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Multi-Vendor Add-on Setup

Learn how to configure the Multi-Vendor add-on settings to launch an X-Cart Marketplace store.

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Written by Anna Verbichenko
Updated over 6 months ago

In the My Apps section of your X-Cart store's Admin area, find the Multi-Vendor add-on and click Settings to open the add-on configuration page.

The Multi-Vendor add-on settings page will look as follows:

To configure the add-on, use the settings in the following sections:

Multi-Vendor General Setup

The general add-on setup defines the mode in which your marketplace will operate.

  • Multi-Vendor mode: Select the operation mode for your marketplace store.

    • Warehouse

      • Forms a single order when a customer's cart contains items from more than one vendor.

      • The store administrator does the processing of the order. Therefore, the vendors cannot edit the order.

      • The order is delivered as a single shipment from a single warehouse location. The shipping cost is calculated for delivery from the Company address as specified by the store administrator.

    • Vendors as separate shops

      • Forms separate orders for each vendor when a customer's cart contains items from more than one vendor.

      • The vendors can fully edit their orders.

      • Every order is delivered from the warehouse of the respective vendor. The shipping cost is calculated for delivery from the address specified by the vendor.

Multi-Vendor Finance Setup

The settings of this section define the financial rules for your marketplace.

  • Order DST-based commission rate: Use the field to set a commission rate as a percentage of the order discounted subtotal (DST).


    The setting applies only to the "Vendors as separate shops" multi-vendor mode (In the "Warehouse" mode, no shipping cost-based commission is calculated since the products of all the vendors are shipped from the same warehouse).


  • Order shipping cost-based commission rate: Use the field to set a commission as a percentage of the order shipping cost.

    The rates specified in the above two fields will be applied by default to any vendors' sales for which no vendor-specific commission rates have been set. The commission will be charged automatically when a buyer pays for an order containing a vendor's products. You will be able to see the commission you earned on any vendor order in the Orders List section of your store's Admin area.


    Important: If you wish to use different commission rates for vendors, you will have to set vendor-specific commission rates via the Financial Details section in vendor profiles. See Setting vendor commissions for more information.


  • Sales tax is the responsibility of (Site owner / Vendor): Select who should be responsible for collecting sales tax and the payment of the tax collected to the government: the store owner/storefront operator or the vendors.

    The setting affects tax rates configured using the add-ons Sales Tax and Canadian Taxes. However, it does not affect tax rates configured using the Value Added Tax / Goods and Services Tax add-on. VAT, in this case, is included in the product price and distributed between the store owner and vendors, depending on the established commission rate. With AvaTax or TaxJar integration add-ons enabled, the value in the "Sales tax is the responsibility of" field is used to determine the nexus.


    The "Sales tax is the responsibility of" setting is adjustable only in the "Vendors as separate shops" Multi-Vendor mode. In the "Warehouse" Multi-Vendor mode, tax collection is always the store owner/storefront operator's responsibility.

    The "Sales tax is the responsibility of" setting determines who collects sales tax (what account gets the sales tax money collected from the customer). It does not affect who configures taxes and tax rates.
    The configuration of taxes and tax rates is always the responsibility of the store administrator.


  • Minimal vendor balance to request a payout: Use this field to set a minimum amount of money that a vendor must have on their account balance to request a payout of their earnings.

  • Enable email notification for payout requests: This setting toggles the "Vendor request for payment" email notification.


    If this setting is active, the store owner gets an email notification when a vendor submits a payout request. If it is disabled, no email notification is sent; a payment request appears as a "Request for payout" record in the transactions section.


  • Payout request email: If you enabled email notifications for payout requests (the setting above), use this field to specify the TO email address for notifications. If no email address is specified here, notifications will not be sent.

  • Require to upload an invoice with a payout request: Enable this option if you wish to request vendors to upload an invoice when they submit a payout request. If this is enabled, vendors will not be able to request a payout without submitting an invoice. The submitted invoice will be sent to the email address specified in the "Payout request email" field along with the "Vendor request for payment" email notification message.

Multi-Vendor Privacy and Access Setup

The settings of this section define the access limits in the marketplace.

  • Do not show customers' contact information to vendors: This setting toggles vendor access to customer contact information.

  • Vendor access to global attributes: Specify whether you allow vendors to add attribute values if they decide to use attributes added at the product class and global levels by the store admin or other vendors. The available options here are:

    • Use existing values only;

    • Use existing and add new values.


    The setting does not limit vendors' access to the product class creation functionality.


  • Allow vendors to approve, reject and edit product ratings and reviews: Enable this to allow vendors to handle product ratings and reviews for their products.


    This setting applies only if the store has product ratings or reviews created with the Product Reviews add-on. If the Product Reviews add-on is not installed or disabled, it is safe to leave this setting adjusted to the default value or any value.


  • Allow vendors to reply to product ratings and reviews: Enable this to allow vendors to respond to ratings and reviews for their products.


    This setting applies only if the store has product ratings or reviews created with the Product Reviews add-on. If the Product Reviews add-on is not installed or disabled, it is safe to leave this setting adjusted to the default value or any value.


Multi-Vendor Appearance Setup

The settings of this section define how vendor-related data display in the storefront.

  • Base vendor rating on: Specify whether vendor rating should be based on a detailed categorized rating or product rating.


    This setting only affects your store if you use the Product Reviews add-on. If the Product Reviews add-on is not installed or disabled, it is safe to leave this setting adjusted to the default value or any value.



  • Show vendor list in product filter: Enable this option if you want your store's visitors to be able to filter products by the vendor. With this option enabled, your store's product filter will allow users to select vendors whose products they wish to view. Note that vendor filtering will be available only in categories that list more than one vendor product. If you do not want to allow filtering by vendor, make sure this option is disabled. See also: Product Filter: Usage with Marketplace.


    This option applies only to stores using the Product Filter add-on.


  • Show vendor list in sidebar: Specify whether you want your store's visitors to see the list of your store's vendors in the sidebar area of the store site.

  • Show vendor rating: Enable this if you want customers to be able to see your vendors' rating information. If this setting is enabled, vendor rating info is shown on the vendor page and in the vendor information block on the vendor's products listing page in the storefront. See Product Reviews: Usage with Marketplace for more info on vendor ratings.


    This setting is available only if the Product Reviews add-on is installed and enabled.


Multi-Vendor Onboarding Setup

The settings of this section define how vendors will integrate into the marketplace.

  • Vendor application form: This is not a setting but a way to quickly access the vendor application form details. To adjust the details, click Manage. Read more info here.

  • Role to assign to new vendor users: Set the role assigned to new vendor users after creating their profile or approval of their vendor application by admin.


    Besides the default "Vendor" role present in your store from the moment you install and activate the Multi-Vendor add-on, you can set up more for users acting as vendors in your store. The "Role to assign to new vendor users" setting allows you to specify the role assigned to users with the "Vendor" access level when such accounts are created.



  • Vendor onboarding welcome message: Use this field to adjust the onboarding message for your vendors. The message will be displayed on the vendor's dashboard after signing up.

The add-on configuration becomes active after you click the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

Related pages:

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