In today’s digital economy, which model requires onboarding of participants to function as a two-sided marketplace?

• A. Retail Outlet
• B. Marketplace and Platforms
• C. Newsletter Subscriptions
• D. Stand-alone Mobile App

Answer: (B)

Two-sided marketplaces rely on onboarding both sides of the market—the providers who offer goods or services and the customers who want to buy them—to create value and liquidity. Onboarding is the process of inviting, verifying, and enabling these participants so they can list offerings, rate experiences, and complete transactions. When enough sellers and buyers are present, network effects kick in: more sellers attract more buyers because there’s a wider selection, and more buyers attract more sellers because there’s greater demand. Without onboarding, a platform lacks the necessary participants to sustain interactions and transactions, so it won’t function effectively as a marketplace.

A retail outlet is a traditional one-sided setup where the store supplies products to customers directly, without needing a coordinated balance of sellers and buyers. Newsletter subscriptions deliver content to an audience and don’t involve matching separate sides for transactions. A stand-alone mobile app could be anything, but by itself it doesn’t imply the two-sided dynamics of a marketplace unless it actively brings together buyers and sellers.