When a second store makes sense
A new store makes sense when the brand, the buyer, or the buying terms change. It rarely makes sense when only the products change. Three situations earn their own storefront:
- A separate brand: shoppers should see a different name, domain, and design, like a tea line launched by a coffee company.
- A wholesale channel: approved business buyers need their own pricing, purchase orders, and order minimums, away from retail shoppers.
- A campaign or product-line site: a seasonal launch or a single hero product gets its own domain, then retires when the campaign ends.
A new category, a holiday sale, or a landing page for an ad usually does not need a new store. A new page in the store you already run does that job without another domain, checkout, and set of emails to maintain.
Manage multiple stores, one account
You do not need a separate account for each online store. Many platforms still work that way, with every store as its own subscription that holds its own catalog, customer list, and order queue. Multi-store ecommerce flips that: one account holds the business, and each storefront is a front end on top of it.
The difference shows up in daily work. With separate accounts, a product update means logging in to every store that sells the item, and a support rep checks several order screens to find one order. With one account, you update the product once, and every store's orders land in the same queue.
That is the whole idea behind the way to manage multiple ecommerce stores without multiplying the work: keep what shoppers see separate, and keep what your team works on together.
Separate vs. shared
The key to running multiple online stores from one account is knowing which parts belong to each store and which belong to the business. Here is how UltraCart splits them.
| Separate for each StoreFront | Shared in one account |
|---|---|
| Its own domain | One product catalog |
| Its own theme and pages | One customer and order view |
| Its own payment methods, gateways, and shipping methods | Sales reports you can filter by StoreFront |
| Its own emails, from its own sending domain | StoreFront data in BigQuery |
Each StoreFront gets its own theme and pages built in the Visual Builder, and themes can be copied from one StoreFront to another. Each one also has its own Communications settings, so receipts, shipping notices, email campaigns, and flows go out under that store's name.
On the shared side, you add a product once and assign it to the stores that should sell it, by hand or with conditions. Sales reports filter by StoreFront, and the Google BigQuery integration includes StoreFront data when you want to compare every store in one query.
Three multi-store setups
Most merchants who run more than one store land on one of three patterns. Each one lines up with a scenario on the multi-storefront management page.
Several brands, one back office
Picture a coffee roaster that launches a tea brand. Each brand gets its own domain, its own look, and its own sending domain for receipts and shipping notices, so the tea shopper never sees coffee branding. Behind the scenes, a cold brew kit sold by both brands is one product in the catalog, and orders from both arrive in one queue for fulfillment and customer service.
Retail and wholesale storefronts
A wholesale store next to the retail site is one of the most common reasons to add a storefront. Retail and wholesale storefronts can sell the same catalog to very different buyers. On UltraCart, wholesale runs on customer pricing tiers:
- Tier pricing: a percentage off, or a set price per item for each tier.
- Purchase orders: approved buyers can check out with a PO.
- Tax-exempt buying: mark a tier as tax exempt.
- Order minimums: require a minimum subtotal or item count.
- Wholesale-only pages: lock pages so only customers in a tier can see them.
- Signup and approval: wholesale signup and approval emails run as flows.
The customer pricing tiers documentation walks through the setup.
Campaign and product-line sites
A campaign site starts as a copy. Duplicate an existing StoreFront from its General tab (the docs put it at about 45 seconds), assign only the products the campaign needs, and give it its own domain. Before launch, review its payment and shipping options, since those are set for each store.
When the campaign runs, filter sales reports by that StoreFront to see what it sold. When the season ends, retire the site. The products, customers, and order history stay in your account.
What multiple stores cost
Per-store billing is the quiet cost of running several stores. On platforms that bill per store, five brands means five subscriptions, and every tool you connect has to be set up again for each one.
On UltraCart, StoreFronts are included in your plan:
- Small: 1 StoreFront
- Medium: 5 StoreFronts
- Large: 10 StoreFronts
- Enterprise: 25 StoreFronts
So the five-brand example above is one plan and one bill. Compare UltraCart plans to see what else each tier includes.
How to add your next store
- Name what changes. A brand, a buyer group, or a campaign. If none of those changes, build a page instead.
- Create the StoreFront, or duplicate the one closest to what you need.
- Point its domain at the new StoreFront.
- Pick a theme and build its pages in the Visual Builder.
- Assign products from your catalog, by hand or with conditions.
- Set checkout options: the payment methods, gateways, and shipping methods this store offers.
- Set up its emails: sending domain, receipts, shipping notices, and flows.
- Place a test order, then confirm it shows up when you filter reports by the new StoreFront.
Multi-store FAQ
Can multiple stores share one product catalog?
Yes. On UltraCart you add a product once and choose which StoreFronts show it, by hand or with conditions. A price or description update happens in one place.
How many stores can I run on one UltraCart account?
It depends on your plan. Small includes 1 StoreFront, Medium includes 5, Large includes 10, and Enterprise includes 25, all from the same account.
Can each store send its own emails?
Yes. Each StoreFront has its own Communications settings, including sending domain, lists, flows, campaigns, and transactional emails like receipts and shipping notices.
Can I keep a site on another platform and still use UltraCart?
Yes. Checkout Only mode adds UltraCart checkout to a site you already run elsewhere.
Running more than one brand, channel, or campaign should not mean running more than one business. See how brands, wholesale, and campaign sites fit together on the multi-storefront management page, then start your next store from the account you already have.
