Off-The-Shelf Solutions For Ecommerce Marketplace Website

Compare Shopify App: Shipturtle Marketplace Creator vs Multi Vendor Marketplace by Webkul 

You don’t need custom software development to bring your eCommerce business ideas to life. 

Thanks to off-the-shelf solutions, you can create an online marketplace that leaves a lasting impression in just a few days and not months! 

And if there’s one cart builder or website solution that gives you a competitive advantage, it is Shopify. By leveraging a marketplace app like Shipturtle or Webkul on top of your Shopify store, you can attract new vendors, sell their products, and earn commissions.

Webkul boasts a staggering 47 other apps on Shopify alone. They also offer marketplace solutions on other cart builders. While diversification can be a good thing, some might argue it dilutes focus. Could all these apps be a sign that Webkul spreads itself too thin?

Here’s an unpopular opinion: 

Deep specialization offers a fully customizable solution to create your own marketplace. In addition to it, we have been perfecting our Shopify app to include more exciting set of features out-of-box that will enable to launch your marketplace in quick time and with zero dependence on other apps. 

Sharad kabra, founder – shipturtle

How is Shipturtle a Better Marketplace Solution for Your Online Store? 

While there are options available for marketplace website builders, Shipturtle stands out as the modern, user-friendly ecommerce platform designed to empower you at every stage of your marketplace journey.

Features	SHIPTURTLE	WEBKUL	Remark
OVERVIEW
C2C Functionality	✅	❌	Integrate peer-to-peer functionality with Shopify login to enable users buy & sell from the same account.
Product marketplaces	✅	Partial (only available on top-tier plan)	Support online mall-type marketplaces (like Amazon)
Rental and services marketplaces	✅	✅	Both platforms support digital and booking products
Directory Listing marketplaces	❌	✅	Customers get redirected to a separate URL after clicking on the Buy Now button
Deep Shopify Integration ***	✅	❌	Incorporate Shopify Updates regularly.
Setup	48 hours or less	1 – 2 weeks	Out-of-box features, easy interface and good documentation reduce launch time
USER INTERFACE
User Experience ***	✅	Negative reviews	Highly intuitive interface designed for quick setup and vendor ease of use
PWA mobile application	✅	❌	Mobile and desktop app for vendors on-the-go management
Language & Localization	✅	✅	Multilingual support to cater to a global audience.
Bulk actions ***	✅	Negative reviews	Ability for merchants and vendors to take bulk actions
Whitelabel as per own design	✅	Partial	Ability to completely change the design, brand elements and options available on the app
Checkout customization	✅	❌	Integrate shipping rules, policies and live shipping rates at cart and checkout
Mobile support	✅	Partial	The UI and UX should be mobile / app friendly to work on the go.

Features	SHIPTURTLE	WEBKUL	Remark
ORDER MANAGEMENT
Checkout customization	✅	❌	Integrate shipping rules, policies, and live shipping rates at cart and checkout
Split order	✅	✅	Allow customers to order from multiple vendors at a go, and split vendor orders automatically
Bulk Order Processing	✅	❌	5 seconds to process orders in bulk. 100 orders/min
Shipping and pickups	✅	❌	Supports both shipping and pickup options
Order Automation ***	✅	❌	Flexible rules to automate Vendor, Warehouse, and Shipper allocation
Order Management System ***	✅	❌	Step-wise order management from confirmation, pickup, and in transit to delivery. Supports picklists and manifests
Shipping Integrations ***	✅	partial	Full stack shipping integrations with 200+ partners like Fedex, UPS, and Shipstation
Shipment Tracking ***	✅	❌	Single view of shipment status across Marketplace, Vendors, and Customers
Invoicing ***	✅	Limited	Marketplace to customer or Vendor to customer invoicing
NDR	✅	❌	Ability to change details of non-delivered orders to prevent RTOs
Returns ***	✅	❌	Return management for customers to initiate returns & generate reverse shipping label
Digital products	✅	✅	Digital products and Services have different requirements like File Storage, Calendar booking, etc.
Whatsapp integration	✅	✅	Share notifications on WhatsApp in addition to email and vendor dashboard
Reverse bidding	✅	❌	Module for customers to make an offer, and vendors to accept it
Reminder Feature	❌	✅	Merchants can use the reminder button to initiate mail to vendors for fulfillment of the order.

