Selling your products online has never been easier thanks to WordPress and numerous eCommerce themes. But what if you don’t have products to sell and want to make some additional income?
That’s where creating an online marketplace similar to Etsy or Ebay comes in. The beauty of a marketplace is that all you have to do is create the website and let other vendors sell their products while you take a cut of the sales.
There is no limit to the type of marketplace you can create; whether you want to sell digital or physical products, there is a theme to suit your needs.
Add to that the fact that popular marketplaces such as Amazon, Etsy, and eBay process millions of transactions on a daily basis, and you can easily see that creating an online marketplace is a viable business model.
You can find great WordPress marketplace themes and trending ecommerce WP themes on ThemeForest:
Read on to discover the best eCommerce themes for making a successful online marketplace. You need a WP theme with just the right set of quality features to build your marketplace with—quickly, securely, and with just the right design that fits your goals.
What Makes a Great Marketplace Theme?
An online marketplace is more complex than a regular online store. It requires additional functionality and features which include:
The ability for vendors to register and create their online store
Front-end submission forms so vendors can easily submit new items
Support for mega-menus to keep your navigation menu organized
Search and filter functions so buyers can browse through the items without any problems
Compatibility with popular e-Commerce plugins such as WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads
It goes without saying that your chosen theme should be responsive and include a blog which will help you get noticed by search engines and drive traffic to your marketplace.
15 Best WordPress Marketplace Themes For All Your Marketplace Needs
Here we've curated the best marketplace WordPress themes with all the features mentioned above, as well as highly customizable designs that will help you create the exact look and feel that you want for your marketplace.
1. Marketify - Clean and Modern WP Marketplace Theme
Marketify is a clean and modern marketplace theme with plenty of pre-designed page templates for registration, login, and vendor profile pages.
The WordPress eCommerce theme is responsive, and suitable for selling both digital and physical products. Vendors can easily add new products through the front end of your website, and the theme integrates with the Easy Digital Downloads plugin.
Showcase testimonials from satisfied buyers and provide social proof through video and audio previews of any given product. On top of that, potential customers can create their wish lists and leave reviews after they make purchases.
2. Handy - Stylish Handmade eCommerce Shop Theme
If you want to sell handmade goods, look no further than the Handy theme. This WordPress marketplace theme comes with Revolution Slider to create stunning slideshows of featured products. A number of page templates are available as well as a page builder which gives you complete control over the layout of your pages.
Use shortcodes to insert additional elements such as buttons and columns. Vendors have a thorough overview of their sales. The navigation menu supports the mega-menu feature and customers will have no problems finding the right product thanks to the sortable product grid.
3. Oswad - Responsive and Versatile WP Marketplace Theme
Oswad is a beautiful and responsive ecommerce marketplace theme with multiple homepage demos. You can customize every aspect of the theme and make use of multiple widgets to build the layout of your homepage.
FontAwesome icons will help you highlight different sections of your store and the homepage has plenty of space to display products across several categories.
A notable feature is the integration of a Live Chat module which allows you to answer any questions potential customers might have about the products.
4. Electro - Vibrant and Customizable Marketplace Theme
Electro is a great choice for anyone considering an electronics store. The theme features a prominent search bar as well as a product slider where you can showcase the most popular products. On top of the standard wishlist feature, customers can also compare products and track their orders once the purchase has been placed. Several menu variations are included in this WordPress eCommerce theme to make navigation as easy as possible. The theme is also responsive and fully customizable.
5. Fashion - Vintage Style WordPress Marketplace Theme
Fashion lovers will find everything they need to create a fashion marketplace in this theme.
You can use the header slider to display recent or popular products and show all the benefits your marketplace offers such as free shipping, member discounts, and more. Add a blog feed on the homepage to share the latest fashion trends with potential customers.
The theme also includes a Live Theme Editor so you can customize it to create a unique design. Customers can use the quick view feature to instantly see product features.
6. Makery - Feature-Rich WordPress Marketplace Theme
The Makery marketplace WordPress theme has a simple and clean design but comes packed with features on the backend. You can display highlighted products and popular stores on the homepage. You can also include a call to action in your header area to direct potential buyers and sellers to the right pages.
Vendors can use the Facebook login feature to register and create their store and the theme also offers multiple carts, shop commission, and a sales counter. You can integrate Google Analytics to keep track of your most important stats, and vendors can be notified of new sales thanks to email notifications.
7. SquareCode - Fast and SEO Optimized eCommerce WP Theme
SquareCode combines modern and responsive design with code that has been optimized for SEO and fast loading times. This marketplace WordPress theme integrates with Easy Digital Downloads which makes it a great choice for selling any type of digital product.
The header area includes a filterable menu, and the homepage features sections to display best-selling items from several categories. A standout feature is the email signup form which helps you build your email list.
8. Handmade - Sophisticated eCommerce Marketplace Theme
Handmade has a well-structured layout, and customers can filter through products thanks to product filter widgets. Eight different homepages make it possible to create a unique layout and Visual Composer integration makes it easy to tweak all the layouts to your liking.
Along with FontAwesome icons, extensive customization options, video backgrounds, and responsive design, the Handmade WordPress ecommerce theme packs quite a punch in terms of useful features.
