Do you want to notify users only on replies to their WordPress comments?
By default, users won’t know that someone has replied to their comment unless they come back to the comment section and see the response. This makes it hard to generate in-depth discussions and debates on your website.
In this article, we will show you how to easily notify users every time someone replies to their WordPress comment.
Why Notify Users on Replies to Their WordPress Comments?
Comments are a great way to build user engagement, create a community, and increase your pageviews in WordPress. A long and interesting comment section can even keep people on your website longer, as they will want to read through all the comments.
However, by default, WordPress doesn’t notify people when their comment gets a reply. Instead, the commenter will need to revisit the WordPress post and check whether anyone has responded.
By notifying users when their comment gets a reply, you can often get them to come back to your site. It’s also a great way to get more comments on your WordPress posts and spark in-depth and interesting discussions.
With that being said, let’s see how you can notify users when someone replies to their comment in WordPress. We will share 2 methods, using a premium plugin like Thrive Comments and also a free plugin.
Simply click the links below to jump ahead to any section:
Notify Users Only on Replies to Their Comments Using Thrive Comments
The easiest way to notify users when someone replies to their comments in WordPress is by using Thrive Comments.
It is the best WordPress comments plugin and is part of the Thrive Themes plugin suite. With Thrive Comments, you get features to improve engagement with your comments. For instance, it lets you show comment badges, allow upvotes/downvotes, subscribe to comment threads, and more.
To learn more about the plugin suite’s features and benefits, please see our detailed Thrive Themes Suite review.
After signing up for an account, you can go to the account dashboard.
Next, you’ll need to click the ‘Download and install the Thrive Product Manager plugin’ link.
From here, you can install and activate the Thrive Product Manager plugin on your WordPress website. For more details, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, you can head to the Product Manager page from your WordPress dashboard. Go ahead and click the ‘Log into my account’ button.
Next, you will see the Thrive Product Manager dashboard after logging in.
From the dashboard, simply select the Thrive Comments plugin and click the ‘Install selected products’ button.
You should see a success message saying ‘Ready to use’ when the installation is complete.
After that, you can click the ‘Go to the Thrive Themes Dashboard’ button at the bottom.
In the Thrive Themes dashboard, you will see all your installed plugins in the suite.
Go ahead and click the ‘Thrive Comments’ button.
Next, you will see the Thrive Comments settings.
Simply navigate to the Notifications option and click to expand.
In order to send email notifications, you’ll need to connect to an email delivery service.
Thrive Comments supports some of the most popular services, like Drip, Constant Contact, Mailchimp, AWeber, ActiveCampaign, and more.
You can click the ‘+ Add new Connection’ option to continue.
After that, you will need to select an app to connect with Thrive Comments.
Simply click the dropdown menu and choose your email delivery service.
Next, Thrive Comments will require an API key or API token for your selected service.
You can find the API key in your email marketing tools account area or dashboard.
Do note that the steps for accessing the keys might be different for each tool, so we recommend going through the document or reaching out to their customer support for help.
Next, you can customize the comment notifications that users will receive when there is a reply to their comment.
There are 2 types of notifications you can set up in Thrive Comments. The Comment Notification is when users are notified via email when someone replies to their comments. Post Notification is when a user receives an email whenever a new comment or reply is added to that particular post.
Let’s go ahead and customize these notifications.
To edit the Comment Notification, simply hover over it and click the pencil icon.
Next, you can edit the text of the email, change the email subject line, and more.
Thrive Comments also lets you use notification shortcodes to add more details to your email notifications. For example, you can add a site title, comment author, unsubscribe link, and more.
When you’re done, simply click the ‘Save’ button.
Similarly, you can also customize the Post Notifications emails. You can also use shortcodes to add more details to your email text.
After editing the notification, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button.
Now, when a user posts a comment on a blog post and someone replies to it, they’ll automatically get an email notification.
Notify Users Only on Replies to Their Comments Using a Free Plugin
Another way to notify users about replies to their WordPress comments is by using Subscribe to Comments Reloaded. It is a free plugin that allows users to sign up for email notifications every time someone responds to a comment.
