Shopify Plus Multiple Stores – How would you ensure productivity across multiple stores on Shopify?

What is multi-store management?

Multi-store management is the handling of multiple stores operations, with the operational demands of each store being different from the other store. Management in this respect means to keep the functioning of these stores as smooth as possible. This multi-store management for online stores is quite intensive as it requires constant monitoring.

What is Shopify Plus multiple stores

In today’s digital world, the exponential growth of e-commerce has created an increased demand for online stores. This has allowed store owners to expand their businesses in multiple domains. You cannot have multiple stores on Shopify alone, you could own multiple accounts as per your store requirement. This means you need to set up a new store for each account and manage them separately.

To cater to this problem, Shopify Plus multiple stores were launched. This allows store owners to create different storefronts for different regions. Regardless of location, your store can now be accessible for users and be user-friendly as well. This facilitates Shopify brands by giving them the ability to introduce their products and services to global customers. To design these stores, Shopify store owners tend to opt for Shopify store design services as now they cater to international clients, so their store must also follow international standards to provide the best services. You can hire someone to build Shopify store for you so that while you focus on managing the supply chain for your store, your store is being developed at the same time.

How many stores can you have on Shopify Plus?

Shopify Plus allows clients to create 9 additional stores alongside the main store. This allows users to have 10 stores in total. Managing these stores is a nightmare. You should hire a certified Shopify experts company to manage all your store.  You can also make use of the shopify store design services provided by these expert companies. They can also help in your Shopify inventory management.

How Can I have multiple Shopify stores?

1. You will log onto your Shopify plus store account.
2.  Then click on Stores from the Shopify organization admin panel.
3. Click on create a store.
4. Enter a store name and URL in the store details section. The URL you choose cannot be edited later on.
5. You can choose applications to pre-install on your store. It is preferable to install Shopify flow, Launchpad, Script Editor, Transporter, and Product Reviews.
6. To import themes to your new store, you can do the following:
7. If you do not want to import files, then uncheck the box of Import all files from this store.
8. In the Themes section click on Import themes.
9. Review the themes that you want to upload.
10. You can even select a theme in your new store from the Choose a theme to publish in your new store.
11. Click on Done.
12. In order to import the staff of the store, you can do the following:
13. Click on Import Users fromthe Users section.
14. Select the staff that you want to import.
15. Click on Done.
16. Click on create Store to create a new store.

You can now log into the store and start adding details.

Some guidelines for creating new stores.

Importing themes into your new store

When you have to import a theme into a new store, any coded references to that file in that theme always continue to point to files present in the original store. If a file is deleted from the original store, then the link will be broken for your theme. To prevent the breaking of the links, you must import files alongside the themes. You can import them by going to Settings > Files. You should also update any URLs present in your theme so that they continue to point to the files present in the new store.

Read Also How to sell on Shopify without Inventory

Importing the store staff into a new store.

Before you start to import staff from an existing store, you can consider the following:

• Imported staff inherits the same permissions that they have in the store where you import the staff from. If you need to alter the permissions, then you can do so only after the new store is created.
• The staff who are managed as per user roles in the organization administration do not appear on the list for store staff to import. Once the store is created, you can make use of the organization admin to add store access to the appropriate staff.
• The staff that appears in the import list are only active and email verified staff.
• New staff, who are not a part of the organization can separately be added to the organization after you successfully create the store.

How much does it cost to have two Shopify stores?

The cost of having two Shopify stores will cost you depending on how you choose to run them. You can either create multiple Shopify stores using different Shopify accounts or you can upgrade to Shopify Plus. The former will cost you the number of stores multiplied by the subscription fees per month. If you have the basic Shopify account which costs $29 per month, then two stores will cost you $58 per month. For the latter, Shopify plus plans are customized, but they have a starting price of $2000 per month.

How do manage multiple stores?

There are some pointers to make sure to follow in order to manage Shopify stores.

Optimize each of your store individually.

When you have multiple stores of Shopify that target segmented international markets and sell to different segments of customers, you will have to optimize each of the stores to make sure that the content it offers is meant for relevant audiences. This optimization includes targeting the use of locally most used keywords, promoting the offers and deals that suit the country such as launching a Christmas deal in Christian dominated countries, making use of Shopify store design services  to display relevant stores, you can create content that is relevant for local users and use a variable URL structure for the store.

Update the inventory in real-time.

