Dokan Multivendor Marketplace

What is Dokan

Dokan is a multivendor marketplace plugin for WordPress, developed by weDevs. It is designed to work on top of WooCommerce, transforming a standard single-seller eCommerce site into a fully functional online marketplace where multiple vendors can register, create their own stores, manage products, and sell to customers. The core purpose of Dokan is to provide a comprehensive, all-in-one solution for entrepreneurs who want to build platforms similar to Amazon, Etsy, or eBay. The platform administrator earns a commission from each sale made by the vendors. weDevs, the company behind Dokan, was founded in 2012 and is known for creating popular WordPress plugins and solutions for businesses.

Dokan Features

• Frontend Vendor Dashboard: Dokan provides a complete frontend experience for vendors. They can manage products, orders, discounts, and view sales reports without needing access to the WordPress backend. This simplifies the user experience for sellers.
• Admin Control and Reports: The marketplace owner has a centralized dashboard to oversee all activities. This includes managing vendors, setting commission rates, viewing earning reports, and making announcements.
• Flexible Commission System: Administrators can set commission rates globally, per vendor, or even for a specific product category. This allows for a versatile and fair earning model.
• Multiple Product Types: Dokan supports physical, downloadable, and bookable products. This makes it suitable for a wide range of marketplaces, from traditional goods to digital products and services like appointments or rentals.
• Payment Gateway Support: It integrates with numerous payment gateways, including Stripe Connect and Moip, allowing for secure and diverse payment options for customers worldwide.
• Withdrawal System: Vendors can request to withdraw their earnings. Admins can manage these requests, set withdrawal limits, and choose payment methods like PayPal or bank transfer.
• Store Customization: Each vendor gets a dedicated storefront with a unique URL. They can customize their store by adding a banner, profile picture, and social media links.
• Multilingual Support: The plugin is compatible with translation plugins like WPML, enabling you to create a marketplace that serves a global audience in multiple languages.

Dokan Pricing Plans

Dokan offers several pricing tiers to suit different business sizes and needs. The plans are structured based on the number of premium modules included, the level of customer support, and the number of sites the license can be used on.

• Starter Plan: Aimed at individuals and new entrepreneurs starting their first marketplace. It includes essential features and a limited set of premium modules.
• Professional Plan: Designed for growing businesses that require more advanced functionalities. This plan typically includes more modules, such as vendor subscriptions and Stripe Express.
• Business Plan: Suited for established marketplaces that need a wider range of tools for scaling, like geolocation, product advertising, and priority support.
• Enterprise Plan: The most comprehensive package for large-scale marketplaces, offering all available modules, the highest level of support, and licenses for multiple sites.

Dokan Free Plan

Yes, Dokan offers a free version called Dokan Lite, which is available for download from the official WordPress plugin repository. Dokan Lite provides the core functionality needed to start a multivendor marketplace, including:

• Unlimited vendors
• Frontend vendor dashboard
• Order management for vendors
• A global commission system
• Vendor withdrawal system The free plan has limitations, as advanced features like vendor subscriptions, seller verification, and premium payment gateways are only available in the paid versions.

How to use Dokan

Getting started with Dokan is a straightforward process for those familiar with WordPress.

1. Prerequisites: You need a WordPress website with the WooCommerce plugin installed and activated.
2. Install Dokan: Search for 'Dokan' in your WordPress dashboard under 'Plugins' > 'Add New' and install the Dokan Lite plugin. For premium versions, you upload the plugin file provided after purchase.
3. Run the Setup Wizard: After activation, Dokan launches a setup wizard. This guides you through configuring essential settings like your commission rate, withdrawal options, and new vendor permissions.
4. Vendor Registration: Vendors can register for an account directly from your website's frontend. Once approved by the admin, they gain access to their personal vendor dashboard.
5. Product Management: From their dashboard, vendors can add new products, set prices, write descriptions, and manage inventory.
6. Admin Oversight: As the marketplace owner, you can monitor all vendor activities, manage payouts, and oversee the entire operation from the WordPress admin area.

Pros and Cons of Dokan

Pros:

• User-Friendly Frontend: The frontend dashboard for vendors is intuitive and powerful, allowing them to manage their store without backend access.
• Highly Extensible: A large library of premium modules allows you to add specific functionalities as your marketplace grows.
• Based on WooCommerce: It leverages the power and flexibility of WooCommerce, giving you access to thousands of compatible extensions and themes.
• Active Development: The plugin is regularly updated with new features, improvements, and security patches.

Cons:

• Cost of Premium Modules: While the core plugin is free, the cost of premium plans and individual modules can become significant for a fully-featured marketplace.
• Performance Demands: A large marketplace with many vendors and products can be resource-intensive, potentially requiring high-performance hosting.
• Learning Curve: While user-friendly, mastering all the settings and features can take time for beginners.

Dokan integrations

Dokan is built on WordPress and WooCommerce, so it naturally integrates with the vast ecosystem of plugins available for both platforms. Key integrations include:

• Payment Gateways: Integrates with Stripe Connect, PayPal, Mangopay, and other major payment processors to handle complex marketplace payments and commission splitting.
• Page Builders: Fully compatible with page builders like Elementor, allowing you to design custom marketplace and store pages with drag-and-drop functionality.
• SEO Plugins: Works well with SEO tools like Rank Math and Yoast SEO, giving vendors options to optimize their product and store pages for search engines.
• Shipping Providers: Integrates with various shipping solutions for WooCommerce to provide real-time shipping rates and tracking.
• Multilingual Plugins: Supports WPML and other translation plugins to create a global, multilingual marketplace.

Dokan Alternatives

• WCFM Marketplace: A strong competitor that offers a very comprehensive set of features, even in its free version. It is known for its extensive feature list but can be more complex to configure than Dokan.
• WC Vendors: One of the original multivendor plugins for WooCommerce. It is a stable and reliable option, though its frontend dashboard is generally considered less modern than Dokan's.
• WCMp (WC Marketplace): Another popular alternative that focuses on providing a solid core experience. It offers a good balance of features and ease of use, with many extensions available for added functionality.
• Magento Marketplace: For those not tied to WordPress, Adobe Commerce (Magento) offers powerful built-in multivendor marketplace capabilities, but it is a more complex and expensive platform aimed at enterprise-level businesses.

Dokan API

Dokan provides a REST API that allows developers to interact with the marketplace data programmatically. This API is essential for building mobile applications for your marketplace or integrating it with other third-party services. The API endpoints allow you to manage vendors, products, orders, and more.

To use the API, you typically need to authenticate your requests. This is done using the WordPress REST API authentication methods, often by generating API keys for a specific user within the WordPress admin dashboard. You can find detailed documentation for developers on the official Dokan website.

Example API call to get a list of vendors:

curl -X GET https://yourmarketplacedomain.com/wp-json/dokan/v1/stores \
-H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_JWT_TOKEN>"

Dokan Affiliate program

Yes, Dokan has an affiliate program managed by its parent company, weDevs. Affiliates can earn a commission for referring new customers who purchase a premium Dokan plan. The program typically offers a competitive commission rate, often around 20% on each new sale.

To join, you need to sign up on the weDevs affiliate page. Once your application is approved, you will receive a unique referral link and access to a dashboard where you can track your clicks, referrals, and earnings. Payouts are usually made through PayPal once you reach a minimum earnings threshold.