Online marketplace is a type of e-commerce platform where anyone can register as a vendor and can sell their products and services (like how amazon, ebay, aliexpress works ). Marketplace owner can offer this opportunity in returns of commissions.
Available WordPress woocommerce multi vendor Marketplace Plugin
If you want to develop an online marketplace then either you can try developing a custom solution or use A CMS. In both options you may be need a developer. But CMS will make the process of developing and launching marketplace simple and easiest ever. You can also reduce time and money by choosing CMS. Dokan with Woocommerce is one of the best options from all available CMS.
Why Dokan is best WooCommerce Marketplace plugin? Comparison:
You can ask me why I am suggesting Dokan, when there are already some more WordPress multi vendor plugins available in the market. As a developer, I already used all the available marketplace plugins, and I found Dokan come with most features and best UI – UX experience for customers.
Features of Dokan Multi vendor marketplace
I already told that Dokan come with almost all the required features needed for a marketplace. Here I am going to shortlist some of the great features…
- You can get same marketplace functionalities with independent Stores like ebay, amazon, aliexpress.
- You don’t have to think much about WordPress theme, you can use any Woocommerce integrated themes.
- Customer and vendor will get clean and rich frontend dashboard to manager.
- Vendor can track and view each and every sells and will get commissions.
- Vendor can provide support over ticket and live chat.
- Vendor can create their store from frontend.
- Marketplace owner can control every piece of things of the marketplace.
- Shipping and coupon management for each store.
There are countless functionalities available, I will cover everything in the coming days in a separate post.
Which Dokan Marketplace Package to choose?
Dokan is a Freemium product, that means Dokan offer a free version named Dokan lite and if you need more functionality then you can purchase premium version. Now the question is, which package will be best for your marketplace store.
Dokan offer 4 premium packages : Starter, Professional, Business, Enterprise
Starter: Starter package come with most of the required features of a startup marketplace. So you can start first with starter package and later if you need more functions you can upgrade the membership to a higher one.The cost is 149$, which is pretty good for a bunch of features like Multiple commission type, product category, fronted variable products, better reports, shipping and coupon management, social login and so on.
Professional: Professional package is most popular among all premium packages. In professional package you will get Vendor Review, Store Support, Seller Verification, PayPal, Stripe & Moip Subscriptions, 9 Premium Modules, 3 Sites License and Ticket Based Support.
Business: Business package will be perfect you want to grow your marketplace business to the next level. You will get access to all 17 premium modules with WC Booking Integration, Geolocation, Export Import, Staff Manager, Auction,5 Sites License and Ticket Based Support.
Enterprise: Enterprise is mainly designed for big brands who need support directly from Dokan developer. In this package you will get 1 Hour of Theme Compatibility, 1 Hour of Basic Installation, Live Chat Support, 17 Premium Modules, 20 Sites License and priority support.
Note: You can purchase Dokan WooCommerce Booking integration and Dokan Simple Auctions modules partially. So, if you already have Dokan Professional licence and you want to add booking functionality then you can purchase the Woocommerce Booking integration plugin instead of Business package.
What types of multi vendor marketplace we can develop using Dokan
Using Dokan we can develop any type of marketplace. There are a lots of digital, traditional and service based marketplace who are actively using Dokan. Let me give you a list of possible marketplace using dokan.
Traditional Marketplace : Readymade Garments, Beauty Care Items, Shoes and Handicraft, Laptop and electronics, Comics and books.
Digital Marketplace : Audio, Theme, Plugin, Software, Paintings, Photography Video, 3D Animation Apps, eBooks.
Service based Marketplace: Technician, assistance, spa service, therapist, consulting services, child care services, tour and travel operators.
