With Love for Startups: 51 Features Plan of an Online Marketplace for Sports and Outdoors

Almost all the sports academies apply a common set of sources for lead generation in their roster of a marketing plan.

By and large, they fetch more students through a word of mouth, recommendations by other students or through establishing a website.  

Some also follow marketing through organizing free workshops, seminars or inviting famous sports celeb at the campus to interact with the students.

These are very many general bunches of marketing tools to get more students to their campus.  

With high concerns, this has made it much crucial for the startups to make a debut with a unique yet original business idea that leads the field in such type of industry.   

An online marketplace for sports and outdoors is one such virgin concept that nobody or in rare case anyone would have tried to engage into.

A one-stop online destination for all the sports academies and athlete students will create a demand in itself in the global market as users get everything at a single roof.  

So, a great deal of importance lies in brainstorming the critical website aspects and must-have app features that startups cannot afford to ignore when actualizing such a business concept.

Let’s have a look. First things first!

Before going deep into the core vital features of the online marketplace for sports and outdoors specifically for the students or listed sports academies or an admin, it is worthwhile to peep into most important general features of the app.

First Touch to the Online Marketplace for Sports and Outdoors

Homepage:

In such type of online marketplace for sports and outdoors, a Homepage is a chief catalyst motivating people to practice and follow sports.

It’s at the nucleus to know the features and benefits of the homepage in these types of app.

The brownie points of features in Homepage:

• Being a front face of the business architecture, Homepage covers all the required options related to the academic programs, fee structure, sports events, sports news and much more in the content.
• A clear direction for registration process is available depending on the type of app users- be it a sports student, a sports academy, a sponsor, mentor or a parent.   
• What steals the show is the spacious, sporty and sophisticated look and feel that encourages the visitors to perform a search or surf through other options on the homepage.  
• A homepage of the sports marketplace proves to be effective with a precise and to the point content that is emotionally appealing to the visitors to make a purchase decision.  
• Also, sufficient CTA (Calls to Action) makes the app visitor more curious to further scroll or tap the available options related to sports, fee structure, academies, sponsorship, and much more.

Registration Process:

Such type of online marketplace for sports and outdoors features an impressively designed online registration process with clearly defined fields depending on the type of app users.

The user can register through their email or google account or by linking the social media tool as available on the app.  

Registration is more simplified for the users on the app with requesting to add only the basic details like name, contact details, email id, and a drop-down option for ‘register as’.    

Depending on the selected drop-down option, a next important session in the registration form will be displayed on the user’s dashboard.

Here, it asks for related details depending on the type of registration selected as a student, mentor, academy or a parent.

This helps the app to provide a highly personalized app service to the user base as per their purpose and requirements.

Advanced search:

When we talk of the online marketplace for sports and outdoors, the search option is a chief and essential feature to direct the users to the right landing page on the app.

It works out to be a hit show with search mechanism that saves time, cost and energy of the users on the app.

Making it more user-friendly, speedy and super simple, the search feature can grab and drag the attention of the user to stay more on the app.

In many cases, it has also helped to convert the app visitor into a user and finally into a customer.

A user can perform a search based on the location, academy or a program.

The app provides advanced search facilities with filtration in search related to the:

• National or international sports programs
• Eligibility criteria
• Fee limits
• Job placements
• Level of degree courses like graduation, post-graduation, and diploma programs

Making it more effortless for the app users, they can also click on the ‘related’ and or ‘suggested’ searches as per the keywords typed by the user on the search bar.

User account and Account settings:

The user can go through their complete account details that consist of the profile summary, e-wallet, activity log, chat history, ‘my cart’ details, and search history on online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

Also, high-end customization on various privacy settings and account settings is made available for all the app users that can be performed in their fingertips.

Taking care of the user’s privacy at it’s best, the account setting has many customized options.

Some of which are:

• The users are free to avoid or specify their contact details
• Show offline/busy/online status to other users
• Free to link a social media account on the app with they wish

Social media tools:

Nowadays, the Social Media Tools has become a must-have feature on the app to develop a strong community or a wide network of sports academies, students, and coaches.

It has turned out to be a common and much frequent habit of the app users for: 

• Logging-in through the social media accounts on the app.  
• For sharing or posting of the achievements, grades, course completion status or degree certification on social media tools.

Not only the app users but also the app owner can benefit from linking the social media tools on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

They can ease out cultivating a demand-based marketing strategy through social media tools.  

