i want to build a sub-store :)

[Guest]

i m not sure if there are any contributions made, but what i mean by building a sub-store is:

 

for example, store A (www.mystoreA.com) is the master's store, he sell all kind of computers (desktop, laptop, pda, accessories, etc.). store B is a virtual store, he wants to sell laptop but the store doesnt actually exist. He is a substore to store A in a sense that whenever he receive orders, he order from store A and ship to customer (www.mystoreB.com)...

 

in another word, store B's catalog is just part of store A's catalog. The key is that the two store are hosted on different web server, different site. They do not share the same database, customers, store configuration, website layout, etc. The challenge is I want store B's database to sychronize with store A's, so the inventory level, for example, is synchronized.

 

I know it may sound complicated at first. However, the good thing about the stores are the sales volume for the natural of this product is really low... so even if the two database sync for only once a day, it is sufficient.

 

Any thoughts, any ideas, any comments, are welcomed !! My store is still in design phase. Thank you!!!

[kgt]

So from what you're saying, only products are shared between these stores. Customers and orders are not.

 

Even if the product turnover is slow, I'd still suggest setting up a real-time check for inventory amounts, if you have some control/influence over how both stores work. You could set up a simple web service type call, which would check for the existence of available inventory, and decrement if the order goes through. This would prevent Store B from ordering out of stock products, and would keep Store A's inventory up-to-date.

 

Think about the fact that you won't be synching just from Store A to B. Since Store B has some orders against A's inventory, you will have to decrement Store A's inventory with Store B's orders from the previous day. Then you would need to turn right back around and synch Store B's product and inventory data against Store A's.

[Guest]

very good point about mutal synchroization, which is indeed what the store is about. Yes I am still in design phase of the stores and I got the final say of how this is going to look like...

 

one point you mentioned is very interesting - simple web service type call... do you have any reference to that? is there a contributions built? Thank you

[kgt]

I doubt there is a contribution that will work for what you're wanting to do... but who knows!

 

As for the web service: There are tutorials out there on how to write your own PHP web services server and client. A google search should get you started.