Microstores
A microstore is derived from an existing store, referred to as the main store, and inherits many of the latter’s settings. Microstores provide a convenient way to quickly create new stores, for example, to target specific audiences with a combination of shared and dedicated products. Microstores are also a useful mechanism for re-using the products of an existing store for several customers and each with their own branding.
Example 1: Microstores for the same customer
A major financial services company has a main storefront where head-office staff can order publications related to all the activities and services of the company. The company has a separate division for banking and another for insurances. Microstores can be set up easily with only the publications for the respective divisions. So while these microstores use all the settings and styling of the main store, staff in each division can only purchase specific publications from their microstore.
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Example 2: Microstores for different customers
A print service provider has created a store with a wide range of stationery products for Company A. Other customers are also interested in a store for distributing stationery to their staff. In this case, the print service provider can easily create microstores for Company B and Company C with each company’s branding, and re-use typical stationery products across these microstores.
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The following settings are inherited from the main store and can be fine-tuned for the microstore. The tabs are visible when editing the microstore:
•General Tab: only a few settings can be changed: price list, URL, e-mail, Approval setting; most are disabled: public/private store; payment method, etc.
The following settings are inherited from the main store but cannot be changed for the microstore. The tabs are not visible when editing the microstore:
•Languages tab
The following settings are not inherited:
•Users: You must create new users for your microstore from scratch. Users cannot be duplicated across stores.
Prerequisites
The main store from which you create your microstore and the company for the new microstore must already exist.
Create a microstore
1 On the menu bar, choose Stores.
2 In the list, select a store in the list that is to serve as the main store.
3 Click the Create button and then Microstore.
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4 In the General tab, choose the Company for which the microstore will be used. This can be a different Company than the Company set for the main store.
NOTE: It is recommended that the default language of the parent store company and the microstore company are the same. Otherwise, translation issues may occur.
5 Complete the other editable fields in the General tab. Some fields are inherited from the main store while others are unique for the microstore.
The microstore has its own Name, Site ID (for a unique URL), e-mail.
NOTE: You can choose a different Price List as long as it uses the same currency as the main store. This prevents issues when choosing shipping services, which are currency-specific.
6 Click the Create button to add your microstore to the list of stores.
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The microstore is indented under the main store in the list.
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Now you can continue to set up the microstore.
7 In the Product Catalog tab you initially see the categories which have been inherited from the main store. They are indicated with the Share icon.
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You can disable/enable these categories and rearrange them as desired for the microstore. The shared categories inherit the products as used in the main store.
CAUTION: Products added or deleted in the main store categories are subsequently also added or deleted in the microstore categories.
You can also add new categories. In the example below, you see 4 shared categories of which 1 is enabled, and 4 new categories which have been created and enabled specifically for the microstore.
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8 In the Style, Pages, Invoice or Custom Footer tabs, click the Edit Microstore button to change the settings for the microstore. The initial settings are inherited from the main store.
You can always revert to the values of the main store by clicking the Revert to Main Store button, but this buttons also resets the values in other tabs.
CAUTION: Revert to Main Store resets the Style, all the Pages tabs, Invoice and Custom Footer tabs to the settings of the main store. Undo is not available.
9 Click Save to confirm your changes.
The microstore is grayed out in the list because its storefront is still off-line. See “Setting up a Store” for more information about the settings in general, putting the microstore storefront online, deleting a microstore, etc.
doc. version 6.0.4