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This is where WordPress shines.
If you just wanted to create a blog, you could use Squarespace, Ghost, or any other content platform.
But when it comes to advanced websites like a multi-vendor marketplace, WordPress is by far the best solution.
Using these WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins, you can:
- Let sellers signup and add products on your marketplace
- Choose a commission rate for your vendors
- Give vendors analytics and a full sales dashboard
- Let customers rate & review sellers
- Enable on site messaging
It’s honestly amazing how much functionality has been packed into these plugins.
Even better, these are complete products that you can install and set up right away. Compared to hiring developers, it’s way cheaper and much, much faster too.
Keep reading to see which plugins topped our list.
WooCommerce marketplace plugins
There are actually a lot of marketplace plugins to choose from.
In this list below, you’ll find both simple and comprehensive solutions, so make sure to check out each one before selecting a plugin for your site.
Here are my top picks for the best WooCommerce multi-vendor marketplace plugins.
1. YITH WooCommerce Multi Vendor Marketplace
Plugin Description
YITH WooCommerce Multi Vendor Marketplace is an awesome plugin for creating a marketplace store like Etsy. After years of ongoing development, it’s extremely feature-rich and has a ton of great tools built in.
One of the most important aspects when running a marketplace is giving your vendors total control over their shop. With this plugin, you can create a registration form and customizable accounts for vendors. They can add and edit their products, create coupons, and even select their own shipping methods. This will greatly reduce the amount of communication and customization required on your part.
The developers have also done a great job with the reporting. You can easily view graphs and data reports on the sales from your vendors. Speaking of which, you can easily set the commission rate store-wide to decide what percentage of each sale goes to the vendors.
The only downside with this plugin is that the vendor dashboard functionality is added with a separate plugin called Frontend Manager for WooCommerce. While this does increase the total cost to create your marketplace, the vendor dashboard plugin is really nice too. It’s highly customizable and the dashboards it creates are beautiful and easy to navigate.
This WooCommerce marketplace plugin gets pricey with the vendor dashboard plugin included, but it’s still a small price to pay for such a complex website. Click the link below if you want to learn more.
2. WooCommerce Multi Vendor Marketplace
Plugin Description
WooCommerce Multi Vendor Marketplace is a lot simpler than most of the competing solutions. Using this plugin, you can quickly define a commission rate for products sold by vendors, update your registration form to allow customer and vendor signups, and choose what shipping methods are available.
One of the most important features of this plugin is the review system. Customers can give star ratings and full reviews to sellers after buying from them. You can auto-approve reviews or check them manually before publishing them. You also have the option to review products submitted by vendors or auto-approve them as well.
Overall, this plugin isn’t totally comprehensive, but it’s more affordable and easier to use than most competitors. It’s a good choice if you want to create a WooCommerce store with multiple vendors without too much technical complexity.
3. HivePress
Plugin Description
HivePress is a free directory plugin with premium themes and plugins that extend its functionality. It will be a particularly smart choice if you want to create a gig site like Fiverr or a service marketplace like Upwork. That’s because they have premium themes designed exactly for this purpose, which brings me to my next point.
One challenge of building a marketplace website is integrating the plugins with your theme. With HivePress, you don’t have to worry about that. You can purchase one of their premium themes and a bundle of the add-ons for less than most of the plugins listed here, and you’ll be guaranteed they all work together.
To create a multi-vendor store, you’ll want the Marketplace extension, in particular, because it allows sellers to create accounts, list products, and view their sales. It integrates with other extensions like Messages, which is totally free.
The only downside of using HivePress is that the marketplace functionality is more limited than other plugins. That said, it’s really nice that they offer their own themes so you don’t have to struggle with plugin/theme integration.
4. Dokan
Plugin Description
Dokan has been a top plugin for multi-vendor stores for a while now. Given its prominence, it’s become a reliable choice and there are also a handful of marketplace themes that integrate well with it.
With Dokan, you can create a traditional marketplace like Etsy, a digital downloads marketplace, or a services marketplace like Fiverr. In addition to the core plugin, there are also lots of add-ons for things like Stripe support, live chat, subscription products, and more.
One thing Dokan does really well is the dashboard design. It gives you a stylish dashboard with full sales reporting and a similar dashboard for your vendors. Even better, customers can see all of their orders and reviews from their own account page.
Dokan can get pricey if you need a lot of the modules, but it’s nice that they offer the option to add so many features. Overall, it’s a great multi-vendor WooCommerce plugin and a popular choice among WordPress users.
5. WCFM Marketplace
Plugin Description
WCFM Marketplace is one of the most popular WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins because it has a free version with essential functionality and premium add-ons for those who need more.
The base functionality in the free plugin includes vendor registration, seller dashboards, notifications, and a variety of analytics and sales reports. It’s surprisingly robust for a free plugin.
The premium add-ons are where WCFM gets really advanced. For instance, there is an add-on that lets you create new roles for staff and store managers, and even your vendors will be able to add multiple staff and managers for their store. Other premium extensions include affiliate programs, advanced delivery options, and additional analytics.
If you want a free marketplace plugin to get started with or need the advanced capabilities of the premium extensions, this will be a solid choice for your store.
Which multi vendor plugin is best for your store?
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the options, here are a few final thoughts.
YITH WooCommerce Multi Vendor Marketplace is full-featured and easy to use, which is why it earned my top pick. It’s also great that it integrates well with their other plugins, of which they have more than 100+.
WooCommerce Multi Vendor Marketplace is a much simpler option, so it will be good for beginners or anyone who only needs the essential features for their marketplace.
HivePress isn’t right for all types of marketplaces, but if you’re building a marketplace for jobs or services, it’s most likely the best choice for your website.
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