The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Subscribe to Comments Reloaded plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, you can configure the plugin’s settings by going to STCR » Comment Form.
Here, you’ll need to find the ‘Advanced subscription’ section and click on the toggle so it shows Yes.
Then, open the ‘Subscription type’ dropdown and choose the ‘Replies to this comment ‘ option.
By default, the plugin shows a few different messages to your users, which you can see in the ‘Messages for your visitors’ section.
You can change any of these messages by typing into the small text editors. However, we recommend keeping all the links, as they give visitors access to pages where they can manage their subscriptions.
Once you have done that, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on ‘Save Changes’ to store your settings.
Now, if you visit your WordPress website, then you will see a subscription option beneath the comment section.
By default, this is set to ‘Don’t subscribe,’ but visitors can change this to ‘Replies to my comments’ to get a notification every time someone responds.
Visitors can also subscribe without leaving a comment. In this way, they can follow interesting discussions or debates on your WordPress blog.
To do this, they simply need to click on the ‘Subscribe’ link.
This takes them to the ‘Manage Subscription’ page, where they can type in their email address and create their subscription.
The Subscribe to Comments Reloaded plugin has more settings that you can use to customize your comment subscriptions. These include a few security options to help combat comment spam and enable reCAPTCHA.
Expert Tip: After setting up these comment notification emails, you will want to make sure they arrive safely in the user’s inbox and not in the spam folder. With that in mind, we also recommend using an SMTP service provider like WP Mail SMTP to improve your email deliverability rate.
WordPress has become a global leader as a website builder and CMS platform, hosting the majority of the world’s websites. This leading position didn’t just happen overnight; it’s been more than twenty years in the...
We rarely read on the web. We mostly scan. That’s a reliable strategy to quickly find what we need in times when we’re confronted with more information than we can handle. But scanning also means that we often skip key details. This is not only inefficient but can also be very damaging to your business.
Let’s explore how users read — or scan — on the web and how we can prevent harmful scanning patterns.
One of the most common scanning patterns is the F-shape pattern. Users start at the top left, read a few lines, and then start to scan vertically. But it isn’t the only scanning pattern on the web. Being aware of different patterns is the first step to helping users better navigate your content.
Different patterns describe how users scan content on the web. The F-shape pattern is probably the best-known one.
F-Pattern Users first read horizontally, then read less and less until they start scanning vertically. The first lines of text and the first words on each line receive more attention. It also applies to LTR-interfaces, but the F is flipped.
Layer-Cake Pattern Users scan consistently across headings, with deliberate jumps into body text in between. Most effective way to scan pages and find key content details.
Love-at-First-Sight Pattern Users are often “satisficers,” searching for what’s good enough, not exhaustive enough. In search results, they often fixate on a single result.
Lawn-Mower Pattern In tables, users start in the top left cell, move to the right until the end of the row, and then drop down to the next row, moving in the same pattern.
Spotted Pattern Skipping big chunks of text and focusing on patterns. Often happens in search when users look for specific words, shapes, links, dates, and so on.
Marking Pattern Eyes focus in one place as the mouse scrolls or a finger swipes. Common on mobile more than on desktop.
Bypassing Pattern Users deliberately skip the first words of the line when multiple lines start with the same word.
Commitment Pattern Reading the entire content, word by word. Happens when users are highly motivated and interested. Common for older adults.
F-Shape Scanning And The Lack Of Rhythm
On the web, we often argue about the fold, and while it does indeed exist, it really doesn’t matter. As Christopher Butler said, “length is not the problem — lack of rhythm is.”
A designer’s main job is to direct attention intentionally. Scanning is partial attention. Reading is focused attention. A screen without intentional rhythm will lose attention as it is being scanned. One with controlled rhythm will not only retain attention, it will deepen it.
Think of F-shape scanning as a user’s fallback behavior if the design doesn’t guide them through the content well enough. So prevent it whenever you can. At least, give users anchors to move to E-shape scanning, and at best, direct their attention to relevant sections with Layer-Cake scanning.
Direct Attention And Provide Anchors
Good formatting can reduce the impact of scanning. To structure scanning and guide a user’s view, add headings and subheadings. For engagement, alternate sizes, spacing, and patterns. For landing pages, alternate points of interest.
