Frequently Asked Questions
Arcadier has been in business for close to a decade and our focus has been in marketplace software, we have developed fit for purpose marketplace features and have over the course of our business developed many advanced features and system infrastructures to support marketplace build of any type. We do have a number of Enterprise-Grade clients past and present who have used the Arcadier system.
Because we need to support the need for complex customization, we have created a suite of APIs and developer resources to support customization and also established a strong group of accredited Expert Partners from across the world who are well versed in our platform to help you with your customization requirements.
Arcadier understands that COA (Certificate of Analysis) and COO (Certificate of Origin) are both critical in certifying a product. They are requirements expected from B2B buyers, given the complexities of international trade.
We have catered for the flows in our availability package which limits items that can be viewed by buyers from certain origins. Our item vetting process and vendor vetting process were developed with the United Nations implementation previously. We are thus able to design this unique process with our Enterprise clients.
Arcadier also has close ties with a solution that undertakes in global supply chain orchestration, and we typically work closely with them to develop a smooth process on the logistics front.
Unfortunately, as a default position, Arcadier does not sign an NDA at the beginning of any engagement. Having been involved in many past projects, we have heard many variations of marketplace projects which places us in a difficult position.
An NDA will only be involved if there is a compelling need for us to do so, or the project has progressed to an agreement with both parties reaching a mutual consent that a document in place is necessary.
However, to emphasize further, Arcadier recognizes that confidentiality is important in our business and we would like to reassure clients that their information will not be disclosed in any way. Our Software License Agreement has "Confidential Information" clauses within to protect both parties.
Arcadier has offices in 5 locations - Singapore, London, United States, Sydney, and Manila. Our customer base is global, with 25% of our users residing in North America.
Arcadier was founded in 2013 and we are now one of the world's leading marketplace platforms. We have seen close to 15,000 users-built marketplaces on our platform across 180+ countries.
Our intention is to become a global leading technology company that not only aims to create optimized or complex marketplace experiences for clients but also ensures that communities are connected with pre- and post-launch technology and business support services. In other words, we intend to be around for a very long time.
Yes, we do. Arcadier provides front-end templates as well.
However, it is ultimately up to our client to choose the appropriate deployment relevant to them based on the timeline and specific requirements of their front-end.
Our APIs are public and the documentation can be found here.
As Arcadier is a Software-as-a-Service (SAAS) company, we will sign a software license agreement with our client first.
Fees will be a monthly flat fee or a hybrid of a lowered flat fee, along with a clip of the transaction.
All Arcadier Enterprise packages are SaaS, meaning that we host and maintain the marketplace for our clients. The key difference would be the hosting infrastructure that suits the respective clients' needs.
The Rapid package is usually sufficient for most Enterprise clients. However, clients in the financial industry or financial institution usually lean towards the Standalone package as their servers need to be completely segregated for legal reasons.
This would not be our default suggestion as it means that clients would be purchasing a perpetual license from Arcadier. As it is not our servers, we will not have access to the marketplace to provide any form of additional support, service, or assistance on any new feature updates. However, Arcadier is always open to discuss this possibility.
Integration support is typically provided via our Expert Partners, a growing list of digital agencies and software implementers.
Platform management services can range from having Arcadier set up a specialized team to manage the marketplace for our clients (e.g. customer service, vendor onboarding, etc.) to providing training for clients' teams to use the deployed platform.
Arcadier provides a list of Expert Partners who are well versed with the Arcadier Platform, which Enterprise clients may choose from. Otherwise, they can bring their own development team.
Anyone can easily develop on Arcadier's platform as long as they are well versed with REST APIs.
Quite often, the first level of support will be provided to Expert Partners encountering technical issues. However, all Arcadier Enterprise clients will be assigned to an Account Manager from Arcadier who will support them throughout their time with us.
Arcadier also has an issue reporting process, especially for bugs. This will be solved accordingly to our Service Level Agreement depending on urgency.
We have a full Arcadier Developer Resource Centre which includes Tutorials, APIs, Sample Codes, access to our Github Repository, and Postman Repository. Any developer who understands REST APIs can develop easily.
The Arcadier system does not use any pre-existing CMS and has been built from the ground up. It has been built using ASP.net, SQL Server, .net framework, node.js, and C#, and makes use of locally installed server applications, web-based applications, and client-side code.