To make sure that your store manages your inventory accurately across all your multiple stores, it is crucial to implement real-time inventory updates. You can perform Shopify inventory management to prevent any overselling on your store. You can also ensure that you fulfill all your orders so that you do not incur a loss, ruin the reputation of your brand, and create a very unpleasant customer experience. Inventory management in real-time helps improve the shopping experience of the customers significantly by making sure that you always have sufficient products in your stock. This centralization of the inventory for your stores will help you keep track of your products without depending on different stores.

Manage your orders by centralizing data.

If you keep track of your multiple store orders differently, It will be a nightmare to manage all the orders separately in stores. This is where centralized management of the system can help us manage all the orders from different stores. By centralizing the orders, we can fulfill the orders in lesser time and keep a track of the orders and returns.

An order management system will include inventory synchronization in regular intervals of time. Order aggregation and distribution are easier for fulfillment. They will allow order fulfillment from one or multiple nodes and then synchronize to the main source. The automation rules for segregating the inventory items across all your different stores and their sales channels. You can make use of Shopify integration solutions with databases such as Oracle to make sure that your database system is best utilized.

Use product information management system.

As you have multiple Shopify stores, there is a high chance that the product information present on each of the pages is completely different from the other. Managing the information of products can become extremely time-consuming and difficult for e-commerce businesses that have multiple stores. This results in unordered and inaccurate data. Product information management systems help store owners avoid this problem by making all your product data centralized and consistent. This results in more standardized data that is clean and is the same on all of your multiple stores increasing the consistency of your stores.

Product information systems also track the information managed by your business and help it be distributed across all of your sales channels effectively. These ultimately result in a unified information display that is updated in real-time. You can hire a certified Shopify experts company if you want to make use of services such as Shopify maintenance.

Develop a centralized customer support system.

Customer support tickets must be tracked across multiple stores. This is a quite complicated task due to the big amount of customers and tickers. These are even more challenging to tackle if you need to localize customer support so that your stores can cater to international customers separately. A single and unified customer support system will help you handle each and every customer query and order data from a single interface for all your stores.

This central box can deal with all the issues of the customers effectively and quickly. Once you have implemented such a system, one can deal customers without any confusion and resulting in improved customer satisfaction levels. These subsequently lead to increased customer retention rates. It is to make use of Shopify developers who can design this customized feature for your Shopify store. You can also make use of Shopify integration solutions to integrate customer helpdesks such as Zendesk.

How Can you have multiple domains on one Shopify account?

The only way to have multiple domains on one Shopify account is by having a Shopify plus account. This will help you create 10 different domains all from a single account. This means all the stores registered under a single email address and then run all of these stores from one account of Shopify plus. To design these multiple stores in a way that complements the product is to make use of Shopify store design services. This will attract customers to your store and result in increased sales.

How do you manage a chain store on Shopify?

Make use of consistent standard operating procedures across all stores.

In order to manage your Shopify store, you must make sure that every single store is operating perfectly, even if you yourself are not managing the stores directly. To ensure that all of your plus stores are working with the same flows, it is extremely important that you implement the same SOP across all your store. The design, the navigation, the theme, and the colors must all follow the SOP that you want the store to follow. You must also include critical features of online stores on each store such as a working schedule, product return procedures, communicating with the customer effectively, determining the applicable discounts on products for different clients, and the tax generation. These features will help make sure that the customers of your store are provided with a positive and consistent experience from your Shopify plus stores.

Employ professional services for the stores.

You should be very careful when hiring the Shopify app agency to manage your stores. Hire certified Shopify experts company such as Folio3 to make sure that you employee trusted people who manage your stores. How they manage your store will reflect the priorities of your store to the customers. You need to ensure that the developers are certified experts. You can even consult the changes in the business as the developers have updates on the new trends in the market. If the company can share your vision and fall in line with your business model, you can make use of their services. Make sure you treat the service providers in a professional manner so that they work to their fullest potential.

Improve internal communication of the stores.

To manage all the branches successfully, you must have an uninterrupted channel for communication. A change in product inventory in a single store must be reflected in all. If you are able to communicate with the service provider in a coordinated manner, then the functioning of the store can be smooth.

You can even use cloud ERP services by using Shopify integration solutions. You can even integrate with other e-commerce platforms. Also, you can make use of Shopify integration with Amazon to sell products on different platforms as well. Flawless communication between you as the store owner and the Shopify store development company will help will ensure that the store functions effectively.

Centralize the sales data.

Instead of having manual data reports, it is preferable to centralize all of the data so that the reports can be submitted as per requirements. Instead of managing the files separately, when they will be present in a single database, it will be easy to read the data. We can apply queries and filters to the data to get our desired data. As you save your data in one repository, it also reduces the risk of losing the data. Such an automated sales management solution will help integrate all the sales data generated from every single store into a single repository. This helps produce accurate and complete sales reports and sales viewing whenever you wish.