Generally, it’s a good idea to visually group small chunks of related content. To offer anchors, consider front-loading headings with keywords and key points — it will help users quickly make sense of what awaits them. Adding useful visuals can also give users points to anchor to.
Another way to guide users through the page is by adding few but noticeable accents to guide attention. You will need visible, well-structured headings and subheadings that stand out from the other content on the page. In fact, adding subheadings throughout the page might be the best strategy to help users find information faster.
Data-heavy content such as large, complex tables require some extra attention and care. To help users keep their position as they move across the table, keep headers floating. They provide an anchor no matter where your user’s eyes are focusing and make it easier to look around and compare data.
Key Takeaways
Users spend 80% of time viewing the left half of a page.
They read horizontally, then skip to content below.
Scanning is often inefficient as users miss large chunks of content and skip key details.
Good formatting reduces the impact of F-scanning.
Add heading and subheadings for structured scanning.
Show keywords and key points early in your headings to improve scanning.
For engagement, alternate sizes, spacing, patterns.
For landing pages, alternate points of interest.
Visually group small chunks of related content.
Keep headers floating in large, complex data tables.
Add useful visuals to give users points to anchor to.
If you are interested in similar insights around UX, take a look at Smart Interface Design Patterns, our 10h-video course with 100s of practical examples from real-life projects — with a live UX training later this year. Everything from mega-dropdowns to complex enterprise tables — with 5 new segments added every year. Jump to a free preview.
Are you looking for the best WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins?
Creating your own online store is great, but you could potentially earn more money by letting other sellers rent a small part of the space. With multi-vendor plugins, you can turn your eCommerce site into a professional-looking marketplace, such as eBay, Amazon, or Etsy.
In this article, we will go over the best WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins so that you can allow other sellers to promote their products on your website.
Why Do You Need a WooCommerce Multi Vendor Plugin?
A WooCommerce multi-vendor plugin allows you to turn your store into a marketplace where vendors can easily sell their products. It adds a feature to your WooCommerce site where other users create their own stores and manage products, payments, and orders.
Rather than trying to tinker with code, WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins are the fastest way to get started.
Creating a marketplace might be useful if your website has a large audience who wants to buy certain products. Maybe you can drive traffic to the marketplace but don’t have the products to sell.
In that case, you can just bring sellers onboard to your marketplace and earn a commission for each sale.
Here are just a few advantages of building your own eCommerce multi-vendor website:
Earn a commission: As mentioned, you can piggyback on the sales generated by vendors on your site. This is similar to dropshipping, where you can make money online without having to deal with the hassle of managing inventory or shipping.
An expanded audience: The more sellers on your eCommerce platform, the more customers you’ll have. Each seller brings their own word-of-mouth contacts, established customer base, and social media presence, which means more visitors to your platform.
Sell a wide range of products: Every seller can add their own unique products or services. This can be either physical or digital products. It’s a win-win for everyone because customers have more products to choose from.
Save on costs: Creating a marketplace usually takes a huge upfront investment, such as hiring developers to code a website that offers multi-vendor functionality.
With all that said, let’s look at the top WordPress multi-vendor plugins available so you can create a beautiful marketplace that attracts both buyers and sellers.
WC Vendors is the best WooCommerce multi-vendor plugin out there, and it has all the features you need to convert your online store into a marketplace and begin selling third-party products online.
You can easily accept registrations from potential vendors. That way, they can hop on board and start selling on your platform. You can require admin approval, or vendor submissions can be approved automatically.
That said, if you require a more comprehensive application process, it’s best to use a dedicated form builder.
For example, WPForms would allow you to create a multi-page user registration form to collect all the information you need. You may want to ask sellers about the types of products they sell, their current revenue, and whether they already have a retail store.
In addition, the plugin offers plenty of customization options. Individual vendors can create their own storefronts, and they have the ability to easily upload products, manage inventory, and fulfill orders.
Best of all, you can set the commission rate to a fixed or percentage rate. You can even set up a tiered system where you reduce commission rates for top sellers to incentivize them to keep selling on your website.