Best WordPress theme for Dokan Marketplace
https://wedevs.com/dokan/themes
Best WordPress Hosting for Dokan Marketplace
For an Ecommerce marketplace you need a reliable hosting. I mostly suggest my client Bluehost, Siteground and wpengine. Let me clear some insight about these hosting services. [ Please note that I will keep this part as much as possible small to be focus on the topic]
Bluehost:
Bluehost is one of the award winning hosting service provider, suggested by WordPress itself. I really love there Chat Support. Bluehost try their best to solve the problem over the chat and don’t hang you for a ticket. The price is really good. If you want to get a hosting for long term like 3 years, then you get 2.95$/month unlimited hosting package for one domain. Which is really reasonable and good deals. If you face any critical issues like malware attacks bluehost will help you to fix the issue by giving details scan report.
You may check all the WordPress managed package from here.
Siteground:
Siteground is also WordPress recommended hosting. They have also chat support and their performance is superb. Their price is a little bit more than bluehost, but siteground offer WordPress and Woocommerce managed hosting service which ensure quality load time for your website. Siteground offer lots of WP related free services like free installation, free transfer, automatic update and many more with the hosting.
WPENGINE:
Wpengine is a premium WordPress hosting solution. They charge the highest among other WordPress managed service provider, but you will get quality. Wpengine provides Staging function which gives you working dev environment so that you will not lose anything in your main website. They have super fast chat support almost 1:1, I mean you will get almost instantly there chat support, which is really helpful in critical moments.
Available translation of Dokan
Currently dokan is fully available in Spanish, Russian and Persian. And many more developers from all over the world are currently working to translate in other languages. You may check the WordPress translate page.
Examples of Multi Store Marketplace Developed using Dokan
Current a lost of world class marketplace using dokan for powering their system. Here we are going to give a list so you can understand and see the possibilities
FAQ
What is multi vendor eCommerce website?
Multi-vendor e-commerce is an environment where multiple vendors come together on a single platform to sell the same or a variety of products. The platform owner will get commissions for each sell. The vendor don’t have to think about marketing, shipping and other office work.
How much it will cost to develop a multi vendor marketplace using dokan?
Dokan lite, which is completely free is a good one to start your marketplace. But if you want something more than you can start with the Professional plan. Professional plan comes with all required functionalities needed for a standard marketplace. Later if needed you can upgrade anytime after paying extra fee to upgrade.
So the cost will be Domain + hosting cost, Template price + Dokan Professional 249$ + A WordPress Developer service charge [ who can help you manage everything so you can focus on business and s/he can do the setup .
Which Dokan Pro package I should purchase ?
You may start with Dokan Professional, please check my explanation from above.
Is dokan support Elementor ?
Yes, recently dokan released a Elementor addons for Pro user by which you can fully customize the Dokan store page yourself. And I should also mentioned that you can develop your platform using elementor and elementor pro. Just ensure that your website can support woocommerce well.
Can I develop Booking website using Dokan?
Yes, you can develop booking marketplace website using dokan. Like you can develop ticket selling platform, hotel booking platform. To develop a Booking marketplace you need https://woocommerce.com/products/woocommerce-bookings/ which will cost you 249$ .
Can I develop Auction website using Dokan?
Yes, dokan have Auction functionalities. You can create any types of auction products marketplace using WordPress, Woocommerce and dokan. You need an extra plugin which call https://codecanyon.net/item/woocommerce-simple-auctions-wordpress-auctions/6811382
Which payment method dokan supports?
Dokan support any payment method available in the panel which have woocommerce support. To use any payment system, just install that plugins in your website and you will be done.
Will it be possible for admin to get commission from each sells?
The main goal of a marketplace is to earn a commission from each sale. And Dokan have both Percentage (%) and fixed price commission functionalities. So, you can earn any amount of commissions from each sells.
How do withdrawals work?
You can set a withdrawal limit and vendor can request for withdrawals. Using PayPal and stripe you can make the process completely automated.
Can each vendor customize his store?
Yes, vendor can customize the appearance of his store and show his business details in vendor store page.
Is Dokan responsive?
If your website responsive, then dokan will work fine in all available device.
How to upgrade to the Pro version?
Very simple. Just purchase any pro version and upload the Dokan Pro file [ You still need the Dokan lite plugin].