Online store or marketplace: what to choose in Morocco?
Build your own online store, sell on a marketplace or on social media in Morocco: costs, traffic, payment, delivery and the limits of each model.
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To sell online in Morocco, three models coexist: your own online store, a marketplace, or direct selling on social media. None is better in absolute terms. Here is what each asks of you, what it brings and its limits, including those of a marketplace like Wasal.
The three models
- The online store: your own website, with your own domain name. You manage everything, from the shop window to payment.
- The marketplace: a website that brings several sellers together. It brings visitors, payment and delivery, in exchange for a commission on your sales.
- Social media and messaging: you present your products on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok, and take orders by message.
Comparison
| Online store | Marketplace | Social media | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Getting started | Several weeks: website, payment, delivery, legal notices | Registration and approval of your file | Immediate |
| Start-up cost | Subscription or development, hosting, domain name | Low: commission on sales | Almost zero |
| Visitors | You attract them yourself, often through paid advertising | Brought by the platform | Your audience, plus paid advertising |
| Payment | To integrate: cash on delivery, card via a provider | Provided by the platform | Mostly on delivery, organised by you |
| Delivery | Organised with one or more carriers | Provided or managed by the platform | Organised by you |
| Brand image | Total | Limited to the platform's framework | Strong, but without a structured shop window |
| Customer relationship | Direct, your own customer data | Managed by the platform | Direct, but scattered across messages |
| Rules to follow | Yours, within the law | The platform's, in addition to the law | Each network's, in addition to the law |
The online store
Your website belongs to you: the brand, prices, presentation and customer data are yours. It is an asset that gains value over time.
In return, everything rests on you:
- Attracting visitors. A new website has no traffic. You need search engine optimisation, advertising or an existing audience.
- Getting paid. To accept cards, you need a contract with a payment provider. The law makes you the guarantor of the security of the payment methods offered (Article 35 of Law 31-08).
- Delivering. You choose and pay your carriers, and you handle returns.
- Staying compliant. Your website shows the mandatory distance-selling information (Article 29 of Law 31-08). Your terms and conditions are accessible from the home page (Article 30). Your customer files fall under Law 09-08 on personal data.
These rules are detailed in Legal obligations of online sellers in Morocco.
The marketplace
On a marketplace, you sell as soon as your store is approved. The platform takes care of what is expensive at the start: visitors, payment, delivery and customer service.
This model also has limits, which are worth knowing before you commit:
- A commission on each sale. It must be factored into your price. On Wasal, the rate depends on the product sub-category: check it under My store, Commission tab, and read Commissions and fees explained.
- The platform's rules. Authorised products, processing deadlines, penalties, return policy: you accept them when you register. See Prohibited products on Wasal and SLA and penalties.
- Competition on the same page. Buyers compare your offer with other sellers' in one click. Price and listing quality matter a lot.
- A less visible brand. You exist within the platform's framework, with its presentation and display rules.
- Dependence. If your sales go through a single channel, any change to its rules affects you directly.
On Wasal, delivery is handled only by the logistics provider that Wasal assigns to each order. This is an advantage, since you have nothing to negotiate, but also a constraint: you do not choose your carrier.
Social media
This is the fastest way to start. According to the ANRT ICT survey 2024-2025, the use of social networks "is becoming universal among Moroccan internet users".
The limits appear as volume grows:
- No cart and no order tracking. Everything goes through messages, which are hard to follow beyond a few orders a day.
- Payment and delivery remain to be organised, almost always on delivery.
- Trust has to be built with every new customer, without reviews or a platform framework.
- Direct marketing is regulated. Law 09-08 prohibits direct marketing by email, or by a technology of the same kind, without prior consent (Article 10). Sending promotions to contacts who have not agreed to it exposes you to this prohibition.
Social media remains an excellent channel for bringing customers to your store, whether on your own website or on a marketplace. See Increase your products' visibility.
Combining channels
Many sellers use several channels at once. The risk is then selling a product that is already out of stock elsewhere.
Do you already have a store on Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, Magento, Odoo, YouCan or Wix? The Seller Portal offers connectors, in beta. They sync your catalogue with Wasal without any development. For an ERP or a custom website, the Partner API plays the same role. See Connect your system to Wasal via API.
How to choose
You are starting out, with no audience or advertising budget: start with a marketplace, and use your social media to send your first customers there.
You already have a loyal community: social media and an online store showcase your brand. A marketplace introduces you to other buyers.
You have an established brand and a team: your own website becomes central. A marketplace remains a complementary volume channel.
Whatever your choice, do the full calculation: cost price, commission or acquisition cost, delivery and returns. The method is in Define your pricing strategy.
If the marketplace suits you, registering on Wasal is free: submit your seller application.
Going further
Related reading
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