The eCommerce ecosystem continues to evolve by the day. Technological and Logistical advancements are further stimulating this growth. The convenience of an online purchase is driving more people to the internet for their needs. It is gradually becoming a necessity for businesses to have an online presence.
Turnkey eCommerce solutions allow businesses to bootstrap and get up and running with an e-business. Yo!Kart is an eCommerce marketplace software that lets businesses launch their marketplace similar to Amazon or eBay.
A multivendor marketplace like Amazon has certain advantages over a single vendor. It will help you generate more revenue than a single vendor ecommerce store. Higher revenue from the multi-vendor marketplace would bring in more opportunities to increase the revenue even further, more marketing opportunities, and a higher budget for advertisements.
The vendors get a bigger platform to sell their products. The product conversion rates are also higher as vendors tend to benefit from each other’s product range.
To find out whether YoKart platform is the right fit to build and launch multi-vendor marketplaces, our research team has thoroughly analyzed it:
Table of contents
- Yo!Kart—The one-stop solution for building multi-vendor marketplaces
- Key Features & Functionalities
- The best becomes even better with Yo!Kart V9.3
- Steps to Launch an Online Marketplace with Yo!Kart
- Alternatives to Yo!Kart
- Conclusion
Yo!Kart—The one-stop solution for building multi-vendor marketplaces
Yo!Kart is a standalone multi-vendor marketplace platform. Moreover, the software can be purchased with a single payment. It offers all the requisite features and functionalities in a customizable, secure and scalable platform.
Yo!Kart is evolving and it keeps getting better. It continues to add to the feature list to benefit all the stakeholders involved.
Yo!Kart is its latest version V9.3.0 has pushed the bar even further. The product has been featured in major publications like Forbes, The Telegraph, Business Reporter, and others. It is prudent then, to have a look at what makes Yo!Kart so competitive.
Comprehensive Features
Yo!Kart offers the following market-leading features that you would need in your eCommerce marketplace.
Separate Vendor Storefronts
Yo!Kart offers vendors the choice to personalize the features and functionalities of their respective storefronts.
Global Product Catalog
Yo!Kart features a product catalog that enables the vendors to add all the necessary information about the products. It enables bulk import and export of product listings. It lets the vendors personalize their storefront.
Multiple Payment methods
A salient feature of any good multi vendor platform is the provision of multiple payment options for the buyers & vendors This brings in more convenience to the buyer, increasing the chances of conversion. There are 20+ secure payment methods for the buyers in Yo!Kart. Also, StripeConnect is pre-integrated into the platform for easy seller or vendor payouts.
Availability of Mobile Apps
The presence of mobile apps for a marketplace increases the options for the customers to access the marketplace on the go. This makes it imperative for the marketplace to offer mobile apps for your marketplace. Yo!Kart has apps for both vendors and buyers on both Android and iOS platforms.
Additionally, it also offers PWA (Provisional Web Apps). All the apps are user-friendly with support for voice chat.
APIs Integration:
Yo!Kart has APIs integration making all advanced functionalities possible. The integration is seamless and all major functionalities like:
- Shipping management (ShipStation)
- Tax management (Avalara and TaxJar)
- Analytics reports (Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics)
- Split payment option (StripeConnect)
- Marketing features like sending bulk emails to a targeted audience (mailChimp
All these functionalities are enabled through an integrated dashboard from the vendor and well as the admin. Furthermore, owing to Yo!Kart’s flexible architecture, any business APIs can be integrated other than the ones already offered.
BOPIS (Buy Online & Pick up in Store)
BOPIS (Buy online and pick up at store) is a trend that is getting more popular by the day. It offers the consumers the best of both the worlds. They can get access to the deals yet buy the product from the store just like a normal purchase. It also helps them to jump the in-store queues. Yo!Kart latest version V9.3 supports BOPIS feature.
Marketing Features
There is an impressive list of marketing features that are integrated with Yo!Kart. For instance, abandoned cart recovery, discount coupons management, share and earn, affiliate module, a pay-per-click module for sellers.
Marketing is an essential tool that a business requires to establish its relevance and drive its sales, regardless of the scale and age of the business.
Comprehensive CMS
Apart from the aforementioned marketing features, Yo!kart also comes with a comprehensive CMS that enables blogging, SEO management, social media sharing, and other such features. These functionalities help boost search engine ranking and enable a business to connect to its target audience.
Future-ready technology
Yo!kart is built on the LAMP architecture, which makes it inherently secure and scalable. Moreover, this makes a marketplace future-proof and securing your investment.
To enable a business to reach a global market, the Yo!Kart software has multilingual functionality built-in with the help of the MSN translator. Furthermore, the software also supports RTL scripts.
Economics: How much will Yo!Kart cost?
The most important factor while choosing a platform for your business is gauging the value proposition in the offering. In our research, we found that Yo!Kart price is significantly lower than its competitive software with similar or fewer features. Moreover, it is available at a one-time payment, and that too with flexible payment options.
