Differences between WordPress Marketplace and WordPress eCommerce

When it comes to selling products online and building your business, there are two big questions; what is more cost-effective and advantageous in the long term? To invest in a marketplace or in e-commerce? In this article, you will find the advantages and disadvantages of each option, so that you can make the right choice for your business.

 What is a Marketplace?

A WordPress marketplace is a website that sells different products of various sellers. It works exactly like a shopping mall, but a virtual one. For a better understanding, three distinct parts are involved in this equation: the owner of the website, the seller of products, and the buyers. Some examples of popular marketplaces are Amazon and eBay.

The mechanism of operation of a WordPress marketplace is the following:

• The marketplace’s owner invest time and money to attract new sellers and clients
• The owner of the website is in charge of user experience
• The final product is stored and shipped by the seller
• The marketplace charge a commission from seller and buyer (5-15%)

The main advantage of choosing to sell on a WordPress Marketplace is that the vendors don’t have to worry about website maintenance or website performance. Also, setting up a new store on such a platform it’s very simple. All you need to do is to follow some basic steps and your online store it’s ready to sell!

What is WordPress eCommerce?

In contrast to a Marketplace, WordPress eCommerce is a website that sells many products of the same seller. In this case, the seller is also the owner of the website. Because the seller and the owner of the website are the same, in the selling process only two parties are involved: the seller and the buyer. Also, the responsibility to create and maintain the website is the owners.

Often, popular business owners prefer to have their own eCommerce store. Today there are many open-source platforms, one of them being WooCommerce, where you can create your own website. There is also a possibility to have both a WordPress eCommerce store and to collaborate with a famous marketplace.

WooCommerce description

If for a second you asked yourself what WooCommerce actually is and how it works, here is some essential information.

WooCommerce is an open-source, completely customizable eCommerce platform for entrepreneurs worldwide. It is built on WordPress and audited by Sucuri, an industry leader in security. 

Some of its main features are:

• The marketplace’s owner invest time and money to attract new sellers and clients
• The owner of the website is in charge of user experience
• The final product is stored and shipped by the seller
• The marketplace charge a commission from seller and buyer (5-15%)

Theme recommendations

For a better user experience and a great website design, here are some premium WordPress themes, with the help of which you will personalize your website to your liking.

iBid

iBid WordPress Auction Theme was specially designed for the owners of auction websites,  marketplaces and simple online shops. Beside the main characteristic it has, such as running normal auctions, reverse auctions, or standard product sales, using all the product types provided by WooCommerce, it is compatible with four different marketplace plugins: Dokan, WCFM Marketplace, WCMp Marketplace, and WC Vendors. 

 Iffiliate

This is a multi-purpose affiliate theme that can be used for multiple scopes, such as eCommerce affiliate & drop-shipping websites (for Amazon, eBay, Aliexpress, and more), travel affiliates, hosting, and VPN affiliates, casino affiliates, cryptocurrency affiliates, and more. Iffiliate is one of the most compact affiliates themes, that provides you with numerous features and updates.

Versatile

It is a multi-purpose and fully customizable WordPress theme. Versatile can be customized depending on your business domain, in the following fields: Lawyer, Blog, School, Creative agencies, Restaurant, Church, Online shop, and much more. It provides dozens of key features, being a business-oriented theme that helps you to have a great online presence. 

 Angro

Angro is a complete theme, offering a fully-packed B2B & B2C solution for stores and marketplace for wholesale. It is compatible with any B2B & B2C WooCommerce plugin and with 4 marketplace plugins, such as WCFM Marketplace, Dokan, WCMp & WC Vendors. If you choose this theme you will benefit from private shopping areas inside the WooCommerce store.