Create an Online Marketplace Using WordPress
Did you know you can create an online marketplace using WordPress? A marketplace website enables users to buy and sell items by simply setting up their own mini stores within an ecommerce platform. As the online marketplace creator, you will make money by sharing the platform. This is a popular business idea due to its low overhead costs. But how do you create one? This article discusses the steps you should take.
What you will need
The first thing is to pick the right website platform. WordPress.org is the best platform out there. You will also need the following:
- Domain name
- Web hosting account
- SSL certificate
- WooCommerce
- Online marketplace add-on
Setting up an online marketplace using WordPress can take less than 40 minutes. Here are the steps you need to take.
Step 1: Set up an ecommerce platform
You will need to buy a domain name and web hosting. Select a web host that specializes in WooCommerce hosting. a domain name costs about $14.99 per year, web hosting will be about $7.99 per month and an SSL certificate will cost $69.99 per year. You then need to install a WordPress website using the available templates.
Step 2: Turn WooCommerce into an online marketplace
By default WooCommerce will be a single vendor website. You need to change that for your site to be an online marketplace. Install and activate WC vendors’ plugin. This is a marketplace solution for WooCommerce. It will turn your website into a multi-vendor platform. Every vendor can sell on your website while you maintain the full control of your site. You will be able to select your preferred business model, product types and payment methods. After activating the plugin go to WC Vendors>>Settings page to configure the marketplace.
Under settings, check the ‘Vendor Regstration’ box. This will make it possible to for vendors to sign up. You then need to click on ‘Commission’ tab to set a commission rate for the vendors on your site. This is what you will make for each sale.
You then need to go to ‘Capabilities’ tab and set site-wide rules for the vendors. General capabilities include allow vendors to view and edit products and orders. Default options work for most websites.
Now go to the ‘Products’ section to select the products that vendors can add. For example vendors can only add digital downloads or physical products. You can also choose the data vendors can add.
Switch to ‘Orders’ section under ‘Capabilities’ and choose the information vendors will be able to see about their orders.
The next step is to add related pages. Go switch to ‘Display’ tab and select ‘Pages>>Add New’. Create pages and add short-codes. Below the pages you will find ‘Store settings’ option. Select the prefix to use in the Vendor shop URLs. Allow users to set custom headers for their shop pages and use HTML in the shop description.
Now you need to set payments for vendors. You can set a minimum threshold for the vendors and pay out on weekly or monthly basis. Manual payments work best as customers can request refunds or give a feedback on a product. Premium add-ons will help add a payment withdrawal system for the vendors.
Step 3: Enable account management in WooCommerce
Go to WooCommerce>>Settings page and select the ‘Accounts’ tab. Check boxes next to the customer registration option. Save changes.
Step 4: Set up navigation menus
You need to make it easy for vendors to navigate your online marketplace. Go to Appearance>>Menus page. Add your user account and the checkout pages to the navigation menu. You can also create a new page if you don’t have My Account Page. Add this code in the post editor:
[woocommerce_my_account]
Your online marketplace is set. The next thing is to market your marketplace website.