Adobe Commerce Multi-Store Setup: One Codebase, Multiple Websites
Running multiple brands or regions from a single Adobe Commerce installation is one of its most powerful capabilities — and one of the most misunderstood. Here's how to do it properly.
Praveen Chelumalla
Adobe Commerce & AI Consultant
One of Adobe Commerce's biggest enterprise advantages is the ability to manage multiple websites, stores, and store views from a single codebase. I've set this up for clients running 3 brands across 12 countries — all from one Adobe Commerce installation. Done right, it's incredibly powerful. Done wrong, it becomes a maintenance nightmare.
Understanding the Scope Hierarchy
Adobe Commerce has three scope levels: Global (the entire installation), Website (a group of stores, typically one per brand or region), and Store View (a language or currency variant within a store). Get this hierarchy clear before you start — most multi-store problems I've seen come from confusing website-level and store-view-level settings.
Catalog Strategy: Shared vs. Isolated
You have two options for your product catalog in a multi-store setup. A shared catalog means all websites draw from the same product pool — easy to manage, but less flexible. An isolated catalog per website gives full control over products, pricing, and inventory per brand, but multiplies your catalog management overhead. For most enterprise clients, I recommend a shared catalog with website-specific pricing rules.
Performance Considerations
Multi-store setups multiply your indexing load significantly. Each additional store view that has different prices or catalog rules adds reindex time. Make sure your cron is healthy, your indexers are set to 'Update by Schedule', and your server has enough CPU and memory to handle the parallel indexing workload. On cloud, consider scaling your Elasticsearch/OpenSearch cluster as your store count grows.