Tool

Supplier Funnel Simulator

Model the supplier funnel from discovery to active supply and see where marketplace acquisition is actually breaking.

Marketplace profile

Pick the marketplace shape first. The simulator uses it to frame the advice and remind the operator where similar supply funnels usually break.

Marketplace type Suppliers discovered Average annual value per active supplier

Funnel assumptions

Set what happens at each stage. Every slider represents a real operational layer from the article: enrichment, scoring, routing, outreach, onboarding, and activation.

Enrichment rate How much discovered supply becomes usable records with real websites, contacts, and business context. Qualification rate How much enriched supply actually fits the marketplace by category, trust, maturity, and geography. Contact rate How much qualified supply is contacted through the right channel instead of sitting in a list. Response rate How much contacted supply replies or engages. This is usually a messaging and proof problem, not just a volume problem. Onboarding completion How much interested supply actually finishes setup, imports, verification, or profile completion. Activation rate How much onboarded supply becomes live, transactable, and valuable to demand. Referral / expansion rate How much active supply pulls in the next wave through referrals, partner intros, self-promotion, or adjacent graph expansion.

Supplier funnel simulation

This is the working funnel, from raw discovery to active supply. The widths show how much of the original top-of-funnel survives each stage.

Active suppliers

Next-cycle referrals

Estimated GMV unlocked

The point of the funnel is not only more suppliers. It is more suppliers that can create real marketplace liquidity.

Enriched

Qualified

Contacted

Responded

Onboarded

Active

Biggest bottleneck

The simulator points to the stage where the most value is currently leaking out of the system.

Weakest stage

Highest-value next move

Do not optimize every stage at once. Improve the stage where a modest gain changes active supply the most.

Best stage to improve first

How to read each step

This turns the funnel into operator actions. Each stage corresponds to real work you can build, improve, or automate.

Discovery

Maps, registries, search, classifieds, communities, and existing seller pools fill the top of the funnel. Bad discovery creates downstream noise that no CRM can save.

Enrichment and qualification

This is where public records turn into real supplier records with websites, contacts, trust signals, and fit scores. If this layer is weak, outreach volume becomes fake progress.

Contact and response

Channel fit, personalization, social proof, and timing determine whether suppliers answer. A response problem is usually a messaging system problem, not just a list problem.

Onboarding and activation

White-glove help, imports, claim flows, and faster first-live paths matter here. Suppliers do not feel activated when they merely finish a form. They feel activated when demand can reach them.