Multi-Store Front Quick Start Guide
Multi-Store front functionality is now in Beta! This addition will be available to all B2B merchants in Q1 of 2023!
Multi-Storefront (MSF) allows you to use a single BigCommerce “store” + a single B2B Edition app to power multiple “storefronts”. Each of these storefronts can have its own unique domain, theme, categories, web pages, social media links, price lists, email templates (coming in 2023 for B2B Edition), and more. The settings and data for each of these storefronts are managed from one BigCommerce control panel + one B2B Edition app.
B2B Edition is an application that overlays BigCommerce to provide additional B2B functionality. This guide assumes you have a base understanding of BigCommerce MSF functionality and B2B Edition. See this guide for more details:
New to Both BigCommerce MSF and B2B Edition? Then see this guide instead:
Quick Start Guide - Multi-Storefront For Current B2B Merchants |
Enable and Add a B2B Storefront
Additional B2B Storefronts can be purchased through BigCommerce. Please reach out to your Customer Success Manager to Purchase an additional B2B storefront. Once the purchase process is complete we will notify you via email.
Please add your storefront(s) in BigCommerce first. To do so navigate to Channel Manager inside the BigCommerce control panel. You now have the option to + Add New Storefront. Once a new storefront is successfully added set it to "Active". Please reach out to B2B Edition support via chat in order for us to enable additional storefronts on the B2B Edition side (Beta only)
You can now add your new B2B storefront! Navigate to settings > storefront inside the B2B Edition application and activate your new B2B Storefront!
Upload a Logo for Each Storefront
Click on the desired storefront
Now you can upload the storefronts logo.
Select and Configure a B2BE Theme
B2B Storefronts can only use a B2B Edition Theme from the included Theme Application and can only be added on stencil storefronts. This requirement is expected to be removed once our new Remote Buyer Portal is launched in 2023. The remote buyer portal will also pave the way for allowing B2B headless storefronts in 2023.
B2B Edition includes 6 themes already preconfigured to work with B2B Edition.
Other themes will not work with B2B Edition at this time. Follow the steps to select and apply your new theme!
Proceed to the Apps section of the BigCommerce control panel and select "B2B Edition Themes by B2B Edition".
Select either Cornerstone, 22 Savile Row, Roots, Camden, Vault, or Supermarket Theme to add to "My Themes".
Navigate to Channel Manager inside the BigCommerce control panel.
Choose the Correct B2BE Theme and apply it to your new storefront!
NOTE: B2B edition themes are not currently compatible with BigCommerce's page builder. Using page builder can have unintended consequences on the functionality of your theme. Theme edits should be done inside the theme files.
Checkout and PO Payment Settings
Currently, BigCommerce only allows one checkout to be used across all storefronts, as this setting is not storefront specific. If you have any B2B storefronts, the B2B checkout must be used for all other non-B2B storefronts. If you already have this and the PO payment set up then no further action is needed when adding a new B2B storefront.
Users/Sales Staff
Users inside the B2B Edition Application are set globally and are not impacted by a company's storefront assignments. There is no change to adding/managing users inside the B2B Edition application in MSF B2B.
Sales Staff are assigned on a company-by-company basis. They will be able to manage any of their companies, regardless of storefront.
Companies
Companies in B2B Edition are global and cross over all storefronts. Storefront access however is set on the user level. To give a company access to your new storefront, you must add the storefront to its users.
Creating a New Company
While companies are global, company users are not. A company admin must be set up at the time of company creation.
To create a new company, navigate to the companies tab inside B2B Edition and select Add New. Enter the company data. Once inside the Admin creation set the Origin channel (channel in which the user originated from) and then set the channel access.
The new admin user will get a welcome email to set up a password for storefront access. This email and password will work for login on all storefronts they have permission to access.
Address Book
The Company address book is global and all company addresses will be visible on every storefront!
Assigning Price Lists
Once a new storefront is added you can now enable a price list for each storefront under company detail > basic information. All available B2B storefronts will show up under the price list assignment module. However if no company users are assigned to a specific storefront, there is no need to apply a price list in its entry.