It becomes easy for the app owner to go ahead with effortless marketing campaigns, recommendations, and reviews & rating to increase community base through social media tools.

View Ratings & Reviews:

To offer access to the reviews & ratings given for a sports program or for a training delivery by a particular coach increases the scope to develop a sense of trust among the visitors and users of the app.

The reviews and ratings can act as a marketing tool in the online marketplace for sports and outdoors. Also, all the users become conscious of giving/receiving the ratings for a sports program offered by the listed sports academies.

The students provide genuine reviews and ratings to get authentic services on the app.

While the coaches or sports academies focus on getting better ratings to increase their credibility on the app and get more leads.  

Chatbox:

For a clear and easy flow of communication on the app, a user can chat with the other app users through sending an audio, video, or text through the Chatbox.

Here, it proves to be more comfortable as sharing a video or an audio increases the intractability among the users.

The users can also end up making friends on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors and send a sports challenge to their fellow app users to make the sports training or practising a more interesting game.  

Notifications:

Keeping the app users updated on the upcoming programs, session schedules, exam timelines, financial aids and much more proves profitable for all the students and mentors on the app.

To provide high-end customization to the users, they can choose the medium for getting all the notifications on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

Be it notifications through email, pop-ups on the app or through the text message on the mobile.

Activity Log:

All the registered users can review their recent and past activities on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

This feature proves to be the best means to check and go through the activities when in confusion whether or not they have completed the assignments, task, sessions of the enrolled sports program.

Here’s the Center Spot: Sports Programs

Sports Programs:

A drop-down list of all the popular and general graduation, post graduation or diploma programs offered by the listed sports academies are displayed on the user dashboard with a single tap on ‘Programs’.

By clicking on a preferred program will present detailed information about the sports program to the app users.

It outlines:

• The academy certification
• Tenure of the sports program
• Fee structure
• Sponsorship
• Video demo
• Rating & reviews     

This feature acts as a catalogue portfolio in the online marketplace for sports and outdoors that sorts all the queries of the user to apply, enroll, participate and complete certification programs as offered by the listed sports academies.

International sports courses:

All the international degree programs, tournaments, comprehensive exams or practice workshops for different sports are listed systematically on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

A user gets all the details about:

• Country
• Sports and its importance in that country
• Factual statistics
• About the program
• Demo
• Profile details of the mentor or coach imparting the training
• Fee structure
• Currency & payment mode accepted
• Details about the authority to provide certification
• Days-sessions-hours of training
• Sports equipment to carry along or will be provided from the institute/academy

If the user still has queries after going through these details, they can request for more details to the particular academy offering the selected course.

Admissions and eligibility:

This module features absolute details on the admission requirements, documents to be submitted, and helps the user to proceed with the admission process much easier.

Take a glance at the systematic app features and functionalities for the admission process!

• If any user develops an interest for any of the offered sports programs, they can further know about the eligibility criteria for the selected course.
• If found eligible, they can go through a complete list of documents to be submitted for getting an admission in the selected sports program.  
• Smooth and easy upload options are available for the users to upload their admission documents on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.
• Followed by documents submission process, the athletes can download an application form for admission on a selected sports program.

An application form covers all the required information about the student in its content. This helps the students to finish off the whole admission process at a single go.

The admission process is much simplified right from submitting the personal statement on the reason to pursue the chosen sports program, mailing the official transcripts and filling other basic details on the application form.

Payment process:

Once the user is willing to use a particular service on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors, they are diverted to an activity page that provides payment options for the students to pay a fee or an academy to list a sports program.

Whereas on the other side of the fence, the payment process majorly depends on the type of payment modes the app owner wants to have on the app.  

So, the users can smoothly make payments through integrated payment gateways as available on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

Personal training:

This feature is especially for those who focus to take their sports game to the next level of success.

Going one step forward in providing personalized training services to the athletes of all skill levels who aim to get certification from the sports academy.

Personal Training is specifically for:

• Individual athletes
• Individual Groups
• Corporate teams  
• Clinical staff

Personal training program embraces unique and custom-made sessions.

The coach can track and control analyzing the athlete’s techniques, store data, prepare reports and comparing the current data with that of the previous one to scale out their student’s development.  

As these type of programs are designed for individualized performance improvements, the athlete can also get benefits of advanced evaluation process through the custom options available on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

Performance recovery programs:

Rebuilding the foundation of the athlete’s physical lifestyle, another personalized approach that these types of the online marketplace for sports and outdoors offer is the Performance Recovery Programs.