If you are not ready to commit to a paid plan, then WC Vendors offers a free version to help you get started. You can easily allow vendors to register, and you can set up a commission rate for sales. Beyond that, all vendors have the ability to publish products.
That said, if you want more advanced features, such as creating service or digital product marketplaces, offering more SEO compatibility, adding auction capabilities, and creating membership plans, then you need to install the Pro version.
Pros:
With its launch wizard, WC Vendors is easy to set up.
WC Vendors make it easy to accept vendor registrations.
You can accept customer reviews and ratings on each product page.
Cons:
While there is a free version, the best features are paid.
Pricing: Starts at $99.50 per year.
Why We Recommend Using WCVendors: We recommend WC Vendors as the best choice for turning your online store into a highly profitable marketplace. It has all the features needed to sell physical products, handcrafted and second-hand goods, digital products, services, and more. Plus, since the plugin supports many WordPress themes and plugins, you can easily integrate all sorts of marketing apps to boost sales and conversations.
To learn more about its features, check out our complete WC Vendors review.
Trusted by over 60,000+ marketplaces, Dokan is one of the most popular WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins on the market. Like WC Vendors, it lets you create your own online marketplace, similar to Amazon, eBay, or Magneto, in under 30 minutes.
What’s great about Dokan is that each vendor gets their own customizable dashboard on the storefront. They can easily control and navigate each aspect of their store, like creating product listings, managing orders, creating coupons, and viewing sales reports. However, the backend access is restricted to those with admin access only.
Dokan has arguably the most available payment gateways, with over 100+ integrations, including Apple Pay, Stripe Express, Google Pay, Razor Pay, and more. Vendors can enjoy automatic payment distribution, meaning that the plugin automatically calculates and distributes payouts with the commissions already included.
Also, vendors can easily manage shipments as well by selecting their own shipping zones or setting flat-rate shipping. It’s a good idea to have a built-in shipping calculator at the checkout page so customers can view the final price to avoid unexpected surprises.
Pricing: Free to get started with limited features. But if you want a full-featured marketplace with product bulk edits, multiple commission types, and reporting, the plans start at a one-time fee of $559.
Pros:
Dokan has 20+ extensions, allowing you to add a lot of different functionalities to your marketplace.
The plugin has a built-in order tracking system so vendors and customers can see the status of their shipments.
It is an easy-to-use plugin with an intuitive interface.
Cons:
Dokan’s paid plan is more expensive than WC Vendors.
It doesn’t have advanced commission settings like WC Vendors.
Why We Recommend Using Dokan: It’s hard to argue against Dokan, especially with all of its add-ons and integration capabilities. Dokan also provides all the essential features you need, like commission settings, vendor customization, and more.
MultiVendorX is one of the best plugins for creating a niche marketplace. What’s cool about MultiVendorX is that you are not limited to making just an eCommerce marketplace.
You can also add subscriptions, auction features, or even a rental marketplace. Let’s say you wanted only to sell handmade goods, similar to how you would use Etsy. With MultiVendorX, you are in total control.
MultiVendorX gives you a wider range of monetization strategies than other platforms. While you can charge a commission fee, you can also charge subscription fees, listing fees, pay-per-contact, pay-per-action, or a mixed model. Pay-per-contact and pay-per-action would be best suited to a service marketplace.
For example, when a user books a table at a restaurant through your marketplace, you would get paid for that.
MultiVendorX also offers an easy-to-read analytics dashboard so that you can view sales performance. You can filter by vendors, products, product categories, and more.
There’s even a Google Analytics integration that allows you to track your traffic sources. That being said, we recommend using MonsterInsights to get insights from Google Analytics directly in your WordPress dashboard.
Pricing: Free to get started, but if you want advanced features, plans start at $399 per year.
Paid plans are more expensive due to their diverse feature set.
Why We Recommend Using MultiVendorX: If selling products isn’t your main focus, then MultiVendorX might be the perfect solution. It allows you to create niche, subscription-based, and auction marketplaces. So whether you want to be the next eBay or Craigslist, there’s something for everyone. The plugin offers many monetization options, so you are not just limited by charging commissions, either.
