By default, Commerce Cloud includes a master catalog where you create all the collections, products, and SKUs available to your store. There are times, though, when you might want to provide shoppers with a more customized shopping experience by creating additional catalogs. You can create and assign additional catalogs in the following circumstances:
Multiple stores: You can run multiple stores (called sites) from a single instance of Commerce Cloud. Each site has a unique domain and you can assign each site its own catalog. For example, suppose you sell soccer jerseys. You could create a separate store for each team whose jerseys you sell. You would assign each store a catalog that contains only products for that team. Fans could easily find and purchase their team’s gear without having to sift through merchandise for other teams. For details about running multiple sites, see Run Multiple Stores from One Commerce Cloud Instance.
Account-based store: Commerce Cloud lets you create accounts for companies that do business with you, such as manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers. You can provide each account with a catalog that meets its specific business requirements. It is unlikely that all account-based shoppers will need to purchase all products your store sells, so providing an account with its own focused catalog makes it easier for those shoppers to find and purchase the right products. Logged-in contacts who shop on your store can see and purchase only the products in the catalog associated with their account. For details about creating and managing accounts, see Configure Business Accounts.
The additional catalogs you create are simply custom views into the master catalog. Additional catalogs do not contain collections, products, or SKUs that are not already in the master. There are a number of tasks that you can perform only in the master catalog:
View details for a product or a collection.
Create a new product or collection.
Edit or delete an existing product or collection.
Rearrange products in a collection or rearrange collection hierarchy.
Access the following options from the Manage Catalogs menu: Product Types, Price Groups, Inventory, and Upload Media.
Any changes you make in the master catalog are automatically applied to all catalogs that include the items that were changed. For example, if you update the master catalog by adding a new product to a collection that is part of a catalog associated with one of your country stores, the new product automatically appears in the that catalog. Remember that you must publish any changes you make to catalogs.