From working on the improvements in nutrition, immunity system, best-suited routine to follow, sports techniques to practice on and much more are focused to optimize, regenerate and recover the athlete’s performance.  

Here, the user can opt for a training program that helps them to come out of the low-performance phase or recover the damages or injuries caused while on the floor of a sports court.

Military training:

Online marketplace for sports and outdoors also offer the options to enroll and get certified military training services.

The details on military transcripts, military tuition assistance and much more can be accessed by the users on the app. Accordingly, the athlete-students can proceed with the admissions on the app itself.  

Announcements:

This is a type of broadcast feature that helps the sports academies to make an important announcement related to any exam timelines, admissions, pre or post scheduling the examination and much more.

It saves the time of the students and mentors to get updates on most important details through ‘Announcements’.

They can avoid making phone calls to the mentors or fellow students for the much important pieces of information related to their academics or curriculum.

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Make It World’s Best Interactive Resource Center

Bookstore:

This is one of the unique module featured in the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

The Bookstore is a type of marketplace of books, guides, case studies and research papers for the users on the app.

The sports academies and renowned coaches can easily list the books (related to the sports programs listed on the app) on the Bookstore by providing details on the book reviews, prices, and much more.

If the students or other app users are willing to buy a book from this Bookstore, they can directly make an online payment to buy the course material.

Library resources:

The students, mentors, corporate staff and sports academies can access the internet and virtual libraries.

An online resource database is available on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors for all the users.

Going an extra mile on providing a value-added service to the users, a 24/7 support of a librarian is available for the users.

Learning Management System (LMS):

The technological advancement in learning pedagogy has taken a sharp upward swing through LMS.

To deliver the best possible online sports training to the students and offer them a dynamic learning environment is what is very much possible with LMS.

It is an intuitive and modern sub-app design that is easy to use and navigate for the students, course developers as well as the mentors.

How does LMS benefit the app users?

• The students, coaches, sports academies, parents, and corporate teams can access an online sports training sessions on devices like mobile, laptops or iPods.
• The sports academies or the course developers can upload the online sessions for a training program. Here, they can create, edit, delete or even use sample templates to prepare the online course material.
• The students can swiftly check the training progress, complete the training sessions, appear for a mock test or clear the doubt sessions on LMS.
• It becomes easy for the sports academy to bring innovation in training delivery methods.

It leads the interest of the athletes when it comes to providing creative online training material for performance recovery sessions, personal training sessions or even general sports programs.

Talk to industry experts:

As sports is a highly unpredictable stream to deal with, students and sometimes even the mentors tend to take expert advice to deal with the issues.

A 24/7 support service for the app users to talk to the industry experts is available on the app. The app welcomes the industry experts to give their advice and talk to the app community.

Comprehensive exams:

The students can also appear for any of the comprehensive exams conducted by the listed sports academies directly without enrolling for any training programs.

These featured app services are mostly used by the experienced athletes, confident individuals or corporate teams that straight away want to appear in exams and get academic certifications on a sports program.

Sports journal and Sports dictionary:

These type of apps have a sports journal of its own that is free to access for the app users. The sports journal updates on all the happening and upcoming developments in the sports industry.

Another important feature that makes the work and understanding more easy for the students is the sports dictionary. It solves the queries of students related to difficult sports jargon.

Gain on these Extra Features

Calendar management:

A well-defined calendar management system is inbuilt on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors. The date and time of the admissions, sports training sessions, exams, and other events are highlighted on the calendar.

A single tap on the particular date will showcase a detailed report of event and activities for that day.

It strongly avoids the miss-outs, delay or skips out of any training sessions or admission dates to enroll for the students.

Geolocation:

A real-time mapping and location tracking features are available on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

The students can easily navigate and get directions to reach the training venue and attend the sports training.

In short, it becomes easy for the listed academies to make it simple for the mentors and students in locating the exact training venue and avoid being late for the session.

Sponsorship:

This feature is for those who want to sponsor the training sessions by the renowned visiting faculties or even for those who want to sponsor a sports program for the students.

Detailed information about the sponsorship is available on the app for all the users.

The best part is that they can also chat and solve their queries with the sponsor.

Also, for those students who have activated their notification features can get pop-ups for the new sponsorship listed on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

Job placement corner:

Job Placements Corner is the most attractive and frequently surfed module by the users on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

Adding rich job placement for the students increases the credibility and reputation of the sports academies.

