Sales Channel Control

What is a Sales Channel?

A Shopify sales channel is like a "storefront" for selling products. You can create multiple channels within one Shopify account and set "which products to publish" for each channel.

Channel Usage Examples

How Product Publishing Works

Settings in Shopify Admin

On the product edit screen, select which channels to publish that product to. You can publish to multiple channels or limit to specific channels.

Relationship Between API Tokens and Channels

Storefront API tokens are tied to specific channels. When you call the API with that token, only products published on that channel are retrieved.

This means products are displayed according to channel settings without needing special control on the site side.

Implementation Points

Product Existence Check

When a product page is accessed, first verify if that product is "published on this channel."

If not published, product data cannot be retrieved, so display a "Product not found" page.

Handling Shared URLs

Consider when a product URL viewed on the main store is opened on the outlet site. If the product isn't published on the outlet, proper error handling is needed.

Channel-Specific Processing Flow

Benefits

Simplified Management

Manage product data in one place and control "which sites to sell on" only through channel settings. No need to register the same product multiple times.

Flexible Product Deployment

You can change per-channel publishing settings according to seasons or campaigns. Launch new products exclusively on the main store first, then publish to the outlet later.

Avoiding SEO Impact

Each site can have its own domain and URL structure, so they're treated as separate sites for SEO. Duplicate content issues are also avoided.

Summary

By utilizing sales channels, you can run multiple sites with one Shopify while controlling which products appear on each site. Reduce product management effort while achieving flexible sales strategies.