Our standard marketplace web-fronts are mobile responsive web-based. Enterprise clients can easily develop the marketplace into an Apple or Android App using our APIs. However, they will require a mobile developer to do so.
Arcadier has a list of development partners which we refer to as Expert Partners. Our Expert Partners are familiar with Arcadier's solutions, and we usually recommend clients to our curated list of expert partners. Alternatively, clients can source/engage in their own inhouse team.
No, Arcadier will just be charging for software license hosting and maintenance fees.
Arcadier is flexible with the payment structure. Clients can pay us separately or have the billing to go to one party e.g. Arcadier or the Expert Partner. We can also solve the billing internally between the Expert Partner. However, if clients bring their own partner instead, they would then need to figure out the process or structure that works best for everyone.
It depends on the customization work that is required.
To support the customization required in some cases, Arcadier will collaborate with our Expert Partners in developing a new set of codes or APIs. In that sense, Arcadier will be involved in part of the customization as well.
Our Expert Partners usually take the lead in scoping the project with Enterprise clients. However, Arcadier will still be present to support whenever possible.
Arcadier currently uses Azure as our hosting provider, and we employ local instances where required. Our solution can be set up on another server just for Enterprise clients if required. Contact us for more information regarding different packages for different hosting needs.
If the chosen solution by clients is Enterprise Dedicated or Solo, security can be tailored to their bespoke compliance needs. Arcadier has experience in doing so, up till bank grade.
If the chosen solution is on our shared servers, they are pen tested, hardened, and live inside the ISO27001 service of Microsoft Azure.
Yes, Arcadier allows sellers to specify pick-up as one of their fulfillment options. The seller may specify more than 1 pick-up way by creating another delivery type, though it might be worth understanding the flow of how a pick-up is arranged currently on our Enterprise client's end.
Yes, our platform supports SSO.
Arcadier does not collect such data for our company's use - functions as a data processor for our enterprise clients. Our Enterprise clients, who are also marketplace owners, have the ability to collect and define the data for every listing uploaded in its respective category via custom fields on Arcadier.
Yes, Arcadier supports all ISO 639-1 languages. Locales are typically enabled with (i) languages and (ii) payment gateways of that locale, which can be easily integrated with our clients' Arcadier deployment as needed.
Arcadier has an integration with Google translate. This allows our clients to partake in a one-time pull against their APIS at a charge to their card on a Google developer account.
Enterprise clients may want to consider Google Cloud's translation services. Click here to view their prices.
Analytics, tracking, and reporting are possible with Arcadier because we store all data threads that happen in the marketplace. They can be displayed and visualized the way clients would like with our APIs.
Arcadier provides a couple of simple tools for tracking and visualizing off-the-shelf user data. This is coupled with a report revealing total sales, top viewed items, top-selling items for both the marketplace operator, and for 3rd party vendors. We also equip clients with a marketplace report generator plug-in and an integration with google analytics to analyze site footfall.
These tools along with the respective sample code provided can also be utilized as development building blocks for a much more sophisticated report generator or integrations with enterprise visualization tools. Additionally, marketplace data can be deleted as a CSV for any further manipulation users cannot achieve with what they have on hand.
If the inventory management or payment system has the ability to connect with APIs, Arcadier is definitely able to integrate into those systems.
While Arcadier has a full suite of user-friendly APIs that can connect to most systems, do note that some legacy systems are without APIs and are not able to connect to other systems easily.
This is achievable. However, customization is required to allow a perpetually different price to be displayed for particular buyers/tiers of buyers. That said, suppliers have the ability to define a one-off special quote for a particular buyer whom they are already in conversation with.
At the Enterprise Package level, Arcadier supports the extraction of data for clients and helps compile it in our client's desired format.
The availability of an item always takes place in real-time when the 3rd party supplier's inventory is listed on Arcadier, as every sale on the system decrements the item. If the supplier makes changes to the price and saves it thereafter, it would be reflected immediately by default in Arcadier.
While integration is possible, this necessity depends on our clients' need to integrate to Jaegger/Ariba/Oracle of their 3rd party sellers based on their reliance on these systems. This is also because Arcadier has its own PIM and source-to-pay system, which clients and their 3rd party sellers can tap on if they do not require the complexity of the aforementioned software.
