Choosing Your Multistore Approach

Understanding when to use domain-based vs path-based routing is crucial for making the right architectural decision for your multistore project.

Approaches Overview

Domain-Based Routing (File-Based Inheritance)

Best for: Distinct brands, different target audiences, independent teams

Creates separate deployable instances for each store using file-based inheritance for shared functionality.

Path-Based Routing (Config Switcher)

Best for: Single brand with configuration variations, shared customer session

Uses a single deployment with dynamic configuration switching based on URL paths.

Mixed Routing

Best for: Complex scenarios requiring both brand separation and integration configuration variations

Combines domain-based routing for brands with path-based routing within specific stores.

Detailed Comparison

Domain-Based Routing (File-Based Inheritance)

Advantages:

SEO Excellence: Each domain has independent SEO strategies, meta tags, sitemaps, and search indexing
Simple Implementation: Override entire files rather than adding conditional logic - just replace header.tsx with your brand-specific version
Independent Scaling: Deploy and scale each store separately based on traffic and business needs
Team Isolation: Different teams can work independently on their store overrides without conflicts
Performance: No runtime conditional logic - everything is pre-built and optimized
Clear Separation: Easy to understand what belongs to which store
Independent Deployments: Deploy stores on different schedules without affecting others

Disadvantages:

Development Overhead: Every store runs separately in development mode, creates separate build outputs, and deploys to separate Console projects
File Override Granularity: To avoid code duplication, you may need to create hasty abstractions. For example, if you want to override just the checkout button in ProductCard.tsx, you must extract it into a separate CheckoutButton.tsx component to avoid duplicating the entire ProductCard logic across stores. This fragments cohesive components into many small files, adding mental overhead when navigating the codebase

Path-Based Routing (Config Switcher)

Advantages:

Shared User State: Users maintain cart, session within a store
Dynamic Switching: Can switch configurations and content at runtime

Disadvantages:

SEO Limitations: Harder to implement different SEO strategies for different paths (same domain, shared meta tags)
Conditional Complexity: Requires conditional rendering, styling, and business logic throughout the codebase
Runtime Overhead: Configuration switching logic executes on every request
Shared Scaling: All configurations scale together - can't optimize for different traffic patterns
Deployment Coupling: All configurations must deploy together, reducing deployment flexibility
Team Coordination: All teams work on a single app, requiring coordination for shared file changes (vs domain-based where teams can independently override files like ProductCard.tsx without affecting others)

Decision Matrix

Factor	Domain-Based	Path-Based
Implementation Complexity	✅ Simple - file overrides	❌ Complex - conditional logic
Iteration Speed	❌ Slower - work on multiple Storefronts	✅ Faster - single Storefront
Team Independence	✅ High - independent store overrides	❌ Low - shared files require coordination
Independent Scaling	✅ Yes - per store	❌ No - shared infrastructure
Deployment Flexibility	✅ Independent schedules	❌ Coupled deployments
Performance	✅ Optimized - no runtime switching	⚠️ Overhead - runtime decisions
User Experience Continuity	❌ Domain switches might break user flow	✅ Seamless navigation between sections
SEO Requirements	✅ Excellent - independent strategies	⚠️ Limited - shared domain constraints

Quick Decision Guide

Default recommendation: Use domain-based routing (file-based inheritance) unless you have specific requirements that necessitate path-based routing.

Choose path-based routing only when you need:

Multiple configurations on a single domain (SEO requirements, legal constraints)
Shared user sessions across different sections

In most cases, domain-based routing provides better separation, easier maintenance, and simpler implementation.

Implementation Guides

Based on your decision:

Domain-Based: Follow the multistore tooling and concepts guide
Path-Based: Follow the sub-path routing implementation guide
Mixed Approach: Follow the mixed routing guide