Features	SHIPTURTLE	WEBKUL	Remark
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
Customize product fields	✅	✅	Add custom fields as per the marketplace’s industry
Single product listing	✅	✅	The ability for vendors to add a single product
Automatic inventory reduction	✅	✅	Inventory gets reduced when orders are placed. Vendors can easily add or edit inventory.
Bulk product listing ***	✅	Negative reviews	The ability for vendors to add and edit products in 1000s
Product variants	✅	✅	Support multiple variants for the same product like color, size, material, etc.
Product mandatory fields	✅	✅	Make certain fields mandatory while listing
Product templates	✅	❌	Pre-fixed templates / Chat GPT integration for assisted listing
Product approval flow	✅	✅	The ability for marketplace users to approve or reject products
Product quick edit	✅	❌	Ability to configure certain fields to be edited without approval by vendors (like quantity)
Private label products	✅	❌	The ability for marketplaces to list their products alongside vendors and build workflows
Subscription products ***	✅	❌	Ability to offer subscription products like weekly grocery

Features	SHIPTURTLE	WEBKUL	Remarks
SECURITY, SCALABILITY & SUPPORT
Unlimited scalability	✅	Negative reviews	Ability to manage large data sets with speed, accuracy, and stability. No limit to products, orders, or users
Data Security	✅	✅	Control data access, storage, and movement across the marketplace, vendors, and customers
Access control	✅	✅	Role-based user privileges
Traceability and Change Logs ***	✅	❌	Detailed change logs are critical to track user activity across different modules.
Documentation	✅	✅	Good documentation with setup videos
Setup support	Included	Paid	Setup support over Meet after the trial period
Dedicated support team	Included	Paid	The same person taking queries for better workflow
Live chat support	✅	partial	Human support – live on chat.
Open APIs	✅	✅	Open APIs to help build on top of the marketplace, needed as you scale

Features	SHIPTURTLE	WEBKUL	Remark
VENDOR MANAGEMENT
Vendor Onboarding	✅	✅	Vendors can register to sell on the marketplace.
Vendor Dashboards ***	✅	✅	Each Vendor has their own dashboard where they can add products, process orders, ship and view earnings
Vendor Website Sync ***	✅	Negative reviews	Vendors are able to sync their own website or order management system with the marketplace
Vendor Inventory ***	✅	Negative reviews	Vendors can sync their inventory to the marketplace from other sources
Vendor Permissions ***	✅	Limited	Granular control on features and modules available to different vendors
Vendor Profiles	✅	✅	Vendors share information about themselves, their brands and policies
Vendor Customer Chat	✅	✅	Easy ways for customers to chat with their preferred brands boosts loyalty, trust and conversions
Vendor Catalogue	✅	✅	Easy ways to build and manage 1000s of Product Listings – Add, Edit, Delete
Analytics	✅	✅	Detailed analytics on Revenues, SLAs, Returns etc. to help vendors grow their business
Mobile support	✅	❌	The UI and UX should be mobile / app friendly to work on the go.
Vendor reviews	✅	✅	Customers can leave reviews of vendors
Commission Calculation ***	✅	✅	Flexible Rule based algorithms to calculate Vendor Commission basis Product, Returns and taxes
PAYOUTS
Payment Integrations ***	✅	✅	Secure and seamless ways to transfer money to Vendor Bank accounts
Charge subscription fee	❌	✅	Collect susbcription fees from vendors to allow access to your marketplace
Automatic payouts	✅	✅	Automatic generation of payout documents and transfer of money
Delayed payouts	✅	✅	Configurable delay basis order status, return window etc.
Reconciliation and Accounts	✅	❌	Money flow should be easly reconcilable and accounted for with the right data flow support
Offline payouts	✅	✅	Track the amount in the app and can record the way merchants pay the seller
Custom Vendor Invoices	✅	❌	Manage tax compliance, and vendor payment compliance for different countries

To demonstrate how Shipturtle can fulfill various business requirements better than top no-code marketplace tools (particularly Webkul & Shipturtle), we’ll delve into a head-to-head comparison of essential features you need to consider:

• Popularity: Webkul & Shipturtle are the two most popular software solutions on Shopify and we shall explore the user adoption trends.
• Website Interface: Evaluate ease of use for both administrators and sellers.
• Product Management: Assess tools for adding, managing, and showcasing products effectively.
• Order Management: Analyze how efficiently orders are processed and fulfilled.
• Security, Scalability, and Support: Ensure your marketplace is secure, reliable, and backed by robust support.
• Vendor Management: Discover how effectively you can attract, manage, and empower your vendor ecosystem.
• Payout Management: Explore options for automating and streamlining vendor payouts.
• Top Use Cases: See how Shipturtle caters to various marketplace models.

