How to Manage Multiple Stores

6 minutes Intermediate How-To

Overview

Why Multi-Store Management Matters

  • Reduce operating costs by managing multiple brands from one installation
  • Improve customer experience with localized content for each market
  • Scale faster with consistent governance across all storefronts
  • Centralized inventory and order management across regions

Operate multiple brands, regions, or catalogs from one Magento 2 installation to reduce operating cost, improve customer experience per market, and scale faster with consistent governance.

Magento's multi-store architecture allows you to manage different websites, stores, and store views from a single admin panel. This guide walks you through planning and implementing a multi-store setup that serves different regions, brands, or customer segments while maintaining centralized control.

Note: Plan your multi-store structure carefully before implementation. Changing the hierarchy after launch can be complex and may require data migration.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

Admin Panel Access

Access to Magento Admin Panel

What You'll Accomplish

By following this guide, you will:

  • Successfully configure a multi-store setup with websites, stores, and store views
  • Set up separate domains, catalogs, and localization for each storefront
  • Configure region-specific settings for tax, payments, shipping, and inventory
  • Verify end-to-end functionality for all storefronts

Step-by-Step Instructions

Planning Guidance

Use Websites for separate domains and checkout flows, Stores for different catalogs under the same checkout, and Store Views for language/currency variations. Document your structure before starting implementation.

0

Plan your multi-store structure

Decide what you need: Websites for separate domains, pricing, checkout; Stores for different catalogs under the same checkout; Store Views for language/currency variations.

Example structure: Create two Websites (US, UK), each with one Store and one Store View.

Note decisions for:

  • Price scope (global vs. website-specific pricing)
  • Account sharing (shared customer accounts across websites or separate)
  • Inventory strategy (shared inventory or separate sources per region)

Estimated time: 10 minutes for planning. Document your decisions before proceeding to implementation.

1

Create the Website container

Go to Stores › All Stores › Create Website. Enter a Name (e.g., UK Storefront), a unique Code (e.g., uk), and Sort Order.

Save the website configuration.

Repeat for any additional websites you need to create.

2

Create a Root Category for the new store

Go to Catalog › Categories. Click Add Root Category.

Name it (e.g., UK Catalog Root), set Enable Category = Yes and Include in Menu = Yes.

Save the root category.

Add child categories as needed for your catalog structure.

3

Create the Store and assign the Root Category

Go to Stores › All Stores › Create Store.

Choose the Website you created, enter a Name (e.g., UK Store), and set Root Category to the one you just created.

Save the store configuration.

4

Create Store Views for language/currency

Go to Stores › All Stores › Create Store View.

Select the Store, enter Name (e.g., English UK), Code (e.g., en_uk), and set Status = Enabled.

Save the store view configuration.

Create additional views for other languages if needed (e.g., French UK, German UK).

5

Configure Base URLs for each Website

Go to Stores › Configuration. In the scope switcher (top left), select the new Website.

Navigate to General › Web. Expand Base URLs and Base URLs (Secure).

Enter the full domain URL (e.g., https://uk.brand.co.uk/). Set Use Secure URLs in Storefront = Yes and Use Secure URLs in Admin = Yes.

Save the configuration.

Coordinate DNS/SSL setup and web server vhost configuration if not already done before testing the storefront.

6

Set locale, time zone, and currency per Store View/Website

For language and formatting, select the Store View in the scope switcher and go to General › Locale Options.

Set Locale (e.g., English (United Kingdom)) and Timezone.

For currency, switch to Website scope: General › Currency Setup. Set Base Currency, Default Display Currency, and Allowed Currencies.

Save the configuration after each section.

7

Configure tax, payment, and shipping per Website

Switch to the target Website scope in the configuration area.

Go to Sales › Tax to set tax classes and rules per region.

Then go to Sales › Payment Methods to enable region-appropriate methods (e.g., PayPal for UK).

Configure Sales › Shipping Methods for carriers and zones specific to this region.

Save after each section to ensure configurations are applied correctly.

8

Assign inventory sources and stock to the Website (MSI)

Go to Stores › Inventory › Stocks. Edit or create a Stock that includes the Sources serving this region.

Assign the Website to this Stock.

Ensure Sources have quantity for relevant products (Stores › Inventory › Sources or per product).

Save the stock configuration.

9

Assign products to the Website and categories

Open a product (Catalog › Products). In Product in Websites, select the new Website.

Assign the product to categories under the Store's Root Category.

If Price Scope = Website, enter website-specific prices.

Save the product.

Repeat for key products (or use bulk actions/import for larger catalogs).

10

Set default store view and optional URL code behavior

Go to Stores › All Stores. Edit the Website to confirm the Default Store and Default Store View.

If using separate domains, go to Stores › Configuration › General › Web › URL Options and set Add Store Code to URLs = No.

If sharing a domain with paths, set it to Yes and configure rewrites accordingly.

11

Clear cache and let indexes update

Go to System › Cache Management. Click Flush Magento Cache.

Ensure cron is running so indexers update automatically.

If necessary, schedule a developer to run CLI reindex (bin/magento indexer:reindex). Refresh storefront pages to verify changes.

12

Verify storefronts end-to-end

Visit each domain. Confirm theme/logo, language, currency, categories, and product pricing display correctly.

Place a test order with website-specific payment and shipping methods.

In Admin, go to Sales › Orders and verify the Website column and order totals are correct.

Check Stores › Currency › Currency Rates to confirm expected conversions are reflected.

Verification

To confirm everything is working correctly:

  • Admin Panel Configuration
    • ✓ Navigate to the admin panel and verify all Websites, Stores, and Store Views are visible and configured correctly
    • ✓ Check that all scope-specific configurations (URLs, currencies, locales) are saved correctly
  • Storefront Display
    • ✓ Each domain displays the correct theme, logo, and branding
    • ✓ Language and currency display correctly for each Store View
    • ✓ Categories and products are assigned to the correct store catalogs
  • Customer Experience
    • ✓ Test the complete checkout flow from a customer perspective on each website
    • ✓ Verify website-specific payment and shipping methods are available
    • ✓ Product pricing reflects website-specific prices if configured

Common Issues and Solutions

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