Imagine a company, Phew-Phew, that produces every type of clothing you can think of. Keeping all products on one website wouldn’t make sense for them, so they create separate ones, like Phew-Phew Sport, Phew-Phew Wedding Dresses, and Phew-Phew Hats. Yet, all these are managed from a single platform. This is multiple-store ecommerce — a setup where one brand or company manages several online stores from one platform. This model can be implemented on various platforms, whether custom-built or ready-made, like Shopify.
Multiple-store ecommerce has huge potential, but you need to determine if it’s right for you. Let’s figure it out.
Table of Contents
Do you need multiple-store ecommerce?
Here’s a quick list of companies that can benefit from multiple-store ecommerce:
1. You’re a company with multiple brands or product lines
Suppose you sell electronics with distinct product lines targeting different audiences — like professional video equipment, second-hand gadgets for everyday users, and luxury-segment devices.
Hosting all these on one site could confuse visitors, search engines, and your marketing team.
2. You operate in multiple markets
Consider a brand active in the US, EU, and Asia. Each region needs websites in local languages, currencies, and tailored approaches. For example, it makes sense to run a New Year’s promotion in Asia in January, not December. A single site can’t handle this effectively.
3. You’re experimenting with a new product or market
If a luxury jewelry brand decides to launch an eco-friendly line of wooden jewelry, it might be a good idea to sell it on a separate website. Why? For one thing, their core marketing strategy won’t fit.
Plus, having so many different products on one website can skew customer preference data and have a bad impact on the main store’s health. Bold experiments are better conducted on separate platforms.
Typically, businesses using ready-made ecommerce platforms are more flexible in this regard. Hardly anyone builds a website from scratch just to run a test. And, for example, Shopify stores created with Shopify Plus development services can add a new store with just a few clicks in the admin panel.
4. You serve B2B and B2C customers
A wholesale food supplier might target retail customers (families) and businesses (cafes). Obviously, these groups require different sales approaches and personalized pricing.
5. You manage a franchise or multi-location business.
Say you run a chain of coffee shops in a region. Each location might need its own website with unique hours or even job listings. In the backend, the websites can sync and share consistent pricing, inventory access, and more.
What are the benefits of multi-store ecommerce?
What practical benefits does a business gain by running multiple online stores simultaneously? Let’s break it down into categories:
From a marketing perspective:
- Each store can have its design and positioning tailored to a specific audience or market.
- You can run localized campaigns, like Black Friday sales, in regions where they’re popular while skipping them where they’re not.
- SEO becomes more flexible, as each store can be optimized for specific keywords and topics, boosting efficiency.
- Testing new products, markets, or audiences is safer, as it doesn’t impact the main store.
From a management perspective:
- Inventory management is centralized, with all stores tied to a single platform and inventory system.
- Coordinating with suppliers is easier, especially for dropshipping, as you work with partners across stores on one platform.
From a customer experience perspective:
- Customers shop in a store that uses their native language and local currency, follows local tax rules, and offers local shipping carriers. Plus, the content can be tailored to the cultural context.
- Visitors don’t get lost in hundreds of subcategories on one site — they interact with the specific product group they’re interested in.
From a financial perspective:
- Stores launch faster. For example, with Shopify, it’s practically a few clicks using the “add store” button.
- Centralized inventory tracking optimizes storage costs, avoiding overstock or shortages.
How does it look?
Typically, individual stores live on subdomains that clearly show which brand rules here. For example, if your main store is phew-phew.com, sub-stores might be sport.phew-phew.com or wedding-dresses.phew-phew.com.
Multiple-store ecommerce can diversify your offerings, enhance user experience, build trust, and boost sales, so why not give it a try?
Andrej Fedek is the creator and the one-person owner of two blogs: InterCool Studio and CareersMomentum. As an experienced marketer, he is driven by turning leads into customers with White Hat SEO techniques. Besides being a boss, he is a real team player with a great sense of equality.