Everything you need to start, and grow, a marketplace.

Latest from the university

• Getting Started

  August 1, 2026

  Your First 30 Days: A Launch Checklist for a New Marketplace

  From describing your idea to going live under your own brand — a practical week-by-week checklist for launching a hyper-local marketplace.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  Advantages of Offering a Customer Wallet

  A digital wallet cuts checkout friction, speeds up repeat purchases, and gives you cleaner data on how customers spend.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  All You Need to Know About Tier-Based Loyalty Programs

  What tiered loyalty programs are, why they outperform flat ones, and how brands like Amex and Uber structure their tiers.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  Andy's Loyalty Program Teardown: The Yum-Squad

  A look inside Andy's Frozen Custard's Yum-Squad loyalty program: how points, rewards, and the mobile app fit together.

• Commissions & Pricing

  August 1, 2026

  Commission vs. Subscription: Which Pricing Model Fits Your Marketplace?

  Take a cut of every sale, or charge vendors a flat fee to participate — the two models solve different problems.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  Digital Loyalty Programs: A Very Effective Tool for Customer Retention

  Retaining a customer costs a fraction of acquiring one — here's why digital loyalty programs are one of the highest-leverage ways to do it.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  How Chipotle's Rewards Points System Works

  10 points per dollar, 1,250 for a free meal — how Chipotle's rewards points system works, and how it grew alongside their online ordering platform.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  Chick-fil-A, McDonald's & Chipotle: Fast Food Loyalty Tiers Compared

  Chick-fil-A's four-tier system, McDonald's flat rewards, and Chipotle's simple points — how three fast food giants structure their loyalty programs differently.

• Getting Started

  August 1, 2026

  How to Choose the Right Marketplace to Build

  Digital, physical, or service-based — how to pick the marketplace type that actually fits the opportunity in front of you.

• Customer Experience

  August 1, 2026

  How to Convert Guest Checkout Customers Into Registered Customers

  Guest checkout is convenient, but an unregistered customer is a customer you can't retain. Five ways to convert them.

• Referrals & Word of Mouth

  August 1, 2026

  How to Design and Promote Referral Programs for Best Results

  Referral programs turn existing customers into an acquisition channel. Here's how to design one and get it in front of people.

• Commissions & Pricing

  August 1, 2026

  How to Set Your Marketplace Commission Rate

  Too high and vendors won't join. Too low and the business doesn't work. Here's how to actually land on a number.

• Cold Outreach

  August 1, 2026

  How to Write a Cold Outreach Message Vendors Actually Reply To

  Most vendor cold outreach gets ignored because it reads like a form letter. Here's how to write the kind that gets a reply.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  Marriott Bonvoy Loyalty Program: Tiers & Points Explained

  How Marriott Bonvoy's six elite tiers, points earning, and redemption options work across 7,000+ hotels.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  Panera Bread Teardown: MyPanera

  No points, no tiers — just visits. How Panera's MyPanera program and $8.99 coffee subscription drove a 200% jump in visit frequency.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  Sephora Teardown: Beauty Insider

  17 million members, 80% of Sephora's sales — how Beauty Insider turned tiers, points, and emotional connection into retail's benchmark loyalty program.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  Starbucks Teardown: Starbucks Rewards

  25 million members and a birthday reward on day one — how Starbucks Rewards turned simple star-earning into one of retail's stickiest programs.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  Sweetgreen's Sweetpass Loyalty Program Teardown

  Sweetgreen ditched points for Sweetpass — gamified challenges, referral credit, and app-only rewards. Here's exactly how it works.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  The 10 Loyalty Program Types

  From punch cards to paid memberships to coalition programs — the ten loyalty program models, and how to pick the right one.

• Customer Experience

  August 1, 2026

  The Advantages of Increasing Your Business Hours

  E-commerce trained customers to expect round-the-clock access. Here's what extending your hours actually buys you.

• Customer Experience

  August 1, 2026

  The Cost of Missed Calls

  A missed call isn't a neutral event — it's lost revenue, wasted staff time, and a dent in how customers see your brand.

• Customer Experience

  August 1, 2026

  The Importance of Meeting Customer Expectations for Response and Delivery

  Nine in ten customers walk after poor service. Here's what fast response and delivery actually buy a business.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  The North Face XPLR Pass Loyalty Program Teardown

  The North Face replaced VIPeaks with XPLR Pass — a points program built around trail check-ins, sustainability, and early gear access.

• Customer Experience

  August 1, 2026

  The Power of Customization

  90% of consumers favor businesses that personalize, and 68% will pay more for it. Here's what customization actually earns you.

• Customer Experience

  August 1, 2026

  The Power of the Customer List

  A customer list is more than contact info — it's the foundation for targeting, personalization, and measurable growth.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  The Psychological Aspects of Loyalty Programs

  Loyalty programs work through operant conditioning, not luck — here's the psychology behind why rewards actually change behavior.

• Customer Experience

  August 1, 2026

  The Psychology of Free Delivery

  45% of shoppers abandon carts over shipping costs — why 'free delivery' moves purchase decisions more than the price tag itself.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  The Value of Gift Cards

  Gift cards aren't just a nice-to-have at checkout — they front-load cash flow, drive repeat visits, and bring in new customers.

• Referrals & Word of Mouth

  August 1, 2026

  How to Turn Your First Customers Into Your Referral Engine

  A new marketplace's first real growth channel usually isn't ads — it's the small group of customers who already like it.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  What Is a Headless Loyalty Program?

  A headless loyalty program separates the rewards engine — points, tiers, redemption — from the frontend, so you can build it into any app or site.

• Cold Outreach

  August 1, 2026

  Where to Find Your First Vendors (Before You Have Any Customers)

  You don't need a big audience to land your first vendors — you need the right handful of places to look.

• Loyalty & Retention

  August 1, 2026

  8 Benefits of Loyalty Programs for Businesses

  From reducing churn to boosting profitability, here's what a well-run loyalty program actually does for a business.