March 2021 agricultural “platforms” in a digital era

THE IMPORTANCE OF A FAVORABLE ENABLING ECOSYSTEM: 
LESSONS FROM INDIA AND KENYA (CONTINUED)
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(2020). Mobile Connectivity Index. 
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; World Bank (2020). World Development Indicators. “Global Financial 
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Understanding emerging types
of agricultural marketplaces
As the number of product and service marketplaces 
grows, so does the complexity of the market. This under-
scores the need for a new taxonomy that helps stakehold-
ers understand the unique characteristics of different 
marketplace types. To that end, we distinguish first at a 
very basic level between product, service, or integrated 
marketplaces. Differentiating between products and 
services is particularly important when it comes to 
digital marketplaces because services do not require 
a physical exchange of goods. This lessens the need 
of service marketplaces for capital-intensive physical 
infrastructure, making their path to scale relatively 
easier. Beyond these top-level distinctions, we distin-
guish eight broad types of marketplaces based on the 
object of exchange, as depicted in figure 11.
Figure 11: Types of product and service marketplaces
Source: ISF Advisors and RAF Learning Lab analysis
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