To add to its price advantage, the multi-vendor platform comes with 1-year free tech support and a month’s free Digital Marketing services. These services are an essential part of the cost of the product since regardless of your tech acumen, you would need support in setting up and getting used to any multi-vendor software. This makes the price of the product even more compelling and value for money invested.
Portfolios and Reviews
The true potential of any product is best demonstrated by how well it has been utilized in the real world. This can be done by analyzing some examples of marketplaces already built on the Yo!Kart platform.
As written on Yo!Kart website, listed below are some marketplaces that were built using the Yo!Kart platform.
UNI Diamonds:
Unidiamonds is an online diamond trading platform. It lets businesses sell, bid, and buy diamonds over a secure digital environment. The marketplace has been built on the Yo!Kart platform and customized by team Yo!Kart based on the requirements shared by the client.
The implementation of collaborative work by both Yo!Kart and UniDiamonds is evident from the website design which is aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate. The apps perform equally well.
Superlivery
Super Livery is a grocery marketplace based in Brazil. It was built on the Yo!Kart platform implementing the CI/CD or continuous integration and continuous delivery technique. This ensured automation and quality, something that is evident from the website.
It appears to have been built with good attention to detail. The website has all the features we have come to expect from online marketplaces. Additionally, it performs well on all popular platforms.
Voyij
Voyij is an online marketplace based in Alaska that connects vacationers with local businesses. It enables the users to book and pay in advance using the calendar functionality. Memorabilia can also be purchased using the BOPIS, which is Buy Online and Pay In-Store.
The aesthetics or the UI of the website look the part, doing justice to the genre of the website.
Ratings & Reviews
It’s in the quality of reviews that compel you to take note of Yo!Kart. The marketplace software has received some noteworthy reviews by websites of authority, renowned business publications, and the clients they have worked with.
The INC magazine complimented Yo!Kart on providing a feature-rich multi-vendor marketplace solution. It further goes on to highlight the fact Yo!Kart specializes in delivering the best multivendor solution and is ahead of its peers on the same front.
UK’s prestigious magazine The Telegraph acknowledged Yo!Kart’s contribution to digitization by being ahead of its time and providing an apt platform for SMEs to launch their multi-vendor eCommerce marketplaces.
Also, we found that Yo!kart has received good ratings on software review websites such as Capterra & G2. With a 4.5 out of 5 ratings on Capterra, users mention the ease of use of the software and excellent Tech Support as some of the best traits of this software.
The good becomes even better Yo!Kart V9.3
Yo!Kart recently released its new version V9.3.0. It looks like team Yo!Kart has worked even harder to roll out an update that makes great of what was already good. In this release, Yo!Kart team has worked to integrate and automate functionalities that automate payouts, give out region-specific information related to taxes, help in better shipping management, and other features that enhance efficiency.
Listed below are details of improvements made in this release
Pre-Integrated APIs:
- ShipStation API: This helps in the smooth management of logistics. ShipStation API helps to fetch live shipping information, create shipping labels, and achieve other tasks.
- AfterShip Tracking API. This helps in getting useful tracking information after an order is shipped.
- Stripe Connect for Split payments: Along with the payment options available earlier, Yo!Kart is now seamlessly integrated with stripe payment options This helps to split the charged amount in real time between multiple vendors and admin.
- TaxJar/Avalara API: These APIs help a marketplace work efficiently in different geolocation, each with its separate tax regimes and laws.
New Functionalities in Yo!Kart that aid in the ease of conducting eCommerce business
- Personalized search based on location: An admin of a marketplace can personalize search results for the buyers. This increases the conversion rate for the vendors.
- BOPIS (buy online and Pick up at the store) functionality has been incorporated in Yo!Kart.
- Features to enhance the shopping experience for the buyers. Features like an improved checkout process and an invoicing module have been added to add to the shopping experience.
- Additional payment options by integrating more payment gateways like mPesa, Paynow, and DPO, further aiding ease of doing business especially in the African market.
What is Still Missing in Yo!Kart
Impressive as it is there are still some areas that Yo!Kart needs to improve upon.
- The first and the foremost being limited support for change in the look and appearance of the website. The software can be completely customized, but the company charges an additional price for it.
- Another factor is their comprehensive updates make the earlier ones look obsolete. Although, the company deserves due credit for its effort to roll out such updates, but for the businesses that have purchased an earlier version, the only way to access all the new features and functionalities of a newer version is by buying the newly released version.
These are some of the areas that team Yo!Kart needs to work on and provide solutions to. Still, in our opinion, they shouldn’t be deal-breakers. Yo!Kart remains a multi-vendor software that punches above its weight and gives its more renowned competitors a need to justify the premium they charge for their same or even less capable products.
Steps to Launch an Online Multi-vendor Marketplace with Yo!Kart
With custom eCommerce software like Yo!Kart being available, it is indeed fast and convenient to set up your fully-featured marketplace, materializing your business idea and cashing in on the eCommerce bandwagon.
The eventual product though will hinge on decisions taken with regards to package and other services availed. Enlisted below are a few pointers that will aid in propelling the process.
