Marketplace Apps
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By Daniel Abebe, co-founder of HuggyStudio
Marketplaces connect multiple sellers of goods or services with buyers. Most of the time, a marketplace is created to bring more transparency into a market or make the buying process more efficient. While they can differ vastly from managed marketplaces to niche and B2B marketplaces, the standard business model is to capture value from each transaction. Famous examples include Airbnb, Amazon, Upwork, AliExpress.
In this guide, we take you through the creation of the data structure for a home rental marketplace like Airbnb.
If you are not familiar with Airbnb, here is a quick introduction into our use case with an overview of the basic functionality:
Airbnb is a leading online marketplace that connects people who want to rent out their homes with travelers who are looking for an accommodation.
Basic functionality includes:
For both homeowners and travelers
Signup / Login for homeowners and travelers
Edit profile information
For homeowners
Upload/edit place (Pictures, Address, Price, Description, Amenities, …)
Set place availability / unavailability
Manage bookings
Receive ratings
Messaging with travelers who booked the place
For travelers
Discover and filter places based on location, type of place, price, rating, amenities and/or facilities
Book a place
Message with the homeowner after booking the place
Rate place
Users will upload and edit places. On the other hand, users will book and rate places. A messaging function will be possible for each booking. Places need to hold structured data so that users can easily filter places based on different criteria like price, location, type of places, …
Good to know: In our use case, bookings are immediate and do not require a confirmation by the homeowner.
The Data Type “User” is by default already available on Bubble.io. It helps you handle user authentication. Both sides of our marketplace (homeowners AND travelers) are users. In our example, the same user can upload places and/or book a place.
email (text) - this is a built-in field, i.e. it’s already there for you
Modified date (date) - also a built-in field
Created date (date) - also a built-in field
Slug (text) - also a built-in field
First name (text)
Last name (text)
My trips (list of Bookings): Bookings made by the user (as a traveler)
Admin? (yes/no): this defines the users who can access the platform’s admin dashboard where you can approve new places or review the overall platform activity. For your information, this is not a standard Bubble page - this page also needs to be built.
This User is Current User
View all fields (checked)
Find this in search (checked)
View attached files (checked)
Allow auto-binding (unchecked)
Everyone else
View all fields (unchecked)
First name (checked) → Our marketplace only displays the user’s first name, the last name is hidden.
My places (checked)
Find this in search (unchecked)
Allow auto-binding (unchecked)
This Data Type is used to manage all data related to a property on our home rental marketplace. A User can upload multiple places.
Creator (User, built-in)
Modified date (date, built-in)
Created date (date, built-in)
Slug (text, built-in)
Title (text): Name of the place like “Beautiful house in the mountains”
Description (text): Description to get more information about the place
Price/night in USD (number)
Pictures (list of images)
Number of beds (number)
Number of guests max (number)
Bookings (list of Bookings): All bookings made for this place are saved back in this list to keep track of the place performance and availability. It also helps to pull all relevant data faster for the homeowner.
Unavailability (list of date ranges): In our use case, we assume a place is always available except if a new unavailability was added to this list. This is a more scalable approach than requiring the homeowner to enter availability each month.
No privacy rules required as Users need all information when browsing through or searching for places. Even the Bookings should be visible so that Users can see the ratings and the actual Place Availability. Under the Data Type “Booking”, we will add Privacy Rules to make sure only public information is accessible.
Depending on the experience you want to offer to your Homeowners when creating/editing their place, you could create a Privacy Rule just for allowing auto-binding to homeowners. With a “Save” button, auto-binding is not necessary.
The Data Type “Booking” is used to manage all data related to a booking on our home rental marketplace. A User can make several bookings of different places over their lifetime.
Creator (User, built-in)
Modified date (date, built-in)
Created date (date, built-in)
Slug (text, built-in)
Homeowner (User): We can assume the creator of a place is the homeowner. Anyhow, by adding this “Homeowner” field, we have more flexibility when it comes to HOW a place is created. As an example, admins will be able to create a flat and simply add the rightful homeowner.
Booked place (Place): We connect the booking back to the place to avoid orphaned entries (a booking with no place)
Date range (date range): This will indicate the check-in and check-out of this trip.
Number of nights (number): The number of nights is already available when we extract that information from the booking date range. Anyhow, saving it as a separate value will make it easier to display or calculate total costs for example.
Total costs in USD (number)
Chat (list of Messages): A chat is as simple as a list of messages that show chronologically. As a chat is only relevant to a booking, we store this list of messages directly under the booking.
Rating stars (number): As a rating is connected to a single booking, we store the value directly under the booking.
Rating comment (text): Same as rating stars.
This Booking’s creator is Current User OR This Booking’s Homeowner is Current User
View all fields (checked)
Find this in search (checked)
View attached files (checked)
Allow auto-binding (unchecked)
Everyone else
View all fields (unchecked)
Creator (checked)
Date range (checked)
Rating starts (checked)
Rating comment (checked)
Find this in search (unchecked)
Allow auto-binding (unchecked)
The Data Type “Message” is used to store text messages sent between users. A message doesn’t need to hold much information besides its content as it is stored in a list of messages under the booking already. This booking holds all relevant information like users in the chat, the booking dates and the specific place this chat is about.
Creator (User, built-in)
Modified date (date, built-in)
Created date (date, built-in)
Slug (text, built-in)
Text message (text)
Booking chat (Booking): We link this message back to the booking to avoid orphaned messages (a message saved in the database with no link to a booking chat). This also makes it possible to create privacy rules linking back to the booking.
This Message’s creator is Current User OR This Message’s Booking’s Homeowner is Current User
View all fields (checked)
Find this in search (checked)
View attached files (checked)
Allow auto-binding (unchecked)
Everyone else
No permission
Entire place
Private room
Shared room
Hotel room
“Type of place” is a classic example of an option set. We use options to store different predefined types. Those types rarely change and users are not asked to create new types.
Good to know: We can also use a standard Data Type for “Type of place”. The rule of thumb is that if users do not have to create entries themselves, an option set is a better choice as it improves the app performance.
In review
Approved
Rejected
Similar to a “Type of place”, a “Place status” is another good example of an option set. We use options to store different predefined statuses. Those statuses rarely change and users are not asked to create new statuses.
Wifi
Heating
TV
Air conditioning
Indoor fireplace
Washer
…
We use option sets to standardize the amenities. Users should not be able to enter free text and create new amenities. This helps avoid fantasy amenities or duplicates. It also makes filtering places easier.
Free parking
Gym
Pool
Hot tub
Similar to amenities, we use option sets to standardize the facilities. Users should not be able to enter free text and create new facilities. This helps avoid fantasy facilities or duplicates. It also makes filtering places easier.
When naming your options sets, data types and fields, we recommend using simple terms you will remember over time. Also, avoid repetition in your names as it will make it difficult to work efficiently when building your workflows. Finally, keep in mind that working with data is an ongoing process. Start small, adjust when necessary and improve as your product grows in terms of users and/or complexity.
My places (list of Places): Places uploaded by the user for rent; see on linking data types
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