Marketplace platforms have gained popularity over the years due to their ability to benefit all parties involved and the convenience of shopping. Sellers can access a large customer base without significant upfront investments, while marketplace owners generate revenue through transaction fees, subscriptions, and value-added services.

As businesses recognize the potential of marketplaces, many are turning to various eCommerce solutions to build their own platforms, with varying degrees of success. With this in mind, we decided to create a guide for utilizing Sylius Marketplace Suite, including explaining many crucial aspects such as integrations with payment gateways, logistics solutions, and describing other valuable plugins that makes managing a Sylius-based marketplace much easier. 

Let’s begin by briefly discussing the Sylius eCommerce solution to better understand its purpose and capabilities.

Quick jump

Why Sylius?

Sylius is an open-source eCommerce framework built on PHP Symfony. With its API-first modular monolith architecture and open-source foundation, Sylius provides remarkable flexibility and customization options, allowing developers to adapt it to various infrastructures as well as extend and modify it to meet specific criteria. This flexibility allows businesses to choose best-of-breed components and integrate the platform with numerous external systems such as Product Information Management (PIM) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. 

Moreover, Sylius leverages Symfony’s components and follows best coding practices, which ensures high code quality and reduces technical debt to a minimum. Therefore, the Sylius-based multi-vendor marketplace is a long-term solution that will scale and grow with the company.

To briefly summarize its benefits for multi-vendor marketplaces, we’ve listed them below:

Why Sylius is a great fit for Multi-vendor Marketplaces?

  • Open-source, developed under the MIT license (the possible Sylius Plus license is much cheaper than most MVM platforms)
  • The plug-in architecture of Sylius makes it easy to implement custom functionalities. 
  • Lots of plugins developed by the community
  • A state machine for custom process implementations
  • Easy CRUD implementation
  • It has integration with Elasticsearch – filtering, listing, and large amounts of data
  • Lots of eCommerce features that can be easily added/changed/removed

For businesses aiming to create a marketplace, the Sylius Plus edition also offers the Marketplace Suite, a specialized toolset designed to streamline multi-vendor platform development. This suite provides additional features and functionalities tailored to the needs of marketplace owners, further enhancing the capabilities of the Sylius framework.

Sylius Plus modules

In addition to the Standard Edition, The “Plus” edition offers nine specialized modules aimed to enhance the eCommerce platform. While it’s not a separate product and maintains the same codebase, Sylius Plus introduces powerful additional capabilities. The modules are as follows:

  • B2B Suite
  • Marketplace Suite
  • Advanced Multi-store
  • Returns Management (RMA)
  • Multi-source Inventory
  • Loyalty system
  • RBAC (Role-Based Access Control)
  • Partial Shipment
  • One Page Checkout

Worth noting are compatible with each other and can be bought separately. Thus, there is no need to pay for a “whole package” and redundant features (like in the case of many standard eCommerce platforms).

To learn more about Sylius Plus and its modules, visit the official Sylius Plus website.

Sylius Plus Marketplace Suite 

Sylius Marketplace Suite leverages the solid Sylius foundation that allows to create flexible and scalable eCommerce trading platform.  It offers developers the essential tools to create exceptional online experiences, significantly simplifying the process of delivering digital solutions to merchants who see the marketplace as a key element of their future business strategy. With this in mind, let’s see what Marketplace Suite brings to the table.

Vendor registration & management

The marketplace allows for an unlimited number of vendors, enabling seamless business growth. The vendor registration process is straightforward, but it requires the Administrator’s confirmation. All registered vendors, both verified and unverified, will be listed in the appropriate tab. To verify a vendor, the Administrator simply needs to click the “Verify” button. Upon completion, the vendor will receive an email notification confirming their verification status.

Once verified, vendors gain access to a comprehensive set of features in their panel, including attributes, product lists, inventory management, order tracking, customer data, shipping methods, conversations, and profiles. Vendors can also edit their information, but any changes will require confirmation via email.

The marketplace Administrator can remove a vendor from the platform. However, the user’s account will not be deleted, allowing them to reapply for vendor status through their profile if desired.

Vendor profile page 

The Vendor Profile contains basic information about the vendor and their list of all products. It provides a comprehensive list of all the vendor’s products, which can be easily filtered/sorted by category. Within the profile, vendors can customize their presence by adding their company name, description, logo, and background on the Vendor Profile Page.

