How to place off-the-shelf solution on the Bitrix Marketplace and save your time?

What is the Bitrix Marketplace?

The Marketplace is a 1C-Bitrix tool, which allows developers to share their solutions to a broad audience of customers and other developers. What kind of solutions? It can be a plug-in or a component for the projects based on the products of 1C-Bitrix, like "Website Management" or "Corporate portal" or the off-the-shelf solution created on the 1C-Bitrix platform. The first category of solutions is meant for the audience of other developers, and the second is focused on customers. Decisions can be both paid and free.

The benefit of using this tool for developers is an opportunity to make a profit on it, to get new customers and additional points to improve their rankings in the 1C-Bitrix partner system. And Bitrix provides a perk: it scores the so-called welcome points for the first published solution in threefold amount.

Let's pass over to our next issue how to publish your solution on the Marketplace catalog. This procedure is not complicated, but it requires some effort. This is due to the fact that the company 1C-Bitrix makes high requests on partners and supervises the observance of all the terms of their service by manual moderation. We would like to share our experience of solutions publishing on the example of the off-the-shelf solution to make the process of creating and publishing solutions easier for you.

It is necessary to follow the instruction to publish a solution:

  1. To become a partner of 1C-Bitrix.

  2. To complete a License Agreement, which will allow you to publish paid solutions.
    Filling the contract is carried out in a user account.

  3. To bring the solution into conformity with requirements.
    All the rules, regulations, and requirements can be found in your account in the "Marketplace" section or you can find it here.

  4. To prepare graphics material to create an installation wizard and publish solution in Marketplace catalog.

  5. To create a setup wizard and create solution distribution.
    Off-the-shelf solution creating documentation is here.

  6. To test the solution.
    The test plan can be found in the Bitrix Framework developers’ course.

  7. To prepare a description of the solution, its installation and technical support information.
    It is also an important step since description can help the client to understand what is it like, whether it suits him, and whether to buy it.

  8. Name the solution and choose the category of Marketplace catalog to place the solution in it.
    Take into account that customers often look for solutions through searching by name. Renaming is a rather complicated process, you need to send a new version of an appendix to contract, so it is important to choose the right name at once.

  9. To prepare the demo version.
    It is easier for your customers to understand that your decision it is exactly what they are looking for, and make a decision about the purchase if they can check out the demo version of the website.

  10. To upload a distribution in a user account.
    Read more about download can be found on the Marketplace website and some general issues you can find in your user account.

  11. To wait for the moderation of your solution.
    Note that this process can take quite a long time. If any non-compliance will be detected, then the solution will be returned for the revision, and after the removal of defects, moderation process repeats. Being said that the solution is returned after the first found inconsistencies, so moderation can be taken a few times in a row and lose a lot of time. Therefore we recommend checking out the requirements and do not skip the step of testing your product.

  12. To find a way to promote your solution.
    Because it is not enough to create a good product, you also need to help the target audience to find it!

The development of off-the-shelf solutions allows you to reach a higher level of development. You will be able to develop a product as you see it, taking into account the needs of customers and get the possibility to increase the number of customers whose satisfaction depends on the quality of your solution, its maintenance, and technical support. And what about your clients, it is a fast and low-budget start. Therefore, we recommend you to get a better look at such a useful tool.

Marina Sennikova

CTO, whatAsoft