Services · Mobile app development · Online marketplace apps

Marketplace platforms built in the capital, for founders and groups selling at scale.

Codeeo delivers marketplace app development in Riyadh for startups, retail groups and corporate buyers who need a platform where many vendors sell and the operator earns a commission. Riyadh is where most Saudi marketplace founders raise money, where large companies and ministries run procurement, and where our own team works. We build the vendor portal, the commission engine, split settlement, dispute resolution and vendor ratings, and we can run the key workshops face to face at our Riyadh office.

A marketplace succeeds when both sides keep coming back. That depends on rules people trust: who gets in, what they pay, when they are paid and who decides when something goes wrong. Those rules are what we build first.

Built for
Marketplace founders, retail groups and B2B procurement platforms based in Riyadh and the Central Region.
Typical timeline
Fixed after a discovery phase that settles vendor rules, payment provider and launch categories, then recorded in the scope before design starts.
What you own
The codebase, app store accounts, vendor and admin portals, settlement and commission records, and every buyer and vendor record, all in your name.
Rated
4.7 / 5 from 23 Google reviews

200+ companies servedFrom a first store to an ADX listed developer

Modon
Majid Al Futtaim
HP
Belkin
Dulsco Group
OneClickDrive
Hanayen
HMS
Clocksprings
Ghezlan

Platform building blocks

Ten pieces most Riyadh marketplaces end up needing.

Riyadh marketplaces tend to be ambitious from day one. Founders are often backed by investors who expect clear marketplace metrics, retail groups want third party sellers without damaging their own brand, and corporate buyers in districts such as Olaya and KAFD expect procurement controls before they will order. That shapes the list below, which mixes vendor tools, money flows and the reporting a board or investor will ask for. The first release rarely needs everything; we usually pick the five or six pieces that prove your model and plan the rest into later releases. For a team weighing multi-vendor marketplace app development in Riyadh, the main lesson is that the hidden work sits behind the buyer app: the vendor portal and the operations dashboard usually take more effort than the screens customers see, and they decide whether the platform can grow past its first hundred vendors.

Explain your project
  • Vendor self service portal

    Vendors register, upload documents, manage listings and stock, accept orders, print shipping labels and track payouts from a web portal that also works on a phone. Bulk upload by spreadsheet or API saves large vendors from typing thousands of products by hand. Staff accounts let a vendor give warehouse and sales colleagues their own logins.

    Vendors run their own shop and your team stops doing data entry.

  • Business verification

    Commercial registration, VAT number, national address and bank account in the company name are collected and checked before approval. Automated registration lookups can be added through Wathq, and individual sellers can be verified through Nafath where your model allows them.

    Every vendor is a known, traceable business.

  • Commission and fee engine

    Percentage commission, fixed listing fees, subscription plans for vendors and paid promotion slots can all be combined. Rules vary by category, vendor plan and campaign, and every fee shows on the vendor statement with the order it came from.

    Several revenue lines without spreadsheet reconciliation.

  • Split settlement and payouts

    Checkout takes mada, Apple Pay, STC Bank, cards and buy now pay later options through a SAMA licensed provider that supports split payments. Commission is separated at source, vendor balances move from pending to available after your release rule, and payouts go out on a fixed cycle.

    Clean money flows that auditors and vendors can both follow.

  • Corporate procurement accounts

    Companies set up one account with many users, budgets per department, approval chains and purchase order references. Approved orders flow to vendors automatically and invoices go to the finance contact. This is the core of B2B marketplace app development in Riyadh, where buyers are offices, hospitals, schools and contractors.

    Large Riyadh organisations can buy through your platform within their own controls.

  • Dispute resolution workflow

    Cases open from the order with reason codes and evidence, move through vendor response and escalation stages with deadlines, and end in a recorded decision that triggers the refund, replacement or release of funds. Your operations team works from a queue sorted by deadline, sees the full order and message history in one place, and can apply standard outcomes for common cases such as items not received.

    Every conflict has a clear owner, deadline and outcome.

  • Vendor ratings and trust score

    Buyers rate completed orders. The platform combines ratings with cancellation rate, late dispatch and dispute losses into a trust score that drives search position, badges and payout speed. Vendors see their own score and the reasons behind it, which turns ratings into a coaching tool rather than a mystery.

    Reliable vendors grow faster and weak ones are visible early.

  • Sponsored listings

    Vendors buy placement in search and category pages with a daily budget, clearly marked as sponsored. Ranking still weighs relevance and trust score, so a poor vendor cannot simply buy the top position. Vendors see impressions, clicks and orders from each campaign in their portal, and spend is deducted from their balance. It gives the platform a second income line once traffic is steady.

    Advertising revenue on top of commission.