The sports academies can enjoy the effective tools to screen out valid profiles and finalize a selection for the listed job vacancies on the app.

What’s for athlete students?

The students need not to roam on the different web pages to look for the JD’s and placement process on the app.

They can manage the whole placement operation at a single place on the app. The students can:

• View the list of job placements
• Access the job details (JD’s) of the vacancies
• Apply for the job placements and get approvals for the same
• Know the interview schedules
• Get updates on the job finalization status
• Review the analytics of the total interviews attended, companies approached for job placements and much more.

They can chat with a team of placement cell and solve their queries.

All the users can view the job placement information that details out the company, number of placements, packages, and other details.  

Awards:

This feature lists out varied Awards achieved for the app services. This acts as a double dose on app marketing in addition to increasing the level of trust for the app services among the current users.

Alumni:

All the activities related to the Alumni events and Alumni meetings are detailed on this module for the students and coaches.

The sports academy that conducts the Alumni event adds all the details and activates the registration for this event that connects the previous batch of students with the current batch of students.

If required, they also elect a student ambassador to manage all the proceeding swiftly.  

Complaint corner:

While developing a mobile app, many people think the Complaint Corner is not necessary for the users on the app as it decreases the credibility of the sports academies who receive the complaints.

Then how is it beneficial for sports academies?

As the users add a complaint, they can right away solve their issues and rebuild the trust among the unhappy customers/students.

This will even avoid chances for users to share a complaint on social media tools.

Feature functionality for the users:

The users can add a complaint to the Complaint Corner. They can tag the one’s targeted for a complaint.

On the other hand, the users can also update the complaint status- is it resolved, pending or ignored.

This develops more transparency for all the users on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

FAQs:

When in dilemma or stuck up with any issues related to the app functionalities, the users have access to go through the Frequently Asked Questions.

By getting the right solutions and a way out for their issues, FAQ’s simplifies the user’s understanding for the app functionalities.

It proves to be a very critical feature on the app being the ‘lender of last resort’ to solve the doubts of the users.

Attract, Delight and Engage the Student Experience

Check eligibility:

Before probing further on the date, time or fee structure of the selected degree program, it’s at the prime facet to check the eligibility criteria for getting admission into the sports program.  

Details about the mandatory qualifications to get admission for any sports program are clearly mentioned for the students.

It includes:

• The age group
• Completing a certain number of credit hours of academic or college courses
• Physical fitness certificate
• Sports achievements

The students can click on the ‘Eligibility Criteria’ to get updates on the qualifications required to enroll for a specific sports program.

View a demo:

A demo acts as the best medium for the sports academies to convert the visitors into the customers.

For any course selected by a student, they can view a demo video of the sports program.

Here they can get all the details of what the course is all about, its significance in the future of sports and much more.

Apply now:

With a single click on Apply Now, the athletes are directed to the application form which needs to be filled and submitted on the app itself.

This feature is finely highlighted for the athlete-students and designed with an effective and simplified structure to ease out the admission formalities.

Track training session:

Through ‘Track training sessions’, students can mention the sports degree they are currently pursuing and press ‘Enter’ to view all the training session.

A complete history of the training sessions that are completed, pending and upcoming can be accessed by the athlete students.

Fee Structure:

By selecting a drop-down option for the sports program, the athlete-student can view the fee structure of the selected course.  

Apart from the fee outlay of the course, this feature also has a calculator to get the estimates on course fee when paid in the installments.

Financial aid:

Most of the sports academies offer athletic scholarships or financial aids for national and international athlete students.

This is the best way to captivate bright and deserving students to their campuses.

The different types of financial aids listed for the sports students include the archery scholarships, cross country scholarships, soccer/baseball/ hockey/golf scholarships and more.

The athlete students can follow the process as mentioned in the online marketplace for sports and outdoors to get the financial aids.

Add Ratings & Reviews:

The students get a privilege to add the reviews & ratings for the sports programs.

The app owner can include any of the rating styles for the app users, be it giving the stars or giving the points from 1 to 10 or even selecting the rating options like satisfied/dissatisfied as available on the app.

This proves to be a critical element for the sports academies as well as the students to get quality services on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

Completing the Online Marketplace for Sports and Outdoors: Sports Academies

List the sports programs:

The sports academies can list the academic certification programs for graduation, post-graduation and diploma courses on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

They are offered custom features to select the type of details to be mentioned for the course. Few important details are kept mandatory to mention for the sports academies.

