (or hybrid subscription + commission)
- Admin approvals for new vendors from the association
Lessons that transfer
- Start with the network you already have — software accelerates it; it does not invent it.
- Settlement clarity beats feature count — vendors leave when payouts feel opaque.
- Industry language in the catalog matters more than generic ecommerce filters.