WooCommerce Product Vendors is an official plugin from WooCommerce that allows you to turn your store into a powerful marketplace. At its core, the plugin lets you:
Build a diverse community of sellers.
Set a commission rate for each vendor.
Receive detailed earnings and sales.
While vendors don’t have the same level of customization over their storefronts as plugins like WC Vendors or Dokan, they do still have some control. For example, they can manage their shipping rules, view sales performance, control their public profiles, and send customers tracking numbers.
The biggest advantage to using this plugin is that it’s a part of the vast WooCommerce ecosystem. It allows you to sell anything from digital downloads and handmade products to music, themes, photographs, and more. You could even sell services and have customers book appointments using WooCommerce Bookings.
Pricing: It costs $119 per year.
Pros:
You can tailor the appearance of vendor pages to align with your brand.
Woo Product Vendors allows you to onboard new sellers easily with a customizable registration form.
Vendors can manage their product listings, orders, and inventories.
Cons:
Vendors must have PayPal accounts to use the plugin’s automatic payout feature, which can be very limiting for sellers in certain regions.
It doesn’t allow vendors to customize the front end of their store.
Why We Recommend Using Product Vendors: WooCommerce Product Vendors is a simple solution that lets you easily turn your store into a multi-vendor site. You can enable commissions based on a set amount, percentage, store, product, vendor, or individual. Beyond that, you can set payouts to send on a schedule like weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.
YITH WooCommerce Multi Vendor is a beginner-friendly WooCommerce multi-vendor plugin that allows you to create and manage an eCommerce marketplace similar to AliExpress, SHEIN, or Amazon. It comes with both free and paid versions, so you can test the tool before making a commitment.
What’s unique about the YITH WooCommerce Multi Vendor plugin is that you can customize what appears on the vendor side. For example, you can perform actions like setting the seller’s header size and color, customizing the related products section, and more.
You also get instant compatibility with all of the YITH plugins. For instance, if you wanted to add reviews of all products to each listing, then you could connect your site to the YITH WooCommerce Advanced Reviews plugin.
Pricing: It costs $149.99 per year.
Pros:
You can easily set up your marketplace.
The plugin allows you to customize the registration form and approve or reject vendor applications.
As the marketplace owner, you can set vendor permissions.
Cons:
Vendors don’t have a lot of customization options to personalize their own store.
Why We Recommend Using YITHWooCommerce Multi Vendor: We like the YITH WooCommerce Multi Vendor plugin because it gives the owner a lot of control over what vendors can and can’t do. You can set the commissions and permissions. for instance, you can decide whether you want to allow them to generate coupons, manage reviews, or limit the number of products they can publish.
WCFM Marketplace is a free marketplace plugin from the WordPress repository. It has a lot of the essential features you’d expect, like flexible commissions, vendor registration, bulk product uploads, and more.
Vendors have a lot of control over their shipping rates. They can set them by zone, country, distance, weight, country, and even zip code.
The plugin also gives the marketplace owner a lot of control. For instance, you can set the rules for withdrawals and disbursements. It also supports reverse withdrawals in the event that a customer requests a refund.
You can configure the refund settings for vendors. For instance, you may want refunds to be auto-approved or set up to enforce a threshold number of days for permissible refunds.
But if you want additional features, then the WCFM Marketplace has a wide range of paid add-ons. For example, the WooCommerce Frontend Manager addon allows you to set store hours, store vacations, add reviews, and more.
The Analytics addon gives you the ability to analyze visitors and sales by product category, specific products, traffic sources, etc.
Pricing: Free to get started, but they offer a variety of premium extensions available that range between $19 to $249+.
Pros:
Marketplace owners have a lot of control over setting rules for operating their multi-vendor stores.
It is a relatively affordable plugin with a free plan.
Vendors can configure the store’s SEO by placing appropriate keywords.
Cons:
There are complaints about the quality of customer service.
You need to pay for add-ons to allow vendors to customize and manage the front end of their stores.
