Building Dondolo Uganda Ecommerce Marketplace for Web, Mobile, and POS
Visit WebsiteDondolo is a company based out in Kampala, Uganda since 2008. Dondolo does online and offline selling to individuals, companies, NGOs, and local & foreign government agencies. It deals with mobiles, gadgets, computers, electronics, fashion, auto spares, and other categories.
Retail Outlets
Apart from the online store, the company has retail outlets in Kampala for displays or pick-ups. Dondolo offers a quote for any order or any amount as requested.
They deliver within Kampala city center free for orders above UGX500k. For deliveries for orders outside Kampala, the customer needs to contact Dondolo.
Order Fulfillment
Further, if a buyer is looking for an item which is not listed on this website, Dondolo can trace it for free. Third-party online ordering – for example, if you have seen an item online (eBay, Amazon, etc) but don’t know how to go about it or you have no means to purchase it, Dondolo can buy and ship it for you.
Web+Mobile+POS = Complete Ecommerce Solution
Steven Mukasa was looking for a multi-seller marketplace solution for the web and mobile platforms. He also needed a point of sale (POS) system for managing the physical retail channels.
“To be sincere, I have been checking many marketplace modules similar to yours, many are even cheaper but you seem to beat them with experience in marketplace modules, you have almost each and every module I will need to purchase to have a professional website as soon as possible and I would wish to corporate nice.”
Steven Mukasa
Kampala, Uganda
Online shopping continues to grow in Uganda, many new companies are coming up and tapping this unexplored market. Additionally, payments via. mobile money is still the most preferred way by which consumers make their transactions.
Upgrading to Opencart 3.x with Journal Theme
Steven’s website is built on Opencart open source e-commerce platform. But at that time, he was using an older version i.e. 2.x and wanted to update to 3.x
Opencart 3.x was officially released on Jun 2017. It brought several features like:
- Extension marketplace integration
- Theme editor to modify the template easily
- Language editor
- Multilingual SEO URLs support
- New admin data filters and much more
Moreover, Journal 3 theme needed to be installed on the Dondolo website. Journal 3 is the most selling theme and is hugely popular among the Opencart community. For this reason, Webkul provides a Journal theme patch for Opencart modules.
Please Note – All Webkul modules are 100% compatible with all third-party themes. Conditionally the theme is working fine with the default Opencart website.
Building Dondolo Web Marketplace
To make the Dondolo e-commerce store into a multi-supplier shop, the Opencart Marketplace Multi Vendor extension was installed. With this, anyone can sign up easily as a seller, create an online listing, and manage orders.
Webkul’s Opencart Marketplace Multi-Vendor module comes with a broad list of features that allows the store admin and marketplace sellers to customize their online shop easily.
From managing the seller profile page, collection page, and reviews page, and showing locations on Google map. Sellers can provide all this information from the frontend My Account section.
Moreover, the customers can view the Seller’s Information section. From here, the customers can view:
- Shop name,
- Shop logo,
- Product count, and
- Seller ratings.
Dondolo Online POS (Point of Sale) System
No one else does this for free! Dondolo provides sellers with a very important business module “Dondolo Online POS”. With this sellers can manage their business, stock, and sales for all outlets from anywhere at any time.
Moreover, the Dondolo Online POS system works both online and offline (syncs after when connected again) in real-time. Opencart Marketplace coupled with Opencart Marketplace POS bridges the gap between online and offline sales channels.
Need for Dondolo Seller Mobile App
Steven wanted to simplify the whole seller management process for product listing, order management, and adding location. For that, he asked us for a dedicated mobile app that works for sellers.
“Being that most of my local sellers here are using mobile phones, they are finding it hard to post the items using a mobile device, they have to ask me always! This is the main reason I wanted the app as well but still having an easier-to-use website is very crucial. When I checked your app it looked very easy to upload items, the same as the OLX app that most people use here for classified ads. Is there a way I can simplify mine or this needs a whole other modification?”
Steven Mukasa
Kampala, Uganda
For both sellers and customers, fully native mobile applications are available on Google Play and Apple App Store. This allows the customers to shop from mobile phones and make payments as well.
Likewise, marketplace sellers can perform all the basic functions on their mobile phones. From managing seller profiles, viewing orders, adding a new product, and viewing the sales dashboard.
You can also download the mobile apps on your Android devices and check the Dondolo Shop experience:
Hyperlocal System
Using Google Maps API, the hyperlocal system is working on Dondolo web and mobile. This enables the customers to view nearby sellers and products as per the location set.
Similarly, from the mobile app, the customers can set their location and view the products and sellers locally. You can even use the mobile device GPS to find your current location or find a location using Google Maps.
Advanced SEO Extension
Search Engine Optimization is very much important for any online business. For Dondolo, Opencart Advanced SEO extension is being used that allows the admin to:
- Create search engine-friendly URLs
- Social sharing on Facebook & Twitter
- Custom meta title & meta description
- SEO Meter to view analysis and suggestions
References
- https://www.opencart.com/
- https://themeforest.net/item/journal-advanced-opencart-theme/4260361
- https://www.dignited.com/22167/online-shopping-shipping-websites-uganda/
Disclaimer – Please note all the images and content used in this article belongs to their respective copyright owners. Also, if you have any issues or complaints related to this article, please send us an email to [email protected]
