OpenCart MultiStore Setup

OpenCart MultiStore setup

One installation, several storefronts: different domains, different styling, a shared admin and catalogue. Convenient when you need a separate storefront for a brand, a region or wholesale, and do not need separate stock accounting.

What is included

• creating the storefronts and binding the domains;
• a separate theme, logo and contact details for each;
• distributing products and categories: what appears in which storefront;
• separate payment and delivery methods;
• separate languages and currencies where required;
• SSL and mail configuration for every domain;
• verifying that third-party modules correctly respect the current storefront.

The key limitation

Stock is shared. When an item runs out, it runs out in every storefront simultaneously. For most scenarios that is an advantage, but if the storefronts need separate stock accounting, MultiStore is not the answer — separate installations are.

Worth thinking about in advance

Prices. Different prices per storefront are handled through customer groups — which works, but requires planning rather than a single checkbox.

SEO. Identical products across several domains are duplicates. You need either different descriptions or correct canonical URLs; otherwise the storefronts start competing with each other in search results.

Modules. Not every third-party extension respects the current storefront. The classic bug is settings that apply to all of them at once.