  • ZATCA compliant invoicing

    Commission invoices to vendors and, where your model requires it, sales invoices to buyers are generated from order data and passed to an e-invoicing solution that meets Fatoora requirements. Credit notes follow refunds automatically. Whether you act as agent or principal changes who issues which invoice, so your tax adviser confirms the model and we configure the platform to match it.

    Invoicing keeps pace with order volume without a manual backlog.

  • Marketplace health dashboard

    Gross order value, take rate, repeat buyers, active vendors, dispute rate and payout timing in one view, with exports for your board or investors. Figures can be filtered by category, vendor cohort and district, so you can see whether north Riyadh buyers behave differently from those in the south, or whether vendors who joined in your founding programme still perform a year later.

    You can answer investor questions from live data.

Who this is for

Four Riyadh teams we build marketplaces for.

Riyadh produces more marketplace ideas than any other Saudi city, from vertical startups to corporate procurement platforms. As online marketplace app developers in Riyadh, we find that the right first release depends far more on who sells and who buys than on the category. These are the four teams we meet most often and what we would build first for each.

01

A funded founder with a vertical marketplace

You have an idea for one category, such as furniture, auto parts, event suppliers or second hand electronics, and investors who want proof. The first release covers vendor onboarding, listings, checkout, split payouts, ratings and a simple dispute flow, plus the health dashboard. We keep scope tight so you reach real transactions quickly and spend the next round on what buyers actually use. We also make sure the data model supports features you will want later, such as subscriptions or sponsored listings, so they do not force a rebuild.

Investors fund traction, not feature lists.

02

A retail group opening to third party sellers

You have a strong brand, a customer base and an app, and you want to extend the range with outside sellers. We add a vendor portal, commission rules and seller fulfilment beside your own stock, with clear seller labels so customers know who they buy from. Your brand standards are enforced through listing moderation and minimum service levels for vendors. Your loyalty programme can extend to third party purchases, with the cost shared between you and vendors under rules you set.

03

A B2B procurement platform

You want to connect suppliers with Riyadh companies and institutions that buy office supplies, cleaning products, IT equipment or maintenance parts. The platform needs corporate accounts, approval chains, quotation requests, contract pricing, credit terms and invoices that suit finance departments. Consumer features are not needed at all in the first release. Supplier onboarding gets extra care, because procurement teams often require evidence such as registration, VAT status and product certificates before they will buy.

Procurement buyers judge you on controls, not design.

04

An events and services supplier marketplace

Riyadh hosts large seasonal events, conferences and exhibitions that need stage hire, catering, staffing and equipment from many small suppliers. A marketplace lets organisers compare suppliers, book with deposits and rate them afterwards. The build focuses on availability calendars, deposits held through split payments and ratings tied to each event. Cancellation rules and deposit refunds need careful design, because a supplier who withdraws a day before an event causes far more damage than a late parcel.

Our six stage path for Riyadh marketplace builds.

  1. 01In person discoveryWorkshops at our Riyadh office or yours map buyers, vendors, money flows and market rules. Founders, finance and operations are in the same room, which settles most disagreements early.
  2. 02Model and metricsWe agree how the platform earns, what counts as success and which numbers the dashboard must show, so the build serves the business case from the start.
  3. 03Prototype with real vendorsA clickable prototype of the vendor portal and buyer app is tested with a handful of target vendors and buyers before code is written.
  4. 04Build in sprintsBuyer app, vendor portal and admin are built in short sprints with a demo at the end of each, in person or by video, so you see progress weekly.
  5. 05Settlement rehearsalBefore launch we run test orders through every payment, commission, refund and payout path with your finance team and the payment provider.
  6. 06Launch and scaleVendors are onboarded in waves, the apps go live in the stores and we keep improving from marketplace data on a retainer or with a dedicated team.

Technology

What we build this with.

We select technology to suit your expected vendor and order volume, payment provider and any ERP or accounting system already in place, keeping the stack familiar enough that your future hires can work on it.

01Mobile

  • Swift
  • Kotlin
  • Flutter
  • React Native

02Data and cloud

  • PostgreSQL
  • MySQL
  • MongoDB
  • AWS
  • Azure
  • Docker

03Marketing and tracking

  • GA4
  • Google Tag Manager
  • Search Console
  • Meta Pixel
  • Looker Studio

Questions Riyadh founders and groups ask us.

Yes, our Riyadh team can run workshops in person.

Discovery workshops, design reviews and launch planning can take place at our Riyadh office or at yours. Engineers in Dubai and Karachi join by video, so you meet the people building the product. Many founders like the first two or three sessions in person, when the market rules and business model are still being argued out, then move to video for weekly sprint demos. Wherever the meeting happens, decisions are written up the same day and shared with everyone involved.

Tell us what the business needs. We will tell you what to build first.

Schedule a free consultation and get a written recommendation, with costs, before you commit to anything.

Get in touch

PROVEN RESULTS

4.7 / 5from 23 Google reviews