Review management by Vendors

Moving on, vendors have the autonomy to oversee product reviews based on the rating guidelines applicable in certain industries. This includes the ability to approve or disapprove reviews. However, vendors cannot change the number of stars customers provide in their product assessments.

Conversations between the Vendor and the Administrator

Each vendor will have access to an advanced admin panel that offers essential features for managing settings and products. Within the admin panel, vendors have can start conversations with the marketplace administrator. To start a conversation, the vendor can select a relevant category, compose a message, and optionally attach a file.

On the other end, the marketplace administrator can create new conversations, respond to messages from vendors, and manage existing conversations by deleting or archiving them as needed.

Product listings

What’s more, Sylius Plus Marketplace Suite offers a user-friendly and efficient product management system. The key regulation is that the Administrator can approve or reject products submitted by sellers before they become available for sale.

In the event of rejecting a product, the seller will receive a notification containing information about the reason for the rejection, and the product will be assigned a “rejected” status. The seller has the right to discuss the reason for the rejection with the Administrator or make necessary edits to the product and resubmit it for approval.

Once the Administrator approves a product, it becomes visible to customers and is ready for sale on the marketplace.

Product listing per channel for vendor

Vendors have the ability to choose which channels they want to use for selling their products. The vendor panel provides convenient switches that allow vendors to toggle product visibility according to their preferences.

Shipping and orders

Vendors can offer customers various shipping methods to simplify and improve the purchasing process. They can easily set specific shipping options for each channel they sell their products through, using a switch next to each courier.

If a customer has selected products from different suppliers during a single purchase, they can choose the shipping method for each vendor separately. Once the order is finalized, each seller will receive a separate order from that customer.

The vendor can manage customer orders directly from their account, where they have access to details such as purchased products, shipping method, and payment information. Additionally, vendors have the possibility to send order confirmation emails to their customers.

Shipping configuration per product

As an additional shipping option, vendors can choose from predefined shipping rules set by the marketplace administrator. These shipping methods may include options that depend on specific products, giving vendors more flexibility in tailoring their shipping offerings to their unique product range.

Vendors commission configuration

Lastly, the marketplace Administrator can determine the commission charged per seller. This can be set in the designated section of the admin panel, allowing for flexible and customized commission structures.

Detailed information regarding the commission fee for each order can be found in the “commission” section. This section is accessible to both the Vendor and the Administrator, providing transparency and clarity on the commission charges.

Try it yourself

Integrations with payment solutions

Now as we explained the features of Sylius Marketplace Suite, let’s go through another crucial aspect of multi-vendor marketplaces – the payment solutions. In this case, Sylius offer integrations with popular payment solutions, covering the majority of most popular payment methods.

Worth mentioning is that modern marketplace payment gateways works as “all-in-one” solutions, meaning that they also handle the whole payment process, resulting in improved customer experience during completing the purchase.

Here are some examples of payment solutions for Sylius:

PayPal

Here is the player that does not need an introduction. PayPal is one of the most popular payment systems on the market that facilitate transactions, including holding, moving, and distributing funds. When it comes to marketplaces, this option offers PayPal Commerce Platform designed for managing the transactions in multi-vendor environment.

PayPal integration is available here

Mollie

Mollie provides a secure and flexible payment solution primarily for European marketplaces, adhering to all compliance standards. Their pricing model is based on the number of linked accounts and successful transactions. The platform is known for its ease of implementation and use, making it particularly beneficial for new eCommerce stores.

Mollie is a highly recommended payment service provider for businesses using the Sylius framework. BitBag partnered with Mollie to create a Sylius integration that supports 13 different payment methods. This integration comes packed with useful features, including recurring payments, multi-currency support, and much more.

Mollie integration is available here

Stripe

Among the widely-used online marketplace payment solutions, Stripe stands out with its specialized platform for marketplaces called “Stripe Connect.” This solution facilitates multi-party financial transactions within a single ecosystem, catering to sellers, vendors, contractors, and affiliates. The advanced features of Stripe Connect allow it to handle many payment models, such as crowdfunding initiatives, on-demand services, and eCommerce platforms.

Stripe integration is available here

Adyen

Adyen is a globally recognized payment gateway offering comprehensive solutions for eCommerce, mobile, and point-of-sale transactions. It ensures secure and swift payments for Multi-vendor Marketplace orders.

