It's not a secret that Magento 2 is full of brilliant features. One of its advantages is the possibility to manage multiple websites and stores within one installation. It is a great feature, especially if your business consists of various branches and you want to control everything in one place effectively.
However, this process may be rather complicated for those who create eCommerce store from scratch, because of Magento's hierarchy of Websites, Stores, and Store Views.
But don't worry. In this article, we'll shed some light on this concept to help you understand this structure better.
What are Websites, Stores, and Store Views in Magento 2?
It is important to say, that there is a hierarchy system in Magento 2, and each website, store, and store view has a certain place in this system. They have parent/child relations — one level subordinates to another to be exact.
Here we can also observe one more scope — Global — which is fundamental. So, you can create multiple websites under Global. Then each website has a store (or a few of them) and each store can be divided into multiple store views. Just have a look at how this hierarchy works in Magento.
Overwhelmed already? Everything becomes clear as soon as you understand the roles and possibilities of websites, stores, and store views in Magento.
Difference between Websites, Stores, and Store Views
As we've already mentioned, Magento 2 has a hierarchy system with global, website, store, and store views holding a certain place in it. So, let's have a closer look at each of the hierarchy levels.
Global
Global is the broadest concept and the highest level in the Magento hierarchy that is already present by default. It can't be multiplied or removed. The modifications you perform here will be applied to all the websites and stores. Using Global you can:
- manage stock settings;
- set prices for the same product categories in all stores;
- collect customers' data from different websites.
Website
Website is the second level of the Magento hierarchy. During the initial setup, there is one website. However, you can create multiple websites in Magento, if you sell different types of products or have a few client bases.
Your websites can have different domains and IP addresses, but they can also share the same IP.
Here you can also set prices, shipment and payment methods, as well as tax fees for each separate website.
Example of multi-website Magento with 3 websites, main and second with one store and store views and the third with one store and two store views
As we've mentioned above, the websites may have their unique target customer base, but you can have access to all the client data. Everything depends on your needs and settings. Websites also can share the same inventory or have separate inventory settings.
Besides, each website can have a different design and layout. If you sell different types of products and want to manage them within one admin panel, this structure will suit you perfectly.
| Unique features | Shared features |
|---|---|
| Design |
Inventory |
| Layout | Inventory settings |
|
Shipment methods |
|
| Payment methods | |
|
Tax fees |
|
|
Customer base |
|
|
Product prices |
e.g. you sell different types of products, like electronics and software, and need different payment methods for each of the websites. Or you have different brands and need each to be under a different domain. Finally, you can sell globally and need to configure different shipping methods and taxes for each of the websites correspondingly.
Store
Let's move to the next concept, which is a store. You can create multiple stores under one website, and they have their own product catalogs. It is a great feature because you can have different choices of products and designs for each store. What is important, your stores belong to one domain and IP address.
Example of multi-store Magento with one main website, 3 stores: one with three store views, second with two store views, and third with one store view
The prices you set for each product type will be the same across the stores, as well as tax fees, currencies, and shipping/order methods. Keep in mind, that all the changes you set for one store will affect all the other stores you have.
It is up to you whether to create multiple websites or arrange your products into stores. Everything depends on your goals and needs.
| Unique features | Shared features |
| Product catalogs | Currency |
| Product prices | |
| Tax fees | |
| Payment options | |
| Shipping/order methods | |
| Everything shared in the parental website scope |
e.g. multi-store structure is quite similar to the multi-website structure. You can create multiple stores in case you sell different types of products, like kids' apparel and grown-ups' apparel, but want to have all of these products displayed under one domain.
This way customers won't have to navigate to another website to discover all of your products. And considering you simply need to differentiate the product catalogs while all other features are the same (currencies, prices, and tax fees) multi-store structure will work better for you.
Store View
Each store has a certain view that is presented to customers. This feature is called store view and it is the last level of the Magento hierarchy. By default, each store has one store view, but you can create as many store views as you need.
You mainly use store views to set different languages and currencies if you have customer groups from different countries and want to set up multi-language Magento website.
Example of multiple store views in Magento with one main website, one store, and multiple store views with different languages
You can also display labels, texts, or templates differently on all the store views you have. Such a localization helps to cover larger customer groups and make your products and services available to them.
| Unique features | Shared features |
| Language | Root category and products |
| Theme/Layout | Everything shared in the parental website scope |
| Currency | Everything shared in the parental store scope |
| Templates | |
| Design of certain labels/text blocks |
e.g. you have one website with one set of products but want to provide a unique experience for customers in each country you sell in. In this case, you create a unique store view for each language you want to provide on your website. Besides you can set up multiple currencies, so they are displayed based on customer location.
How to Use Website, Store, and Store View Hierarchy?
When you start your Magento 2 store you probably already know what structure you want your website to have. However, there are plenty of other opportunities beyond shared payment methods, Shipping options, prices, and languages. These are features provided by Magento out of the box.
So here we'd like to tell you more about how to use website, store, and store view Magento hierarchy with Magefan extensions.
1. Customize the checkout page
If you want to create a unique checkout experience within all of your websites or store views, you can configure default shipping and payment methods per store view. Additionally, you can even set different payment methods icons depending on the store.
2. Create unique product tabs
People on different websites or stores might be looking for unique information about your products. That's why it makes sense to add unique product tabs per each store to ensure higher conversion rates and better customer experience correspondingly.
3. Add related product blocks
Since each of your stores has a unique product catalog, you can't overlook one over the other. So once you decide to automate related products in Magento, you need to do each on each store. That's when related product rules come in handy to help you configure different blocks for each store or store view.
4. Sent email notifications to admins
Keeping track of your inventory is essential for effective catalog management. You have to know when to restock to devoid out-of-stock situations and bad customer experiences. For that, you have to configure the low stock email notification. It will be sent to admin users per each website.
As you can see websites, stores, and store views are closely connected. They share similar features and can have some unique options assigned to them. You can have multiple products, currencies, languages, and layout themes within one Magento installation.
Besides, there are multiple other features dependable on this Magento hierarchy. So, it is important to know the difference between websites, stores, and store views in Magento to manage them accordingly with your business needs.