If vendors provide their data quickly and cleanly, onboarding them would be a factor of days. It could be reduced to hours if clients develop a bulk-upload plug-in tool on Arcadier after their categories and fields have been set. They can then proceed to have vendors self-board (or them in the onboarding process).
Yes, they would have their own seller portals where they can manage their seller front.
Currently, most deployments leave the responsibility in the hands of 3rd party suppliers as the logistics network is not managed by them. The responsibility for returns is likely a business decision on the Client's part and is also dependent on their internal appetite for managing this process. On Arcadier's end, we believe that our flows can be customized to reflect a return process.
Yes, such plug-ins have been built for specific clients before. Our clients' sellers will usually be the ones creating the coupons that only apply to the items that have been uploaded.
Coupon codes tend to be slightly different in the user-flow, from implementation to implementation. However, Arcadier has a sample code of how the different implementations of coupon codes would complement and work with our platform.
Arcadier does not have a pre-built loyalty system as our clients usually have a loyalty or rewards system they already use.
However, we can integrate into Enterprise clients' existing system or to a 3rd party system that specializes in the loyalty systems our clients are using. Consequently, it will require a scoping exercise to understand the user flows required.
Sellers have the ability to change the status of an order, though it is important to note that the actual fund flows for clients marketplace will determine who has the ability to process the refund.
If the desire is for the 3rd party supplier/vendor to be the merchant of record, it would mean that they would have control of the refund from their payment gateway. However, if Enterprise Clients charge a commission, they will be the ones with the ability to refund that portion of payment).
Yes, there are 2 options for a bulk upload feature:
- Building a private plugin for bulk upload on one's respective marketplace
- Engaging Arcadier for bulk upload services - Arcadier provides bulk upload services for a certain fee. Marketplace categories and custom fields structure have to be finalized before engaging in the service.
Arcadier is built to be self-serviced. As long as an individual is able to upload an image, type words into the respective fields, and select from a dropdown menu, they would generally be able to use the default merchant experience we provide. However, this merchant experience can also be modified by a developer into a user-experience that simplifies the process if further desired.
Arcadier can be integrated with Shipping aggregators. We have established and maintained our existing relationship with Shippo from the US and would be able to work with them for integration.
While we do not have pre-integration, this differs from client to client.
Arcadier allows merchants to define their own shipping prices alongside variations like weight and price. However, clients can also integrate with a logistics provider that matches their own pricing table.
Arcadier currently manages by enabling the user to continually attach documents from the requisition to the purchase order, and then to the invoice that follows the same order number through.
Arcadier has pre-integrations with Stripe and PayPal. We also have a generic payment connector that allows marketplace implementations to integrate payment gateways of their choice.
This is highly variable according to what payment gateway our clients choose to integrate with. They could end up with multiple ways of how a vendor receives his/her funds.
A typical payment gateway has modules that enable manual disbursement of funds to vendors and this is done so by adding them to the disbursement module in a payment gateway. Alternatively, other gateways automatically send funds directly to the merchants on the conclusion of a checkout, meaning that gateway control over the disbursed funds is being given away. This is often within 14 days. Clients might also want to integrate with a gateway specifically meant for bank transfers.
Both are possible models depending on respective use cases. It is up to the client to find the payment gateway most relevant or appropriate to them.
Payment flows are for Enterprise clients to decide. Arcadier does not handle the payment side as this role is fulfilled by the payment gateway. Acadier has the ability to match clients with the right partner or clients may already have an existing payment gateway that they want to utilize.
The Arcadier system does store any credit card information on a marketplace. Arcadier also does not need to be PCI compliant as the checklist required to complete credit card details are all integrations to the payment gateway, and the payment gateways capture the information.
Yes, vendors can be the seller of record. They would just need to have the payment gateway sending payment directly to the merchant. Arcadier currently has that flow pre-integrated through Stripe Connect.
Arcadier does not store credit card tokens. These are encrypted via SSL on the payment gateway’s interfaces, and they are the ones who store credit card information of the customers.
Yes, we do. The marketplace operator is able to set commission rates and receive commissions based on each transaction.
An invoice is generated by the 3rd party supplier once the PO has been sent to them. Data from the PO will then be copied over into the invoice.
Arcadier does not have an integration with a tax engine currently. However, we are partners with Avalara, and our clients could most definitely work with our Expert Partners if they are comfortable with it.
That said, we are able to support any form of tax regime with our APIs.