Why We Recommend Using WCFM Marketplace: WCFM Marketplace is a good option with a wide range of feature sets for both the marketplace owner and vendors. Plus, unique customizations such as seller verification and badges are available. The verification ensures a seller verifies they are a real person, and the badge will showcase the best vendors on your site.
Easy Digital Downloads is a popular plugin for selling digital products like ebooks, courses, audio, pdf, templates, and more.
While it’s not a WooCommerce plugin, it’s the best choice for people looking to turn their website into a digital product marketplace.
With the Frontend Submissions addon, you can configure your own eCommerce store for selling third-party products. Once configured, you can allow anyone to sell digital products through your store, similar to Etsy or Gumroad.
Note: While there is a free version, you’ll need the Pro plugin to access the Frontend Submissions addon.
On the front end, vendors can register to become sellers in your marketplace. Upon approval, they’ll be given access to a vendor dashboard, where they can create new products, add product pages, manage orders, access revenue stats, and communicate with customers.
What’s also cool about this addon is that it integrates with the Reviews extension. That way, customers can rate and leave reviews on the products they’ve purchased. Vendors get valuable feedback about their products and can leverage these reviews as social proof for more orders.
Everything is drag-and-drop, so vendors can easily build out their product listings without writing code. All they do is add a product description, upload images, and set their pricing.
Vendors can easily create their own storefronts since everything is drag-and-drop.
Vendors have the power to track their stats and communicate with customers.
Cons:
Easy Digital Downloads is geared towards selling digital products, not physical products.
Why We Recommend Using Easy Digital Downloads: If you plan on selling digital products, then Easy Digital Downloads is the perfect choice. While it’s not a WooCommerce plugin, it still works for all WordPress websites. Easy Digital Downloads also comes with a wide range of extensions like multi-currency capabilities, email marketing service and payment gateway integrations, add-to-cart pop-ups, and more.
Other Useful Plugins for WooCommerce Websites
Besides having a WooCommerce multi-vendor plugin to simply create the marketplace, you might want to download a few additional tools to help provide sellers and buyers with a better user experience.
TeraWallet is a free WordPress plugin that lets your customers easily store money in a digital wallet on your multi-vendor marketplace website.
Returning buyers can add money to their wallets using a variety of payment methods and later use it to make purchases. With this plugin installed on the website, customers won’t have to fill in their payment details every time or for every vendor they purchase from.
Beyond the core wallet functionality, TeraWallet has a useful cashback and rewards system that allows you to provide discounts to customers based on their purchases.
For instance, you can set cashback rates for specific categories or products and even provide bonus cashback during special events or seasonal promotions. This is a great way to build customer loyalty and drive more buyers to your marketplace.
Pricing: Free to use
Pros:
The plugin is free to use.
Customers can deposit funds, transfer money to other users, and make purchases with their wallet balance.
Customers can even make partial payments with the balance and the remainder with their credit cards.
Cons:
It’s not a multi-vendor-specific plugin, so it works for regular WooCommerce and online stores, too.
Why We Recommend Using TeraWallet: We like TeraWallet as a plugin to improve the user experience. If you want your customers to keep returning to your website, then it’s a good idea to ensure a seamless checkout experience. With TeraWallet, customers can keep an account balance, and sellers can reward them with cashback.
It helps you add product feeds to your marketing channels, such as Facebook, Google Shopping, Bing Ads, and others. Adding these feeds will help you showcase your top sellers, which help you boost their sales. Best of all, this plugin has an unlimited number of products you can put in your product feeds.
In addition, you can set various filters and rules to show only your vendor’s most profitable products. You can exclude products that are low on stock, have low-profit margins, or only include products on sale.
Pricing: Free to use
Pros:
Free and paid versions are available.
Filter rules so you can show the best products for your marketing campaigns.
100+ templates included for marketplaces and comparison shopping engines.
Cons:
It is not designed explicitly for multi-vendor sites, so each seller does not get their own control set.
Why We Recommend Using Product Feed Pro for WooCommerce: We like Product Feed Pro for WooCommerce because it’s a good way to help advertise your marketplace. Adding product feeds to your Google Shopping campaigns will allow you to showcase some of the most popular products on your website and, in turn, help out your vendors.
