| name | bc-channels |
| description | Work with BigCommerce multi-channel — channels, multi-storefront, channel-specific catalog, site routing, and channel management API. Use when building multi-storefront solutions or managing channel-specific content.
|
BigCommerce Multi-Channel & Multi-Storefront
Before writing code
Fetch live docs:
- Fetch
https://developer.bigcommerce.com/docs/storefront/multi-storefront for multi-storefront guide
- Web-search
site:developer.bigcommerce.com channels api for Channels API reference
- 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
| Endpoint | Methods | Description |
|---|
/v3/channels | GET, POST, PUT | Channel CRUD |
/v3/channels/{id}/site | GET, POST, PUT, DELETE | Channel site (domain) |
/v3/channels/{id}/active-theme | GET, PUT | Active theme |
/v3/channels/{id}/currency-assignments | GET, POST, PUT, DELETE | Currency config |
/v3/channels/{id}/listings | GET, POST, PUT | Product listings |
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.
