Are you considering launching an online multi-vendor marketplace? Or are you already the proud owner of one? Whatever the case may be, it’s crucial to acknowledge the necessity of granting your vendors the ability to make product submissions.
Think of it as the fuel that drives the engine. If your sellers can’t add their items to their stores, they can’t expand their digital shelves. In turn, your marketplace won’t have anything to sell, and you won’t be able to cater to the ever-evolving needs of your customers. Ultimately, neither you nor your vendors make any money.
Today, we’ll discuss what you need to know about allowing product submissions. In addition, we’ll give you a brief tutorial on how to use the powerful marketplace solution, WC Vendors, to enable vendors to add products to their stores.
So let’s get started!
What Are Product Submissions?
First of all, what exactly are product submissions? Why are they essential for vendors navigating the dynamic landscape of e-commerce?
Simply put, product submissions refer to the process through which vendors add items to their stores within a multi-vendor marketplace platform. These submissions encompass everything from uploading product images and descriptions to setting prices and managing inventory levels. Essentially, they are the lifeblood of a vendor’s storefront, allowing them to showcase their offerings and engage with potential buyers.
As the owner or administrator of a multi-vendor marketplace, it’s vital to allow every vendor to add the products that they wish to sell to their store. Think of this as giving a vendor in a physical store permission to put their products on said store’s shelves.
What that in mind, let’s explore the value of giving vendors this ability a little more closely…
Why You Should Let Vendors Make Product Submissions
For your marketplace to succeed, you must permit your vendors to submit products to their stores. This is because this action:
1. Empowers vendors and your marketplace to succeed
As discussed in the intro, if you don’t let vendors add products to their stores, they won’t have any items to sell. Thus, you won’t be able to meet your customers’ demands, and no one on the platform profits.
Worse, you’ll end up upsetting consumers, thus destroying your chances of building a loyal customer base and ruining your marketplace’s reputation. No one – vendors and consumers alike – will ever want to do business with you. That’s a death sentence for your dreams of operating a profitable multi-vendor platform.
On the other hand, if you let vendors make product submissions, they can fill their stores with items that will draw customers to your marketplace. As a result, your sellers and your marketplace earn revenue that’s essential for growth.
Moreover, you develop a loyal following of repeat customers, encourage visits from potential customers, stimulate the generation of new leads, spread awareness about your brand, and promote your platform’s reputation. And you gain all of these huge benefits from an action as simple as allowing vendors to add products to their stores!
2. Fosters a sense of ownership and autonomy
By entrusting vendors with the reins of their digital storefronts, marketplace operators cultivate a symbiotic relationship built on trust and collaboration.
Vendors feel empowered to curate their own product catalog, tailor offerings to their target audience, and experiment with pricing strategies – all of which contribute to a vibrant and diverse marketplace ecosystem.
3. Enhances the agility and responsiveness of multi-vendor marketplaces
In a landscape where trends materialize and vanish in an instant, agility is key to staying ahead of the curve.
By allowing vendors to swiftly upload new products or adjust existing listings, marketplaces can quickly adapt to changing consumer preferences and market dynamics. This agility not only enhances the overall shopping experience for customers but also boosts vendor satisfaction and retention.
4. Drives growth and innovation within multi-vendor marketplaces
By democratizing the process of adding products, marketplaces unlock the creative potential of their vendor community.
From niche artisans to established brands, vendors bring a diverse array of products to the table, enriching the marketplace’s offerings and attracting a broader audience. This influx of innovation not only fuels competition but also spurs continuous improvement and differentiation, ultimately benefiting both vendors and customers alike.
How To Let Vendors Add Products To Their Stores (In 3 Easy Steps)
Now, it’s time to dive into how to give your sellers the power to add their products to their stores. And to accomplish this, we’re going to use the versatile marketplace solution, WC Vendors.
WC Vendors boasts many tools that make building and launching an online multi-vendor marketplace super easy.
Take note, however, that WC Vendors is a WooCommerce extension. This means you’ll first need to have an online store powered by:
Don’t worry, both platforms are absolutely free!
In addition, you’ll have to transform that WooCommerce store into a marketplace using WC Vendors. For detailed info on how to do this, check out the following guides:
- How To Create An Online Marketplace: A Beginner’s Guide
- How To Build Your First Multi-Vendor E-Commerce Website (Full Guide)
Thankfully, the free version of WC Vendors also lets you create and launch a fully operational multi-vendor marketplace. This means you don’t need to spend a single buck complete the steps in the guide below:
Step 1: Navigate to the Permissions page
Through the Permissions page, WC Vendors allows you to choose what your vendors can and can’t do on your platform.
Getting to the Permissions page is simple. First, access your WordPress dashboard. Then, click WC Vendors > Settings followed by the Capabilities tab. Lastly, click the General subtab.
As illustrated above, the Permissions page is where you’ll find various options that let you select your vendors’ abilities. To activate an option, simply tick its checkbox. And to deactivate it, untick the same checkbox.
Step 2: Enable the Submit Products option
To enable your vendors’ ability to make product submissions, you’ll have to activate the Submit Products option. Thankfully, this option is easy to find – it’s the first one you’ll see when you navigate to the Permissions page.
Now, go ahead and click the Submit Products checkbox to enable vendor product submissions.
As you can see, this option also allows vendors to edit products they’ve submitted to their stores.
While you’re on the page, feel free to examine the other options, as they can prove useful to both your sellers and yourself as the marketplace owner/administrator. And the awesome thing is that it’s extremely easy to figure out the purpose of each option thanks to the descriptions they come with.
For example, as the description of the Publish Approval option says, it “allows vendors to publish products directly to the marketplace without requiring approval.” In other words, enabling this option lets sellers publish items to their stores without the consent of the marketplace owner/admin. Thus, we highly recommend disabling this option.
For more on the Publish Approval option, check out our article, “Publishing Products With Your Approval: How To Manage Vendors Effectively.”
It’s also a good idea to enable the View Orders option, as this lets vendors keep track of customer orders.
Step 3: Save your work!
Once you’re done tweaking your Permissions settings, scroll down the page and click the Save Changes button. This activates Submit Products (and any other options you enabled) so that your vendors can add new items to their stores.
Conclusion
The ability to make product submissions is more than just a logistical process – it’s a cornerstone of success in the world of online multi-vendor marketplaces.
By enabling vendors to add products to their stores, you:
- Empower them and your marketplace to succeed
- Foster a sense of ownership and autonomy
- Enhance the agility and responsiveness of multi-vendor marketplaces
- Drive growth and innovation within multi-vendor marketplaces
Thus, whether you’re embarking on your journey to launch a multi-vendor marketplace or seeking to optimize an existing platform, remember the significance of empowering vendors through product submissions – it’s the key to unlocking the full potential of your marketplace ecosystem.
Do you have any questions about product submissions? Let us know in the comments section below!