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John
NewbieJust Getting Started
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So, on and off for the last three months I have, through trial and error, been trying to figure out the right way to set-up Marketpress to meet my needs in a multisite environment.
Think of the environment I am trying to set up as an "online mall".
I want each vendor to be able to have (limited) autonomy in the look and feel of their sub-site, and to be able to manage products, inventory, pricing, etc. on their sub-site. I want to be able to manage "mall wide" product categories.
Each vendor will be responsible for their own order fulfillment, which means that customer deliveries from different vendors will have different shipping cost calculations. Also, if the site/service is successful, I see it quickly being multi-country/multi-currency.
On the top level store (i.e., the "mall front") I would like to be able to display products available across the whole site based on certain criteria - new products, popular products, all products in a product category, etc.
Vendors will have the option of paying a monthly service fee, or a percentage of sales. The percentage of sales is target at low volume sellers (artisans/hobby producers, of whom there are many in this marketspace). The monthly service fee is for those vendors whose volume is large enough that the percentage of sales no longer makes economic sense.
My questions are in the "which is best to meet my needs" category:
1. Should I activate Marketpress at the Network level or sub-site by sub-site?
2. Should I use a Global Cart (which, if I understand correctly, is the only way to take a percentage from sales) or site-by-site carts (which, if I understand correctly, is the only way to handle the separate shipping and currency requirements)?
3. I've gone back and forth a couple of times between the settings in questions 1 & 2 to see how it affects operations and I must say I have totally confused myself. Is there something else I am missing in setting up MarketPress/Multi-site to meet my needs?
(BTW, I would love to RTFM, but I haven't found a manual, and haven't had much luck finding information that is "business decision" related.)
6393 pointsCommunity rank #10Supreme DeityTrue DEVianLifetime member
People Person
(joined February 2012)
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Hello John
Welcome to the WPMU DEV community!
I'll go ahead and address your questions in-line so we don't miss anything :-)
1. If you want to use a business model that selects a percentage of sales from any of your vendors then you will need to activate MarketPress at the network level.
2. Global cart is also regulated by the use of chained payments, you can't use the global cart if you will use change payments.
It seems like most of your decisions will be made for you depending on exactly how you want to set up your store. The chained payment option is restricted on one side by PayPal, and the use of it restricts what you can use in MarketPress in turn.
So it seems that maybe you don't have so much to worry about :-) you're right on track!
2944 pointsCommunity rank #20Supreme DeityMind-Blowingly HelpfulLifetime member
DEV Diva
(joined February 2012)
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Hi @John
Just quickly cheking in on behalf of Kimberly to see you if you need any further assistance. Did you manage to sort out your site? If not, we look forward to receiving your feedback.
3 pointsCommunity rank #10033NewbieJust Getting Started
Member
(joined March 2012)
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Thanks Kimberly.
I see that part of my confusion was that I thought I needed the Global Cart for the "chained payments", i.e., the % of sales, and I wasn't sure how to reconcile that with the need for different currencies and shipping charges for each vendor.
Hoping to get some time on getting this into a "demo mode" this week so that I can show it to potential participants.
Responses (3)
People Person (joined February 2012) Likes (0)
Hello John
Welcome to the WPMU DEV community!
I'll go ahead and address your questions in-line so we don't miss anything :-)
1. If you want to use a business model that selects a percentage of sales from any of your vendors then you will need to activate MarketPress at the network level.
2. Global cart is also regulated by the use of chained payments, you can't use the global cart if you will use change payments.
3. you might find this helpful: http://premium.wpmudev.org/forums/topic/xcommerce-application-process-marketpress-fundraiser
It seems like most of your decisions will be made for you depending on exactly how you want to set up your store. The chained payment option is restricted on one side by PayPal, and the use of it restricts what you can use in MarketPress in turn.
So it seems that maybe you don't have so much to worry about :-) you're right on track!
Let me know if you need anything else!
Best
Kimberly
DEV Diva (joined February 2012) Likes (0)
Hi @John
Just quickly cheking in on behalf of Kimberly to see you if you need any further assistance. Did you manage to sort out your site? If not, we look forward to receiving your feedback.
Have a great day!
Gina
Member (joined March 2012) Likes (0)
Thanks Kimberly.
I see that part of my confusion was that I thought I needed the Global Cart for the "chained payments", i.e., the % of sales, and I wasn't sure how to reconcile that with the need for different currencies and shipping charges for each vendor.
Hoping to get some time on getting this into a "demo mode" this week so that I can show it to potential participants.
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