We will be going back to a multi store front setup. Essentially we plan to run two separate store fronts which each a separate identity and customer audience. Essentially the same product / products but same different brands and or categories.
Now when are ready to install a second store front things get confusing.
Should we copy the existing store configuration or … not .
Please help us make the right decision for us.
Regards
Anthony
I believe the question is more complicated… Are these the same product_id's and categories but with different product_feature of “brand”? I.e. product_id 1234 in store one has product feature brand=abc and in store two has product feature brand=def but everything else is the same (price, options, descriptions, etc.)?
If the answer is yes, then you want to share your existing products from store one with store two. If the answer is no, then you probably want them to be separate (then one might question why you want a single admin… but that's an internal operations decision).
I believe you can have same products between stores but with different product features (but I'm not sure). Other's might be able to more specifically advise.
First of all thank you for your input Tony,
[quote name='tbirnseth' timestamp='1437935894' post='224389']
I believe the question is more complicated… Are these the same product_id's and categories but with different product_feature of “brand”? I.e. product_id 1234 in store one has product feature brand=abc and in store two has product feature brand=def but everything else is the same (price, options, descriptions, etc.)?
[/quote]
Well it is similar to GNC.com being the parent company of both sites like: www.gnc.com and www.drugstore.com
We plan to sell some of the same products in the both stores and even share the same prices, options and features but perhaps not the same product descriptions. It may depend on the product itself.
[quote name='tbirnseth' timestamp='1437935894' post='224389']
If the answer is yes, then you want to share your existing products from store one with store two. If the answer is no, then you probably want them to be separate (then one might question why you want a single admin… but that's an internal operations decision).
I believe you can have same products between stores but with different product features (but I'm not sure). Other's might be able to more specifically advise.
[/quote]
One of the reason for wanting to have a single admin is for keeping an administration in the first place. My partner and wife would like to maintain inventory in one admin. By the way some products and categories will not be shared among store fronts.
I do remember reading a thread in which you participated and advocated for a kind of API which would allow more of a inventory management from which you could do multiple store(s-) (fronts).
[quote]I do remember reading a thread in which you participated and advocated for a kind of API which would allow more of a inventory management from which you could do multiple store(s-) (fronts).[/quote]
LOL, yes, that was a voice alone in the forest.
It should be possible for the most part with the API but would take a lot of work and some strong partnerships with other providers who can provide complete solutions for order, customer and product management as well as fulfillment and sales/marketing through other channels.
Given what you describe, you might find administration actually easier by having 2 separate stores and developing import/export methods that support your needs and where you can apply your own business logic to the process. I.e. change description for products A, B and C and only pricing for B, etc… If you only have a few products, you might be able to manage it effectively via one Admin interface. But if you have many products (a few thousand or several hundred) then you might find managing them externally in spreadsheets (or tools/products that can generate spread sheets) and then using import/export to apply the data.
Currently we run 2 different stores already and up til now inventory control wasn't used as this is done in an Excel spreadsheet.
However, with the unfavourable euro/dollar exchange and stiff competition we wanted to rule out the option for backorders w/o raising store price to at least the SRP. This made it necessary to use inventory control so as to avoid backorders.
As of then, it's been a nightmare to maintain proper inventory control … currently the CS-cart store still is barely used, but when it will, we'll have different inventory in too many places to handle.
And of course it is also a royal PITA to introduce new products or edit older products and having to copy paste a lot of info, which will lead to all kind of errors.
However, when it will lead to technical problems to share 2 store-fronts like we experienced before with another theme, we aren't keen on sharing either…
Hope this explains a thing or 2
Yvana