Customers are happy because they get to choose from a broad selection of products from multiple vendors, and you are happy as you have to charge vendors a commission. However, multi-vendor marketplaces require some unique functionality, meaning that you need special software if you want to create your multi-vendor market.
We've already covered the very best eCommerce platforms, so today, let's look at the best platforms for multi-vendor eCommerce marketplaces as they relate to the vital criteria of a good marketplace store.
Essential features of multi-vendor marketplaces
If You Would like to create a successful multi-vendor eCommerce marketplace, you are going to want these attributes, at a minimum:
Third-party vendors need to easily register and make their merchandise listings. When it's hard for sellers to list goods, they'll go somewhere else. Also, they need their profile page to showcase these listings.
Quality search feature
Search is always vital for eCommerce, however for multi-vendor marketplaces, it is doubly important. Clients have to have the ability to obtain what they need in a sea of third-party products (believe how busy ThemeForest search could get!).
Easy testimonials
Because you'll have multiple sellers, clients need to easily review vendors and goods so that sellers may set a reputation.
Digital vs physical
Many marketplaces are confined to physical or digital goods. You'll want to pick the option that fits your objectives.
Capability to control a commission
As the owner of a market, you generate earnings charging a commission. Your platform needs to not just allow this but also make it simple for you to take care of payments so that you do not get overwhelmed.
Cost
There are some massive variations in cost for multi-vendor marketplaces (for WordPress and otherwise), which means you will want to carefully weigh the system's price vs. its attributes when picking one.
Now, let us consider the 5 best platforms for multi-vendor eCommerce marketplaces (in no particular order):
1.
Meiosis is a favorite WordPress theme that integrates closely with Easy Digital Downloads to make multi-vendor marketplaces for digital products. It's cheap price-wise and easy to use thanks to the recognizable WordPress interface.
Meiosis makes it effortless for vendors to enroll in a simple form. Once approved and registered, sellers can submit their product listings from the front-end -- so that you do not need to be concerned about forcing vendors to utilize the generic
WordPress dashboard.
Vendors will even get their profile page which lists all of their products plus a Brief biography:
Meiosis search performance:
The basic Mayosis search purpose is rather bare-bones. Users may search by keyword and then type by category:
But if you buy something such as Search & Filter Guru, you can greatly extend this functionality.
Meiosis review system:
Verified clients can easily review products via a front-end form. Meiosis automatically adds schema markup to all reviews and vendors can quickly view each of their testimonials from their dashboard.
Meiosis digital or bodily products: If you want to sell physical goods, you are going to require a separate platform.
*You can use EDD to market a few bodily products in a pinch -- that is just not what it's best suited for.
Meiosis lets you set commissions for your entire shop, as well as custom commissions for individual vendors. Additionally, it generates a.CSV of all unpaid commissions which you can upload to PayPal's mass payment method to make paying commissions easy.
The Meiosis motif itself costs $64 in ThemeForest. But if you want a functional market, you will also need to obtain the Easy Digital Downloads Professional Pass for an additional $299. The expert Pass gets you to get to all the marketplace functionality, as well as all the superior EDD payment gateways.