What’s the difference?
Dropship = fulfillment optimization.
Marketplace = long term growth.
Dropship
The purpose of dropshipping is to reduce supply chain complications for a small number of carefully-selected products in core categories. When dropshipping, retailers sell products that are shipped directly from the suppliers, but they retain control over pricing, promotions, and customer service.
Marketplace
The purpose of online marketplaces is to transform a business by significantly scaling online assortment and availability without significantly increasing overhead. When opening a marketplace, retailers sell products that are shipped and priced directly by sellers to gain merchandising agility and scale faster.
Learn why Best Buy Canada does both
Hear how marketplace complements dropship and takes it to the next level.
Dropship vs Marketplace and your revenue potential
Explore how far each model expands your catalog and therefore your revenue potential.
Limitations of dropship
Many retailers utilize a dropship model but could gain greater speed, scale and efficiency by adopting a marketplace mindset.
What’s the real difference between dropship & marketplace? Read more on Mirakl Blog
Marketplace vs Dropship:
Responsibility Comparison
Explore who is responsible for what across the retail value chain.

"With Dropship it means that you’re committed. You’re in control of your assortment, pricing, and promotional strategies, and you need to establish relationships which takes time. With marketplace you can enter new categories and complement existing assortment at a very fast pace, and even enter categories in which you’re not an expert."
Thierry Hay-Sabourin, SVP, eCommerce, Best Buy Canada
Marketplaces are the evolution of dropship
An online marketplace brings the fulfillment savings of dropshipping while quickly scaling the breadth and depth of your offer. Download our eBook.

What’s in the eBook?
- How Dropship and Marketplace work together
- The differences between Dropship and Marketplace sourcing strategies and business impact
- How to best capture the long tail