These include details about the academy, course details, seats available, catalogue eligibility criteria, coach details, certification, and details about the job placements for that course.

Add a demo:

The demo video is a vital marketing tool for the sports academies to get more leads of the athlete-students on the app.

An effective demo can drag the mindset of the students or even their parents to opt for the sports program.

This feature provides creative design tools for the sports academies to design a demo video for the course offered.

They can add charts, graphics, emojis, and much more creatives on the demo video to upload.

Manage listings:

The sports academies can manage and control the complete list of sports programs offered by them on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

They can add, edit, delete, put on a pause and get accurate analytic on the listed sports programs.

Receiving applications:

The sports academies can view the applications received for the sports program listed by them.

Customized filter options are available for data sorting related to the received applications.

Update the training schedules:

The sports academies have access to update the training schedules as per the sports program listed by them on the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

They can mention the date and time of the training sessions and even update the preponed training sessions or postponed training sessions for the students.

Results:

The sports academies can effortlessly disclose the results of the examinations. They can customize on the date & time of disclose, and the accessibility of the results that are limited to their students or to be kept free to access for all the app users.

Thinking How will Your(Admin) Web Field Look?

Manage and control the listing of sports academies:

The admin has all the access and authority to inspect and verify the credentials of the sports academies before giving them the approval to get enrolled in the online marketplace for sports and outdoors.

Featured tools are available to maintain and update the records and reports of every sports academy listed on the app.

It consists of reports related to:

• Academy wise total student enrollments on the app
• Subscribed packages by the sports academies
• Listed sports programs by the academies

Manage user account:

The admin has all the access and authority to allow, modify or suspend the roles of the stakeholders on the app.

The admin can manage:

• A complete data of the users on the app
• Filtering & sorting data on various parameters
• Manage & update user policies

Apart from these, the admin can effectively customize the filter options in the ‘advanced search’ module for all the users depending on the marketing strategies addressed by the admin.

Manage the payment process:

A well-defined payment process and the tools to manage the transactions are featured on such type of online marketplaces.

Being a high-prioritized responsibility of the admin, they need to handle and manage all the payment transactions done by the app users.

This module features a simplified mechanism for the admin to:

• Store the data of the invoices
• Save the history of each transaction performed on the app
• Keep records of the payment history of each app user   
• Manage and control the payment gateways integrated on the app  

In case of any issues related to the malfunction or fuss created in the online transactions, the admin needs to work on it to derive a satisfactory solution for the app users.

Manage and update payment plans:

With thorough market research, observing the purchasing patterns of the app users and constant updates on the upcoming app technologies creates possibilities for the admin to modify the payment plans on the app.

The admin has complete access to use the accurate custom features to add, revise or delete the payment plans offered.  

Manage the inquiries:

The app offers interactive tools for the users to put forward their queries related to the app services.

The app users can send an email or use a chatbox to inquire or fill in the inquiry form on the app. The admin can customize on the tools to be made available for the users to generate inquiries.

Also, the admin is responsible to manage and address to the generated inquiries. They can sort and send the inquires that needs to be addressed by the sports academy.

While they can straightaway reply to the user inquiry related to the app services.

Analytics:

The admin can get a detailed report on critical and important parameters to measure the growth of the business.

Through Analytics, the app owner can verify and scrutinize:

• Total revenue generated
• Total refunds provided
• Total sports academies enrolled
• Type of job placements added by the academies
• Financial aids available
• Total number of new users
• Total suspended accounts

Marketing:

As the online marketplace for sports and outdoors has a series of standalone features, the marketing of the app is much effortless.

The app features that affect the marketing or a sales ratio and also help to fetch a right kind of audience involves:

• Enrolling branded sports academies and business giants to target their loyal and wide fan-base.
• Targeting the mass and broad communities through linking the social media tools on the app.
• Not only making the app more interactive for the registered users, but also for the non-registered app users can increase the possibilities to captivate them to get a subscription plan.  
• The admin can also easily offer perks or benefits on every ten recommendations to spread brand awareness and also initiate the marketing through word of mouth.

Online Marketplace for Sports and Outdoors, Feel it?

No doubt these features help to make the app more user-friendly for the athletes and sports academies and even swiftly manageable for the admin. But when designing and developing this type of marketplace app, it can prove to be much tricky to account for all these unique features.

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