The Adyen system connects to payment methods worldwide, including local options like Boleto in Brazil and iDEAL in the Netherlands, as well as mobile payment solutions such as Blik in Poland. It provides a unified platform for multi-channel payments, supporting in-app transactions and in-store POS systems.

Key features of Adyen include the ability to debit and credit users on demand, instant fund transfers to cards or bank accounts directly, and consolidated reporting for easy transaction tracking and reconciliation.

For eCommerce stores built on the Sylius framework, Adyen is a particularly strong choice. An integration has been developed that supports 11 payment methods, including popular options like Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and iDEAL. The integration utilizes a drop-in solution, allowing sellers to easily set up and configure the system with all necessary Adyen payment methods.

Adyen integration is available here

Integrations with shipment solutions

The next step is developing a strategy for shipping your product to customers. Luckily, there are integrations available in the Sylius Store that cover many popular shipping methods. Let’s take a look:

ShippingExport Plugin

The first option is the ShippingExport Plugin by BitBag, which simplifies the process of managing and exporting shipments by integrating various shipping providers’ APIs into a single interface. This allows businesses to choose desired shipment solutions like UPS, FedEx, InPost, and other well-known options. ShippingExport plugin allows users to configure and manage shipping details, book couriers, and access shipping labels directly from the Sylius platform. This plugin also aims to enhance efficiency by automating tasks, reducing manual errors, and offering customizable gateway configurations, making it really valuable for marketplace platforms.

You can download the plugin for free from the Sylius Store

DHL24 PL Shipping Export Plugin

The DHL24 PL Shipping Export Plugin by BitBag integrates Sylius with DHL’s Polish API, allowing for the automated export of shipping orders directly to DHL’s system. This plugin simplifies the shipping process by enabling users to generate and print shipping labels, track packages, and manage DHL-specific shipping options from within the Sylius platform. It’s tailored for businesses using DHL in Poland, aiming to streamline and automate their shipping workflows.

You can download the plugin for free from the Sylius Store

Valuable Sylius plugins for managing Multi-vendor Marketplaces

Apart from payments and logistics, there are other areas of marketplaces that can be enhanced in many ways by other Sylius plugins.

These plugins offer powerful enhancements for setting up a marketplace based on Sylius, providing essential features such as content management, catalog organization, advanced search capabilities, and customer engagement tools like wishlists and bonus points systems.

Keeping an eye on new Sylius plugins can help businesses improve their marketplaces and customer experience. With new plugins emerging regularly, there are always fresh opportunities to improve the website and add new features.

Examples of Sylius-based marketplaces

Azrieli

The development of a robust online marketplace for Azrieli utilized the two-way integration between the marketplace management tool and Sylius, SAP CDC for customer data handling, and Riskified for fraud prevention. In terms of marketplace features, multiple shipping providers,  product feeds from multiple sources, AI-driven product recommendations, and a loyalty points system were implemented. These improvements, supported by Sylius, collectively improved user experience, simplified the platform’s management and ultimately boosted sales performance.

Case study Azrieli >>

Jast USA

The JAST USA online store migration from burdened with technical debt Magento to Sylius included implementing key marketplace features such as a customized regional pricing system, a new VueJS frontend application, advanced product search capabilities with Elasticsearch, and enhanced product catalog configuration. Additionally, a loyalty points system and an automated promotion management system were integrated, significantly improving user experience.

Case study Jast USA >>

J-List

The migration of J-LIST and JBOX to Sylius aimed to improve multi-channel sales management and streamline internal processes. Key marketplace features implemented included managing two separate sales channels available at two addresses and graphic templates, a custom promotion system, integration with various payment gateways, and a comprehensive returns system. Additionally, advanced product listings, a loyalty system, and fraud prevention modules were added. As a result, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction improved significantly. 

Case study J-List >>

Summary

Summing up, Sylius offers a robust foundation for building marketplace platforms, with its Marketplace Suite module providing essential tools for successfully managing the multi-vendor marketplace platform. A high level of flexibility and customization in Sylius allows eCommerce businesses to integrate with various payment gateways and shipping solutions, as well as take care of areas such as content management, customer engagement, and search capabilities.

With Sylius, the only limit is your imagination. Create a marketplace that suits your needs and requirements without being limited by architecture, code access, or expensive plugins.

Are you looking for an eCommerce partner to hire? Check our eCommerce development services >>