Selecting the right eCommerce package:
To get around using the eCommerce software, the key stakeholders in the decision-making process will have to discern the features and functionalities of the product.
To facilitate that process, Yo!Kart has a live demo of the software. This demo provides an overview of all the features available to the admin, vendor, and buyer of the software. Also, aspiring business owners can request a personalized demo before buying the software.
Customization
To give your marketplace a unique and distinct UI, you can hire the services of the company that developed the product. FATbit parent company of Yo!Kart offers complete customization over it. FATbit has vast experience in custom software development and has a 150+ team of developers and business analysts.
Hosting your marketplace:
After you have prepped up your marketplace, you would need to host your marketplace over a server.
There are two options for choosing the right server for your marketplace. You can opt for a cloud-based server or a dedicated server.
- A cloud-based server will save you on infrastructural development, manpower management, and costs.
- On the other hand, a dedicated server will give you physical access to your data, thereby limiting third-party access to it.
Moreover, in case of recoveries or updates, you don’t have to depend on the internet. Yo!Kart allows businesses to host the online marketplace at their own choice of server.
Configuring your marketplace:
After the installation of the software over the server, you will have to configure the software to suit your needs. Configuring the software would entail the following changes to be made.
- The admin may assign sub-admins if needed
- The payment methods have to be configured
- Product Catalog has to be prepped up to be used by the vendors and buyers.
- The Content Management System (CMS) has to be configured.
- SEO on-page optimizations have to be made.
The onboarding process:
The onboarding process starts by formulating an appropriate revenue model for the marketplace. Accordingly, a system is created that enables vendors to register and start selling over the marketplace.
Add products:
Next, you would need to add products. Most eCommerce software have an option to upload products via a .xls, .csv or .ods file. Yo!Kart comes with a product catalog module to manage and centralize the inventory.
Launch your marketplace in the market:
Launching or marketing your marketplace is all about putting the name of the marketplace in front of the target audience.
The best way to do that is to use media that the target audience consumes, highlight the USP of your marketplace, and what specific solution the marketplace provides to the buyer.
Yo!Kart enables marketplace owners to promote the store with different marketing techniques such as SEO optimization, blogging, Affiliate management, discount coupons, sending email newsletters, etc. Marketplace owners can use these features to full effect by offering various marketing schemes curated specifically for the target audience.
Alternatives to Yo!Kart:
CS-Cart
A product of Simtech Technologies (based in Russia), CS-Cart was introduced in the market in 2005. It has gained significant popularity in the market since its early launch.
The software has customizable themes and offers a good amount of features but is priced higher when compared to its competitors.
Key Features: Its key features include an advanced vendor payout system, bulk product editing, marketing features such as the option of sending newsletters and mass notifications, Tax-Management, import/export tool, data feeds, and others. Here is a guide to understand key differences between Yo!Kart vs Cs-Cart
Shuup
Shuup is a multivendor software from a company by the same name, based in the US. It is available for both SaaS and one-time payment options, although it is priced higher than the competition without the option of flexible payments.
Key Features: It has all the regular features of multi-vendor software like CRM, category management, fee/commission management, vendor portal, products can be reviewed and rated, and other such features.
Shopify with marketplace extension
Shopify is a SaaS-based popular eCommerce solution that offers a software for single vendor stores. So, it’s not a direct alternative of Yo!Kart, which is a multi-vendor solution.
Though, with the addition of third-party extensions, it can be made to function as a multi-vendor platform. The most stable option amongst all extensions is the one provided by Webkul.
The only problem with that though is that while Shopify is a company that is based in Canada, Webkul is based in India. You would have to communicate with two different companies for essentially the same marketplace solution.
Key features: The marketplace module by Webkul is based on PHP, it has all the basic functions of a marketplace software like a product management system. It even allows decent customization.
Shopify may not be a direct multi vendor solution but it has everything a business needs and it can also be customized according to your needs. You can also choose from various apps and tools that Shopify has to offer to improve your store status, and to maximize the sales. There are apps like Tada that are designed specifically to keep your visitors engaged in various fun activities, offers various discounts in exchange of their email
address so you can build a trusted email list and increase your subscribers. You can find more information about Tada on their official website.
Shopware
Shopware in another eCommerce software from Germany. It is based on PHP and has an open-source version. It has a good amount of features but the customer service is paid. It is based on the EXT.js framework, the UI could be better.
Key Features: Shopware offers some good marketing features. It lets the vendors add products, create flexible content pages.
Conclusion
Yo!Kart has been thoughtfully curated such that it offers all the features that you need right from the base package itself. The software is competitively priced and can be used to build a fully functional marketplace.
At the same time, the software is scalable, flexible and customizable. This means that you have the option to further build upon the base version of the software.
The above-stated reason and the fact that the product is backed by a company that is customer centric and which offers to customize the software based on your requirement. Their existing portfolio justifies the reason to do so
And the icing on the cake is free 1-year tech support to let you get acquainted with the online marketplace platform. This makes it a compelling option for startups, SMEs, and enterprises alike.