Create a Marketplace: 10 Tips on How to Do It

More and more people decide to go online with their own online marketplace to offer their products to the widest possible audience.

However: Anyone who wants to have their own shop or marketplace created often has to dig deep into their pockets. Therefore, alternatives are WordPress plugins such as WooCommerce, which make it relatively easy and cost-effective to create and configure an internet marketplace.

In this article, we’ll show you ten tips to help you develop or activate a marketplace with WordPress. We’ll also address the various providers and competitors of the popular WooCommerce plugin.

The Most Important Points at a Glance

What Is an Online Marketplace? Which Important Features Are There?

An online marketplace is a platform where users can auction and sell products. Unlike an online shop, the products on the marketplace are not sold by an operator to customers; instead, users sell items to other users. These can be new or used items. As the operator, you receive a commission or fee.

Such marketplaces can now also be easily created with a plugin for WordPress, such as WooCommerce. There are already numerous successful WC vendors who have set up their own marketplace and become independent.

The advantage is that creating it with such plugins is much simpler because you don’t have to develop the entire platform yourself.

In Germany, marketplaces have existed on the internet for many years. The best-known website of this kind is eBay. However, the market leader is not a WooCommerce provider but a platform specially developed for its operator. Newer, but also well-known, is the Etsy portal.

The Different Types of Online Portals and Platforms

There are several different types of online platforms on the market. Below is an overview of the types of platforms you can create.

10 Tips for Successfully Having an Online Marketplace Created

In this section, we’ll share our ten expert tips with you, which should help you create a marketplace with WordPress plugins successfully.

The market is tough, but not exhausted, and with the right planning and a savvy mind, a lot of revenue can be generated here.

The following tips will help you do just that.

Tip 1: Choose the Right Theme

For WordPress and most marketplaces, there is a large selection of themes. It’s important to select a suitable design that fits your industry and possibly your corporate identity. The first impression counts here as well, usually formed by how the website looks.

It’s also important that it’s a professional theme, ideally paid or self-created. You want to avoid errors, dead links, formatting issues, etc.

The first step is the purchase. For this, it’s important that people stay on your site. Even if the user doesn’t buy or list any products themselves. If the design is boring or inappropriate, most people will leave before a purchase or sale even takes place.

Tip 2: Use a Plugin with Multi-Vendor Functionality

There are many platforms on the internet that offer product sales and other transactions. Therefore, it’s important that you don’t limit yourself to a single provider, but ideally choose software that can be used with multiple providers or integrated with them.

One example is the WooCommerce Multi-Vendor Option. This way, you create a marketplace that has especially broad reach because you can offer your products to a large number of people.

Tip 3: The Best WooCommerce Marketplace Is Easy to Navigate

When designing your marketplace, make sure it’s easy to use. Both sellers and buyers need to be able to quickly perform the actions they want.

For the WC provider, this includes things like adding products, editing a product, approving a payment, or easily enabling payment options like PayPal and receiving payments.

For the user or buyer, it’s functionalities such as creating a new account or being able to view detailed information about a product.

Additionally, things like handling and completing payments, as well as approving or rejecting transactions, should be done easily via a button or a tab.

Tip 4: Implement a Reliable and Modern Search Function

The search function is a standard component of an online marketplace. Without it, customers can’t find the product they want.

However: The search function should also be modern. That means autocomplete is essential, and products should be suggested as you type. Moreover, the desired WordPress plugin should be able to narrow down search results via filters, so that digital products and other items can be found easily and quickly.

If you create a new page in WordPress or let your customers list products, the search must automatically update so that these changes are reflected in the database.

Tip 5: Create a Rating System for Your WordPress Marketplace

In e-commerce, a rating system is essential. This is especially true for marketplaces where anyone can sign up and sell something.

This can be created in WordPress easily and shows potential buyers how reputable and good a seller is. This increases security and customer satisfaction.

All platforms like eBay, Amazon, etc. use corresponding systems for customer reviews, and they’re indispensable for a successful marketplace.

These and other functions can be easily installed and activated via a plugin. The WooCommerce marketplace already includes a rating feature by default.

Tip 6: Good Customer Service Is Essential

Good customer service is essential for the success of any business. E-commerce is no exception.

Support should be directed at both the buyer and the customer. Help customers create and manage their profile, or help them list products, pay suppliers, or simply create a new page for products or their shop.

Ideally, support should be available by chat, phone, and email. Later on, at step 2, it might also be worthwhile to offer support through social networks.

Tip 7: Use Social Networks for Your WooCommerce Marketplace

Social networks are indispensable for the success of an online marketplace. The reach here is large, and advertising is easy to set up. That’s why other users can quickly find their way to you.

Additionally, you can publish photos and videos. You can also set different commission rates for different sellers. For example, you can offer customers from social networks better terms via special offers.

You can do this with multiple platforms. If, for instance, you’re on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, you can set an individual commission rate for each network.

Tip 8: Offer Various Payment Options for WordPress and WooCommerce

When developing a marketplace, analyze how your customers want to pay and offer various options.

Your e-commerce shop with WooCommerce should at least offer direct debit, bank transfer, credit card, as well as electronic providers like PayPal, Skrill, etc. Providers like Giropay, Klarna, and Sofortüberweisung might also be useful.

Users who sell on your platform should be able to set how they accept payments when adding a product, and they should be able to change this at any time. Especially in a multi-vendor environment, it’s also advisable to enable various payment options. In any case, all transactions should be secure, and there must be certain guarantees for all parties involved.

Tip 9: Create an Admin Area for WooCommerce That’s Easy to Use

Anyone who has sold something on the internet knows that it’s a complex process. An account has to be created, and the item has to be uploaded with images and a description. But for users as well, things like registering accounts and creating new profiles are required.

It’s important that these functions are easy to find and that these tedious tasks are as straightforward as possible for the user.

Allow customers, for example, to sign up and sell their products immediately without having to look for a long time. If someone wants to register and create a new account, the link should be easy to find. If multiple users share a shop, the provider’s features and permissions must be able to be changed. Also, order areas and shipping zones must be set, and then shipping methods for these zones must be defined.

These are just some examples. In short: Everything should be as simple and straightforward as possible yet remain secure.

Tip 10: Use Google Analytics with Your Marketplace

To install it, you must first visit the desired page. WooCommerce is a good choice. Then you need to install and activate the plugin. Before installation, also check if your hosting allows you to run your WordPress website with WooCommerce installed. Special packages like Hosting for WooCommerce are recommended.

Once the page is set up, you need to configure Google Analytics so that you can track visitor numbers and other key statistics.

Creating a Shop for Buyers and Sellers: Summary and Conclusion

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