Popularity & top cases of building a multi-vendor marketplace website

Among Shopify apps converting an online store into a multi-vendor marketplace business, some names seem to shine brighter than others. Take Webkul, for instance. They have a seemingly impressive number of customer reviews on Shopify, a testament to their… well, presence. 

A gentle nudge towards user reviews gives a better viewpoint. While Webkul has served a multitude of customers, the online chatter paints an unflattering picture. 

Isn’t it a buffet of features, some half-cooked, others missing entirely, served with a side of questionable support? Not exactly a recipe for marketplace success! Concurrently, their website curiously lacks real-world examples of marketplaces built with their plugin. 

We are not alone in this: 

Now, you may similarly question Shipturtle. 

But a surprising number of those customers are migrating from Webkul! It seems the promise of a well-functioning marketplace, complete with readymade features that work, is enough to attract even the most patient entrepreneur to switch marketplace platforms.

While Webkul has nearly 80% five-star reviews, its users complain about the tech instability. Thankfully, none of our customers have reviewed Shipturtle negatively only because they were frustrated with the glitches in our marketplace app. 

This speaks volumes about app popularity and top cases of building a multi-vendor marketplace website. 

PROTIM BAUMIK, FRACTIONAL CMO

Aesthetics matter: user interface in focus 

Your Shopify store interface looks like this before installing Webkul: 

And here is how Shopify looks after you have enabled Webkul on it: 

Timing can’t be better, don’t judge a book by its cover. But literally, this “cover” begs for an update!

The layout is outdated and confusing and will hardly inspire confidence in the minds of users. It talks about so many things and is difficult to figure out which is what. 

Looks like we are not alone: 

Shipturtle preserves the look and feel of a modern & clean dashboard, giving you a bird’s eye view of your online marketplace. Moreover, navigation within various modules follows ergonomic best practices. The workflow in the order module and product listing module are laid out (under respective sections) as its testament.

Behind the scenes: order management on your eCommerce website

Crucial information regarding Webkul’s order management features is largely unavailable. Without details on automation, shipping integrations, or tracking capabilities, it’s difficult to assess their true effectiveness.

Moreover, only the admin can set shipping rates visible to the customers during checkout. Sellers require another feature app named “SHIPPING” by Webkul to add their shipping rates on products. 

Furthermore, Webkul offers product shipping support only on their top-tier plans! Moreover, customers have expressed their frustration over the inability of Webkul to respond properly with custom Shipping apps: 

They could avoid such issues with Shipturtle’s out-of-box integration with over 200+ shippers. Additionally, Shipturtle offers flexible automation rules and a robust order management system (OMS) with picklist and manifest generation capabilities.

Thus, Shipturtle emerges as the clear choice for order management.

Our robust order automation, comprehensive OMS, extensive shipping integrations, and features like shipment tracking and RTO prevention paint a picture of a platform designed for efficient order fulfillment. 

When it comes to managing orders seamlessly, Shipturtle equips you with the tools to build a marketplace that keeps both vendors and customers happy.

Coincidentally, we consider Shipping integration and fulfillment automation our niche offerings as Shipturtle was developed when there was hardly any readymade software to address this specific business need. 

Later on, we expanded its scope to make it the best off-the-shelf solution to build multivendor marketplaces. 

Build a marketplace with robust product listing management 

Webkul’s setup is convoluted and needlessly complex as there are multiple instances of configuration screens where you have to set the fields and flags in more than one menu. For example, you can indicate what fields an item entry should have for sellers, but then you have to go into another screen to turn them on or off. 

Users have shown their displeasure over the time taken to add listings and their attributes. 