How to Choose the Right WooCommerce Multi-Vendor Plugin
Not all WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins are made equal. That’s because you may have specific needs that are different from those of other eCommerce marketplaces.
But still, here are some key features and factors to consider when making your decision.
Vendor Management Tools
At the heart of a successful eCommerce marketplace is the ability to easily manage multiple vendors. So, you’ll want to look for vendor management features such as:
Unlimited product uploads and variations
Inventory management
Sales data and reporting dashboard
Shipping management
Vendor Registration
For instance, WC Vendors provides a full vendor dashboard so you can see all of your orders and shipment status.
The idea is that the plugin should be able to handle all multi-vendor activities, contributing to smoother operation.
Individual Vendor Stores
Your branding plays a vital role in attracting vendors and customers. That means your chosen platform offers a high level of customization.
These customization options may include things like flexible layout designs, adjustable themes, and personalized storefronts for vendors. Each vendor must have its own independent storefront with unique URLs that customers can send.
On top of that, vendors should have the power to add custom dashboard logos, unique headers, and product descriptions.
Commission Structure
Since you are responsible for driving all the traffic to your marketplace, it’s a good idea to have a commission structure in place.
The best multi-vendor plugins offer a flexible commission system. Under this system, you can charge vendors a fixed or percentage fee for every successful sale made through your platform.
For instance, WC Vendors allows you to set multiple commission types. You can even offer tiered commissions based on product price, product sales, or total sales.
Essentially, it allows you to take a small cut to provide the customer base, infrastructure, and platform so that vendors can sell their products or services.
Payment Gateways
Without convenient payment gateway options, there’s a good chance your visitors will abandon their shopping carts.
No matter how many pop-ups, social proof, countdown timers, or other trust badges you add, customers need a reliable payment option they can trust, like Stripe and PayPal.
These are trusted WooCommerce payment gateways available in most countries. They allow you to process credit card payments. Furthermore, customers know they can always contact these payment providers should a problem arise with their order.
Integration and Third-Party Apps
Your multi-vendor plugin is just one part of your entire eCommerce ecosystem. You’ll need other third-party apps such as inventory management systems, email marketing services, accounting software, and help desk plugins.
For example, adding various WooCommerce shipping plugins is probably helpful so that customers can calculate extra fees before checkout and track their orders after making a purchase.
WC Vendors offers integrations with UPS and FedEx shipping plugins, which is helpful for getting accurate shipping costs and handling returns.
Navigation and Search
When customers land on a marketplace site, they expect a smooth shopping experience. Slow website performance or a lack of mobile responsiveness are a few factors that could increase bounce rates.
But beyond that, it’s helpful to have a search bar on your site along with a filter option. For example, WC Vendors provides a sorting feature so users can easily sort through products by rating, price point, and popularity.
They also have an intuitive search functionality so shoppers can find the products they’re looking for without needing to scroll through pages of product listings.
Documentation and Customer Support
When an issue comes up, getting the error fixed should be the top priority. That’s why you want to look for a multi-vendor plugin with a dedicated support team that you can easily reach.
It should also provide a comprehensive knowledge base with documentation showing you how to perform every single function offered by the platform. Ideally, there should also be a way to submit a support ticket or a live chat feature where you can speak with a customer service representative.
Frequently Asked Questions About WooCommerce Multi Vendor Plugins
What is the best multi-vendor plugin for WooCommerce?
Based on our experience and testing, WC Vendors is the best multi-vendor plugin for WooCommerce. Its combination of user-friendliness, customization, and diverse feature sets makes it the most popular choice for building your own online marketplace.
Why create a multi-vendor marketplace?
Creating your own marketplace allows you to stand out from the pack. You can create niche multi-vendor platforms to serve a specific audience, such as a marketplace for hand-crafted goods or an online booking system for online contractors. The possibilities are endless. By creating a multi-vendor site, you can earn an additional income stream with commissions and serve a niche audience.
With all that in mind, WC Vendors is the best overall multi-vendor plugin for WooCommerce since you can sell physical goods, digital products, services, and subscriptions. That said, MultiVendorX offers multiple monetization methods like charging a subscription model, listing fees, or pay-per-action.