Company Users
Storefront Access is set on the user level. The section covers how to add storefronts to company users inside the B2B Edition application.
Adding a Storefront for Existing Company Users
Navigate to the Company Users section of the Company Detail page for the desired company/user.
Edit the desired company user.
Select Channel Access, and then the desired storefronts for the user.
Note: You will also see additional non B2B storefronts listed here. Whatever you select here will override all storefront assignments in Bigcommerce. So if a non b2b storefront is already selected, or needs to be selected but isn't, it should be at this time to ensure the user has all the storefront assignments they require.
This user now has access to the additional storefronts. They can use the login/password they have previously set up to access this storefront as well.
Once logged in the user will have access to the B2B Edition Dashboard, and all company data within that storefront.
Adding a New Storefront to Multiple Users
Adding a new storefront to multiple users at once using the company export/import will be supported in a future release. This will allow for quicker bulk edits!
Adding a New User to Multiple Store Fronts
To create a new user inside B2B Edition go to the desired Company Detail Page and toggle to Company User(s).
Click the Add User button
Fill out the customer details in the Add user modal.
Origin Channel: This is the channel this customer originated from, or the default channel.
Channel Access: Assign the desired storefront by clicking on the triangle drop-down and applying each one.
Note: You will also see additional non B2B storefronts listed here. Whatever you select here will override all storefront assignments in Bigcommerce. So if a non b2b storefront is already selected, or needs to be selected but isn't, it should be at this time to ensure the user has all the storefront assignments they require.
Once complete save, and the new user will be created! They will get a welcome email to set up a password for their account. The email and password set will work for all storefronts they have permission to access.
Super Admins
Super Admins are storefront specific and will only have access to manage companies on the storefronts it has been assigned.
Super Admin Storefront Management
On the Super admin tab inside the B2B control panel, you are able to view and manage storefront assignments for Super Admins!
To view storefront assignments click the dropdown arrow in the storefronts section of the desired user.
To edit these assignments click "Edit" on the desired Super Admin user.
Adding a Storefront Assignment to a New Super Admin
Navigate to the super admin tab of the B2B control panel and select "Add New"
Fill out the user details and select the correct storefronts in the Channel Assignments
Select save and welcome your new MSF super admin!
B2B Buyer Side Features
All B2B buyer-side features are located on the front end and are therefore storefront specific.
Adding Company Users on the Storefront
When adding new company users via the front end. These users will only be assigned to the storefront on which they are added. Additional storefronts can be added to this user inside the B2B Edition application via Companies > Company Detail > Company Users.
Apply for a Company Account
When the Trade Professional Application is used to apply for a new company account on a storefront, the admin user included in the application will only have permissions for the storefront the application originated from. Additional storefronts can be added to this user inside the B2B Edition application via Companies > Company Detail > Company Users.
Other B2B Buyer Features Include:
Add/ edit and set default billing and shipping addresses.
Quick order via SKU or CSV.
Reorder with ease.
All the ways you can create and approve a shopping list.
How to manage and make payments on Invoices.
How B2B customers request, manage, and purchase quotes.
Orders
You can now filter and manage your B2B orders in one convenient dashboard via the orders tab inside the B2B Edition control panel.
Quotes
Creating New Quotes
Quotes are storefront specific and can only be viewed, added, and purchased on the storefront they are assigned.
When creating a new quote, first select the company, and then the storefront.
Note: If you change the storefront mid-quote it will delete all product data, as this varies by storefront. It is essential to proceed with the correct storefront from the beginning to prevent data loss.
Storefronts share your store’s catalog. You can choose which products appear on which storefronts inside BigCommerce. When you enable a new storefront, product categories and therefore product visibility is not added by default. You must have products assigned to a storefront in order to add them to a quote.
Once the quote is complete, preview and submit it!
Managing Quotes
You can now filter and manage your B2B quotes in one convenient dashboard via the quotes tab inside the B2B Edition control panel.
Invoices
Invoices are storefront specific and can only be viewed, created, and purchased on the storefront from which the original order originated.
You can filter by the storefront on each page under Invoice Management
Settings
All settings pages are global, however, you will see select storefront-specific settings being added over the coming months!