Two sites, two url's, two layouts - one database?

[Lowey81]

Is there a method or contribution for linking 2 or more sites to one central databse?

 

I currently have 2 web-sites which have different names, layouts and logos but basically sell the same products. I am currently updating each site separately (stock levels, new products, descriptions etc).

 

If I could have both sites taking information from one database it would save a lot of time because we would only need to update one set of information. It would also ensure that stock levels are the same for both sites. Currently we have o manually update stock level on one site when a sale has been made through the other!

 

To increase the complication the prices aren't always identical for the two sites because we aim at two different target audiences. If we were using one central databse we would need to have two sets of prices somehow (?!) so that each site displays different prices. There are also some products which feature on one site and not on the other so would possibly need two separate activate/deactivate buttons.

 

Any help? Pleeease :'(