Automate the workflow of your inventory.

Your separate stores mean that they have a different inventory for each of the stores. This means that the data kept in different locations. As we centralized the sales data, we should also manage the inventory through a single system. This keeps track of the data more efficiently. Also by automating workflows, human dependency is decreased.

Monitor the sales strategies of all stores regularly.                 

You can utilize online technology and regularly monitor the sales strategies of your stores. This means that you need to see the data for sales transactions, read the generated reports and even look for customer feedback on your store. If the sales strategy will be efficient, then traffic to the store will increase and so will the transaction rate. If you uncover insight from your data that the sales are falling and so is the traffic, you must change your sales strategy immediately. By using the data present, you will be able to figure out the problem. As soon as you recognize the problem, you must work with your sales team or the Shopify app agency to develop a new marketing strategy.

If you feel that you cannot manage a chain store on Shopify, you can either hire a Shopify migration expert to migrate your store to Shopify alternatives, or hire a Shopify development company to manage your store while you focus on the product.

Why should I have multiple stores?

Having multiple stores is a good idea for certain situations.

You can sell products internationally.

If you want to penetrate into the markets across the political borders, you will have to adapt to the new market that you are about to enter. The best-case scenario is to seamlessly integrate into the local environment to advertise your products better. This means showing data in local currencies, the local languages, and understanding the culture of the potential buyers. This will help increase the credibility of your store and appeal to the customers of the local market. These result in increased sales to the customers.

Target different customer segments.

When targeting segmented customer groups or markets such as B2C or B2B, you must adjust your store according to the target market. It makes good sense as a dedicated store will be able to appeal to them better. For example, If I log onto Amazon in the UK, I will be redirected to their UK page, if I access the store from Germany, I will be redirected to the German page of Amazon and if I log into Amazon from the USA, I will be redirected to their USA page. This shows how important it is to present content to the respective users in the right ways.

You sell many different products on different stores.

If you have several product categories, it makes better sense to break them into separate stores for your customers so they can shop with focus. If you are selling items such as boots for the rainy season, sunglasses for the sunny season, or sporting equipment. It would be rational to position them al separately. This will help your customer shop with focus. It will be easier to deal with the SEO challenges and the customers will be able to navigate the shop that they want items from. For example, you can make a new store and solely sell CBD-based products there. This will attract a certain audience to that particular store, and boost sales. Make sure to add a CBD payment processor Shopify to make the checkout process easy and quick.

You want to create a brand outlet.

This is a very common practice in the market, especially in luxurious stores that want to keep growing their business. They do so without affecting the exclusivity of their brand. They provide all their luxurious items on a single page. You can do the same by selling some products that are considered a luxury in a different store and selling the lower-priced items in a different store. At times, lower-priced items seem less exclusive so in this case, as you create a new store with discounted prices, they will always attract a different customer base and target them better as the store will be dedicated to the products they require, be it luxurious or moderately priced.

Conclusions.

In order to host multiple stores, it is best to make use of Shopify plus. This gives us 10 unique stores that we can own by a single account. We can develop our stores, by making use of Shopify store development services. We can then either use the same company to manage our stores, or even manage them ourselves by optimizing the stores, updating our inventory in real-time, managing all our orders by centralization, and using product information management systems. One can ask why they need multiple stores, the answer to that would be to increase sales across the border, target different customer segments, sell different products, and if one wants to create a unique brand outlet.

FAQs About Shopify Singapore Pricing

How can you link two Shopify stores together?

Yes, you can link two Shopify stores together. There are some things that must be taken into consideration:

• You can have more than one store associated with the same email address only if your stores are identical (except for currency and language)and for ease in your store management, there are third-party application that helps you by keeping your stores aligned automatically. You can make use of a Shopify app agency to integrate the applications.

How can you have multiple Shopify stores in one email?

This is only possible if you make use of Shopify plus. Using Shopify plus will help you sell different products in different stores. Make sure that the stores have made use of Shopify store design services so that the customers are attracted to the store and purchase products off your store.

List down which store operates multiple retail stores?

There are multiple stores that operate retail stores such as:

• Departmental stores.
• Chain stores.
• Shopify plus stores.
• Manufacturer-owned outlets.
• Franchise outlets.
• Independent retailers.
• Full-service retailers.

You can even start to operate your very own retail store on Shopify, make sure that use the services of certified shopify partner company to help and guide you to success.