9. Stocky - A Perfect Choice for a Photography Marketplace
Try out the Stocky theme if you want to create a site similar to Shutterstock and sell stock photography. The theme features a gallery of recently added photos on the homepage and allows vendors to display EXIF information for each photo. Photos can also easily be watermarked, and visitors can share your products thanks to the integration with social media. On top of that, the ecommerce theme is fully responsive, customizable, and translation-ready.
10. Dash - Custom Made Furniture WP Marketplace Theme
Dash is an excellent choice if you want to create a furniture marketplace. The header area features a slider of popular products with the search bar and contact information right above it. The WordPress marketplace theme also comes with a mega-menu and custom layouts for each static, blog, and shop page.
You can use the advanced theme options panel to customize colors, fonts, and more. Dash is responsive and retina-ready and includes thorough video documentation and a page builder to create custom layouts.
11. Mango - Unique WP Multipurpose Marketplace Theme
Mango is a unique and multipurpose WordPress ecommerce theme with more than 20 different demo versions covering a variety of niches. The theme includes a minimal and clean grid layout for featured products and recently added items.
You can also display testimonials from satisfied buyers as well as feature logos of your vendors or business partners. On top of that, the marketplace theme includes unlimited header variations, quick view integration, and responsive design.
12. Marketica - Advanced eCommerce WordPress Theme
Marketica is an advanced ecommerce theme that integrates with four different vendor plugins to turn your existing store into a vendor marketplace. It comes with Revolution Slider and Visual Composer Builder, as well as the ability to white label the theme for your clients.
Vendors have access to detailed profile pages, a sales tracker, and they can display their products in a clean grid layout. Finally, the WordPress ecommerce theme includes extensive documentation to guide you through the process of setting it up.
13. Lucky Shop - Elegant Marketplace WordPress Theme
Lucky Shop is an elegant theme which makes it a perfect choice for a marketplace oriented towards a female audience. A notable feature is the integrated newsletter popup form which works with MailChimp.
The search bar and product filter options are powered by AJAX for fast loading and the WordPress ecommerce theme has several shop and single product layouts along with a quick view feature. You can display payment options in the footer section. Social sharing options complete the feature list in this marketplace theme.
14. Glory - Flat Parallax WordPress eCommerce Theme
If you’re a fan of the parallax trend, look no further than the Glory theme. The theme is suitable for a variety of niches and comes with support for bbPress which you can use to provide an additional support channel for your marketplace.
Vendors can display the products in their ecommerce store in a grid layout and make use of the quick view feature to quickly display product information. On top of that, the theme comes with responsive design, advanced header and footer options, a testimonial section, and a theme customization panel.
15. Flatastic - Modern and Powerful WordPress Theme
Flatastic is a modern ecommerce marketplace theme with a clean design that brings your products into focus along with a well-structured grid layout. The WordPress theme allows you to not only feature products but different brands and vendors. You can create any type of layout with Visual Composer.
Aside from making use of the blog pages, you can additionally boost your SEO with optimized code and support for Rich Snippets. On top of that, the theme comes bundled with the ChatX plugin so you can provide immediate customer support via Live Chat.
16. Catalog - Minimal WordPress Marketplace Theme
Catalog is a minimal Wordpress ecommerce theme that features several page templates so you can easily create all the necessary pages for your marketplace.
Front-end submissions and custom commissions are available for vendors while customers can take advantage of the search bar and sortable products to find items that interest them the most.
All membership pages are included, and you can easily feature a popular vendor right on the homepage. On top of that, the theme is fully responsive and customizable.
5 Tips To Boost Your eCommerce Conversion Rate
As a marketplace owner, boosting your conversion rates and improving sales should be at the forefront of your mind. Here are five easy ways to instantly improve your conversion rate:
1. Start Blogging
While many themes on our list feature SEO optimized code, all of them come with the ability to add a blog to your marketplace. Blogging is one of the best ways to keep your website fresh, and you can use it to share more information about vendors and products.
2. Build an Email List
An email list is the most valuable asset for any business owner. After all, what better way to get personal than sending a customized email to your customers with featured products they are most likely to buy? Consider using a theme like Lucky Shop to build your email list with ease—right from the beginning.
3. Use Social Media to Your Benefit
Sharing your products on social media is a must if you want to reach your target audience. Luckily, themes like Stocky and Catalog come with social media options built in so buyers can follow you and share your content easily across a variety of social media platforms.
4. Facilitate the Checkout Process
Whenever possible, make the checkout process as easy as possible. This means you shouldn’t ask for more information than is absolutely necessary. If you sell digital products, there is no need to ask for your customers physical address, since no actual shipping is involved. Otherwise, consider using a banner which displays all the steps required to finish the purchase.
5. Use Demo Videos
Videos are a powerful marketing tool which you can use to demonstrate all the benefits of a particular product. They work even better than images, and you can use a theme like Marketify to take full advantage of your videos’ capabilities.
Build Your Own Marketplace Site
Building your own marketplace is no easy task, but with the right combination of a quality WordPress eCommerce theme and plugins, the process is much easier. And when you pair that with the tips mentioned above, you’ll be well on your way to creating a successful marketplace.