How to Build a Multivendor Marketplace with WooCommerce and WordPress
Have you thought about creating a marketplace using WooCommerce? If so, then you probably know that there are several pieces that go into such an endeavor: the initial concept, finding vendors, creating and implementing the site and, of course, the marketing.
The technical piece can be overwhelming. Often you cannot find one plugin that does it all. But checking out the Dokan Multivendor plugin could get you on your way to creating that marketplace. It has a cool design. Its interface makes it easier to get this kind of site up and running. And through its modules, you have extended functionality at the tip of your fingers.
Watch this video or read on for our full overview.
The Complete Multivendor eCommerce Solution for WordPress and WooCommerce
Wizard Setup
The Store Setup is simple, allowing the shipping fee and the tax fee to go either to the vendor or the site admin.
The options for selling in the Wizard let you set the commission and give you control over whether a new vendor can sell once they register and whether vendors can change their order status.
Next, the withdrawal options for your vendors:
A couple of recommended features can be optionally added:
Setting Up the Dokan Multi-Vendor Plugin for WooCommerce
Before we dive into the settings of this plugin, since it is strictly integrated with WooCommerce, there are three functionalities that this plugin relies on.
- Payments
- Shipping
- Taxes
So let’s talk about settings. A few of these you may have set up when running the Wizard, but there are a lot more options.
Note that there will be additional settings added here as you enable modules that come with the Dokan plugin.
General Settings
There are some basic settings, including those from the Wizard, regarding who gets the shipping fees and taxes. Also, if your vendors have physical addresses, you can include those along with a Google map and their hours.
Selling Options
Some options here that let you decide how much access you want the vendor to have and, of course, to set the commission:
Withdraw Options
These are the same as you saw in the Wizard with the exception of a hiding the withdraw option.
Page Settings
This lets you choose which pages you want for the dashboard, my orders and terms and conditions.
Appearance
Here you can add a logo for the Wizard that walks your vendors through setup and four options for the store header template.
Email Verification
You can add email verification for users:
Social API
You can set it up so that users can register or log in to your marketplace using their social profiles like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Vendor Contact Form
This setting shows up as when I installed the plugin. It also recommended I use the weForms plugin that integrates with Dokan. I believe this is optional, but if you don’t have one in place, you might consider it to make your overall setup easier.
There will be pages that will list your vendors, all status of withdrawals from your vendors, reports and refunds.
Announcements
In this screenshot of the vendor dashboard, you see an area called announcements. As the marketplace owner, you get the easy of staying in contact with your vendors with updates and other forms of communication. When creating announcements, you have the option of sending it to all vendors or specific vendors.
Tools
And three tools that are available:
Marketplace Vendor Access and Dashboard
As vendors are added to your marketplace, they will have their own dashboard to access and manage on the front end. Under user settings in the back end, you will find all the information specific to the marketplace. As you can see here, you can override the commission for each vendor in your settings.
Vendor List
You can access all your vendors here. And you can easily toggle their account status active or inactive.
As you can see, on the WooCommerce My Account page, this is now an option for registration for both customers and vendors. This will also be the login page for the vendor.
If I select I am a vendor, it will ask for more information to register.
Once you click to register, you can go through the Wizard or go straight to your dashboard.
As an admin, you will need to approve the vendor before they go public on your site.
Vendor Dashboard
Once a vendor is logged in, they will be able to manage their account through the dashboard on the front end.
Vendor Products
Here will be a list of all their products with various data and filters. When a vendor has added a product, it will go into pending review until the admin has approved and published the product.
The vendor can easily add a new product anytime in this popup window:
Once you create the product and click on edit, you can add all the information that is available for any product in WooCommerce.
Vendor Customer Orders
Vendors can view any orders and their status:
Vendor Coupons
Vendors can create coupons, which are listed here:
Vendor Reports
You have several options for reports that vendors can access, including sales by the day, top selling products, top earning products and a statement.
Vendor Product Reviews
All reviews associated with a vendor’s product are displayed here:
Vendor Withdrawals
Vendors can see the status of their account, request a withdrawal if available and see approved and cancelled requests.
Vendor Settings
Vendors can access several other settings:
Store – Here they can add store information.
Payment – The vendor can set up how they want to receive payments/withdrawals from you.
Shipping – Vendors can also control the shipping:
And there is the option to use a previous shipping:
Social Profile – Vendors can add their social connections as well.
Store SEO – And vendors can add information to boost their store’s SEO (search engine optimization).
Vendor Store Page
Depending on what information is added to their account through the settings, each vendor will have a page on the site created just for them.
Conversion Tracking for WooCommerce
When running the Wizard, you have the option of installing a plugin called WooCommerce Conversion Tracking. This is a free version and they also have a premium version. This is a screenshot of the free version activated:
Extending Your Marketplace
There are several modules that come with the premium version of Dokan that you can add as needed. There are some great options that will cover just about any aspect of a marketplace.
In order to keep this post an overview, we will be writing some additional posts down the road on some of this added functionality.
The Dokan Theme
Dokan has a free theme that works seamlessly with its plugin, as well as several third-party, Dokan-compatble themes on their site.
This was a basic overview and there is a lot more this plugin offers. If you are looking to build a marketplace with WooCommerce, I strongly recommend the Dokan Multivendor plugin for WooCommerce.
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When starting your marketplace, it’s also a good idea to give some serious thought to which hosting platform you choose. You want to make sure you get some secure, fast and reliable. Liquid Web Managed WooCommerce Hosting has a Marketplace Plan that not only gives you exactly what you need, but also includes the Dokan plugin.