WooCommerce Multistore: How to Set Up and Which Plugins to Use

What is a WooCommerce multi-store setup, in the first place?

WooCommerce multi-store is a network of connected WooCommerce stores, which may share some of their data. Your multistore can be:

• A WooCommerce Multisite installation – when stores exist within the same WordPress Multisite network.
• Completely standalone WooCommerce stores also count as a multistore setup.

Below, I will also guide you on the difference between having a WordPress multisite network installed and using separate stores.

You will also find a list of plugins that you may use to establish the connection between WooCommerce stores in a WooCommerce multi-store setup to sync some of the data between them, for example: products, product stock, orders, customers, cart.

Let’s just get started, and I’m going to uncover it step by step.

WordPress Multisite vs Standalone Stores for a Multistore Setup

Wait, isn’t WooCommerce Multisite and WooCommerce Multistore the same thing?

• WooCommerce Multisite (a.k.a WordPress Multisite) is a way of WordPress configuration that allows you to run multiple sites under a single WordPress installation. These sites can easily have their own separate domains. I also have a separate tutorial about it.
• WooCommerce Multi-store – it is when multiple WooCommerce stores are connected and operate together. Usually, it allows you to manage products, orders, or inventory from one place. Stores can either be a part of a single multisite network or not.

The purpose of using a WooCommerce multistore setup could be different – for example, it could be multilingual stores for other languages and locations, or maybe a business operates multiple websites or brands.

Depending on the purpose of your WooCommerce multi-store network, you might have a specific requirement.

But in general, it is better to use a WordPress multisite installation for your WooCommerce multi-store setup. It not only allows you to manage stores more easily but also wins in performance (interaction between stores that share the same database is much faster than interaction via the WooCommerce REST API).

When you already have a network of stores, it can be a tricky thing to migrate, but if you’re starting out, I highly recommend using a WordPress Multisite setup.

Plugins for WooCommerce Multi-Store

Most of the plugins you can find on this page; however, let me break it down for you and describe each plugin step by step.

The thing is that I preferred not to create a single plugin that allows you to sync everything, because a plugin like this will be overloaded with functionality, but I know that a lot of my customers need to sync a specific entity, for example, only products, or only orders, etc. So, my goal is to keep the plugins fast and simple for everyone, and that’s why there is no all-in-one multistore sync solution.

WordPress Multisite

The syncing process is completely different under the hood for WooCommerce Multisite installations and for standalone stores, so there are different plugins for each of these setups.

What do you want to sync between stores?	A plugin to use
Orders	Multisite Order Sync for WooCommerce
Products / Coupons	Simple Multisite Crossposting
Product stock	Inventory Sync for WooCommerce
Customers	Simple Multisite User Sync
Cart	WooCommerce Multisite Global Cart

Standalone stores

When your WooCommerce multi-store network consists of standalone stores only, then the synchronization occurs via the REST API.

What do you want to sync between stores?	A plugin to use
Orders	Order Sync for WooCommerce
Products / Coupons	Simple WP Crossposting
Product stock	Inventory Sync for WooCommerce
Customers	Simple User Sync
Cart	At this moment, I don’t have a solution for a global cart for standalone stores.

Below, I am going to dive a little bit into the details of syncing some WooCommerce store data.

Sync WooCommerce Orders in a Multi-Store Setup

My Multisite Order Sync for WooCommerce and Order Sync for WooCommerce plugins allow you to sync orders from different sub-stores of your WooCommerce multistore to a single master store (you choose which one), and then manage them on that master store (so you can change order statuses and other order information, and it will be synced back to sub-stores).

When using it within a WooCommerce Multisite network, all you need to do is select a master store in the plugin settings:

For standalone stores, you will need to provide a target store’s authentication data in the plugin settings, in WooCommerce > Settings > Order Sync:

After completing this step, orders will start syncing automatically (when created by either store customers or by managers in the WooCommerce dashboard).

Allow two-way order sync

The next step is optional, but you need to decide whether to use two-way sync between your stores.

For the multisite version of the plugin, it can be done pretty easily just by checking a checkbox in the master store settings:

For the regular version of the plugin, it is a little bit more complicated – you will also need to install the plugin on the target stores and configure and connect the initial store there.

Bulk sync all orders to a master store

Maybe you’d also decide to sync all existing orders in bulk using the tool in Status > Tools:

That’s it, now you can manage all orders created across your WooCommerce Multistore on a single store.

A couple of questions that may appear in your mind:

• Is the product inventory of the products in the synced orders going to be synced? – Yes, you don’t need to install the inventory sync plugin additionally for that.
• Will the products be copied to a master store as well? – No, it is not necessary. But if you wish to, you can, and we will discuss this moment in the next chapter.

If you have any questions about order syncing, feel free to ask in the comments.

Sync WooCommerce Products

With Simple Multisite Crossposting or Simple WP Crossposting plugins, you can crosspost products between any stores within your WooCommerce multisite network.

It is quite simple – when creating or updating a WooCommerce product, just select the other sub-stores you would like to sync the products to:

The plugins comes with a bunch of nice features:

• The auto mode feature allows you to hide the “Publish on” metabox and automatically sync changes in products to all the connected stores.
• The bulk sync feature allows you to select multiple products at the same time from the product list and publish all of them to any of the sub-stores in a couple of clicks.
• In the plugin settings, you can decide which product data should be synced and which should remain unchanged. For example, sometimes my customers don’t want to sync product prices between stores.
• Two-way product sync is also supported by both plugins.

Syncing Product Stock Between Connected Stores

Sometimes you only need to sync the product stock of stores or manage it on a single store within your WooCommerce Multistore setup.

My other plugin – Inventory Sync for WooCommerce is intended to help you with that.

Basically, what it does is allow you to sync product stock information for the products with the same SKU across stores automatically, either when a product stock is changed, when an order is created, or manually in the WooCommerce dashboard.

It works for both WordPress Multisite installations and standalone stores.

Of course, connecting a store in WordPress Multisite is easier:

For standalone stores, you would need to provide a consumer key and consumer secret:

If you have any questions about the WooCommerce Multistore setup, feel free to ask in the comments section below.

Do you have any questions? Or maybe you prefer an all-in-one multistore sync solution? Please feel free to let me know in the comments below.

# WooCommerce, Orders, Product inventory