PrestaShop’s multistore feature offers impressive functionality, making it an excellent choice for managing multiple online stores. However, it’s important to note that the multistore feature has encountered some issues, as it has not received significant updates for a while. Finally, with the launch of version 1.7.8, the PrestaShop developer team made some changes to the multistore feature. In this article, we will cover the basics of multistore implementation and explore its various benefits.
Advantages and Use Cases of PrestaShop Multistore Feature:
- Centralized Management: Manage multiple online stores from a single admin panel.
- Shared Customer Database: Maintain a shared customer database across all websites, ensuring seamless customer management.
- Customized Storefronts: Unique store layouts, branding, and overall appearance for each store to tailor storefronts to specific target audiences, products, markets, or customer segments.
- SEO Benefits: Enhance visibility in search engine results by leveraging domain or subdomain for each website.
- Scalability: Easily scale and expand your online presence by adding new stores as needed.
- Language-based Stores: Create separate stores for different languages to cater to customers from diverse backgrounds.
- Payment and Shipping Methods: Customize payment and shipping methods for each store, adapting to regional preferences.
Multistore Dictionary: Understanding Key Terms and Concepts
- Shop Groups: Allow you to organize and categorize multiple stores into groups for easy management.
- Shops: Are simply said the individual stores within a shop group.
- Physical URL: The directory or folder on the server where your shop is installed.
- Virtual URL: Create a shop with a custom URL that doesn’t correspond to a physical directory.
Answers to some common questions related to creating a multistore in PrestaShop:
- Can I have different pricing and discounts for each store in the multistore setup?
- Yes, PrestaShop allows you to set specific prices and discounts at the store level.
- How do I manage product inventory and availability across multiple stores?
- You can choose to share or manage product inventory independently for each store.
- Can I use different themes for each store in the multistore setup?
- Yes, PrestaShop allows you to assign unique themes and designs to each store.
- Is it possible to have separate payment and shipping methods for each store?
- Absolutely! Customize payment and shipping methods for each store based on regional preferences.
- Can I have different languages enabled for each store, and how do I manage language translations?
- Yes, PrestaShop supports multilingual stores.
- Manage language translations through the back office to provide localized content.
Please note that most of the features shared between stores can be disabled if needed (recommended to do that while setup).