Users have even called out Webkul’s bluff on bulk data upload and vendor product sync into the merchant store:  

Shipturtle emerges as a strong contender for product management. 

Our bulk product listing capabilities, clear product approval workflows, and support for subscription products position us as a platform that empowers vendors to effectively manage their offerings within the marketplace. 

Shipturtle equips you to create a marketplace with a wider product variety, streamlined product management for vendors, and the potential for recurring revenue streams – all factors that contribute to a functional online marketplace.

Not just promises, Shipturtle’s product management is better than Webkul from a development perspective: 

• Powerful vendor store sync from Shopify, Woocommerce, Magento, Squarespace
• Responsive bulk product upload with common attributes like images, videos
• Clean data structures and open API empower developers to create custom product fields specific to your marketplace and configure vendor permissions for product edits. 

Security and scalability of your online marketplace website

While both marketplace ecommerce software provide control of data access, storage, and movement across the marketplace, vendors, and customers, Shipturtle goes a step further to offer traceability and log features. Change logs provide a clear audit trail, allowing you to identify any suspicious activity or unauthorized modifications.

Support to create a customizable marketplace

Webkul follows a good practice by charging customers for premium support. This allows companies to give dedicated assistance to users who demand it the most. 

While Shipturtle generously includes one-time free setup support, any custom development and workflow is charged on an hourly basis. 

However several users have been critical of Webkul’s customer support. Their concern reflects the inability of chat assistance to understand and communicate the issue further:

Vendor & payout management on your eCommerce marketplace 

Customer reviews suggest potential challenges with the inventory sync feature of Webkul, leading to frustration and manual intervention while building an online marketplace.

Shipturtle prioritizes a scalable and stable platform, ensuring seamless data synchronization with storefronts built using website builders other than Shopify like Woocommerce, Magento, and Squarespace. This allows for automation in inventory management, minimizing manual work for both you and your vendors. 

Moreover, Shipturtle’s granular control over vendor permissions, allows you to tailor access to functionalities based on vendor needs. 

Talking about payment options, both no-code marketplace builders offer multi-level commission control and payout integrations. 

However, unlike Shipturtle, there is no public information on how Webkul can assist you in managing tax compliance, vendor payment compliance, and reconciliations for different countries. 

Off-the-shelf marketplace software pricing 

Business Stage	Shipturtle	Webkul
If you are exploring	$29 per month	$15 per month + hidden costs
Getting started	$49 per month	$40 per month + hidden costs
Scaling up	$89 per month	$60 per month + hidden costs
Enterprise	$149 per month	Custom quote

Shopify base plans are affordable, but additional marketplace features require Shopify Plus third-party app subscriptions and potentially custom development. 

Webkul may seem a cheaper alternative but limits on the number of sellers (the base plan allows only 3), limited customer support and platform bugs make it costlier over time. 

Again, it is not just us who are being critical: 

On the other hand, 

Shipturtle offers good value for its core marketplace functionalities along with additional functionalities as an add-on. 

Yes, there are restrictions on the number of sellers (the base plan allows 25) but superior customer support and technical platform make it a good contender for a Shopify plugin to create a marketplace.  

Verdict: Best Solution to Build a Marketplace Website

As evident from user reviews on Shopify and our publicly available information:

1. Webkul’s interface is clumsy and confusing. often leading to poor user experience. To add to it, the limited out-of-box features lengthen development time. On the other hand, Shipturtle’s intuitive interface guarantees to convert your eCommerce store into a marketplace in just two days.
2. Shipturtle excels at building B2B marketplaces & B2C marketplaces with complex shipping and order management needs, unlike Webkul.
3. Shipturtle offers a wider range of functionalities, including native C2C features on Shopify for innovative business ideas involving used goods or rental marketplaces, surpassing Webkul’s capabilities.
4. Take advantage of powerful vendor dashboards, advanced order management systems, and 200+ integrated shippers. 
5. But for all that, using the Multi Vendor Marketplace App by Webkul is much more expensive than running a marketplace with one of the top no-code marketplace platforms – Shipturtle.

Migrating to Shipturtle from Webkul is fast and easy!

Book your free demo with Shipturtle to get started.

Stay tuned for a detailed comparison with CS-cart multi-vendor software!