BigCommerce Multi-Channel & Multi-Storefront

Before writing code

Fetch live docs:

1. Fetch https://developer.bigcommerce.com/docs/storefront/multi-storefront for multi-storefront guide
2. Web-search site:developer.bigcommerce.com channels api for Channels API reference
3. Web-search bigcommerce multi-storefront setup for configuration patterns

Channel Architecture

What Channels Are

Channels represent distinct sales surfaces connected to a single BigCommerce store:

• Each channel can have its own domain, theme, currency, and locale
• Products, categories, and content can be assigned per channel
• Shared backend: orders, customers, inventory are centralized
• Channel types: storefront, marketplace, pos, marketing

Default Channel

Every BigCommerce store has a default Stencil storefront (Channel ID 1). Additional channels are created for:

• Additional storefronts (B2B + B2C, regional sites)
• Marketplace integrations (Amazon, eBay)
• POS integrations
• Headless storefronts (Catalyst, custom)

Channels API

Endpoints

Creating a Channel

POST /v3/channels
{
  "name": "B2B Storefront",
  "type": "storefront",
  "platform": "catalyst",
  "status": "active",
  "is_listable_from_ui": true,
  "is_visible": true
}

Channel Site

Associate a domain with a channel:

POST /v3/channels/{id}/site
{
  "url": "https://b2b.example.com"
}

Product Channel Assignments

Assigning Products to Channels

PUT /v3/catalog/products/channel-assignments:

[
  {
    "product_id": 111,
    "channel_id": 2
  },
  {
    "product_id": 222,
    "channel_id": 2
  }
]

Querying by Channel

GET /v3/catalog/products?channel_id:in=2 — products assigned to a specific channel.

Category Channel Assignments

PUT /v3/catalog/categories/channel-assignments — assign categories to channels.

Channel-Aware APIs

Storefront API Tokens

Storefront API tokens are channel-scoped:

POST /v3/storefront/api-token
{
  "channel_id": 2,
  "expires_at": 1893456000,
  "allowed_cors_origins": ["https://b2b.example.com"]
}

Price Lists

Different pricing per channel:

• Create a Price List with channel-specific prices
• Assign the Price List to a channel
• Customers on that channel see the assigned prices

Channel-Specific Settings

• Currency per channel
• Theme per channel
• Locale per channel
• Tax settings per channel

Multi-Storefront Patterns

B2B + B2C

• Channel 1: B2C storefront (consumer-facing)
• Channel 2: B2B storefront (wholesale pricing, customer groups)
• Same product catalog with different pricing and category visibility

Regional Storefronts

• Channel per region/country
• Different currencies, locales, and product assortments
• Shared inventory and order management

Headless + Stencil

• Channel 1: Stencil-powered storefront
• Channel 2: Catalyst (Next.js) headless storefront
• Both pulling from the same catalog

Best Practices

• Use channels for distinct sales surfaces — not for A/B testing
• Assign products explicitly to channels — don't rely on "all channels" visibility
• Use Price Lists for channel-specific pricing
• Create channel-scoped Storefront API tokens — don't share tokens across channels
• Use channel-aware webhook filters for per-channel event handling
• Plan your channel architecture before building — adding channels later requires product reassignment
• Test each channel independently

Fetch the BigCommerce Multi-Storefront documentation and Channels API reference for exact endpoints, configuration options, and current multi-storefront capabilities before implementing.