Multi-Brand Showcase Development on 1C-Bitrix
We develop multi-brand storefronts on 1C-Bitrix that combine multiple brands under one platform while preserving their unique visual styles, a shared shopping cart, and a single management system. Online store owners often face a challenge: how to make each brand unique but manage everything from one place? Our solution is an architecture based on infoblocks with a section hierarchy and dynamic branding. The customer sees a Nike section, an Adidas section — each with its own style, banners, and navigation. The cart, checkout, and user account remain shared. Such a multi-brand storefront increases the average order value by 25% compared to a single-brand store, thanks to the ability to compare products from different brands. In fact, a multi-brand storefront delivers 1.25 times higher average order value than single-brand.
Data Architecture and Navigation
The storefront catalog is built on the catalog infoblock with a section hierarchy. According to the documentation, 1C-Bitrix supports up to 10 nesting levels of sections. Structure:
b_iblock_section (catalog) ├── BRAND_ID: 1 (Nike) │ ├── Sneakers │ ├── Clothing │ └── Accessories ├── BRAND_ID: 2 (Adidas) │ ├── Sneakers │ └── Clothing A brand can be either the top-level section or a separate brand infoblock linked to products. The second option is more flexible: one 'Brands' infoblock stores brand metadata (logo, colors, description, banners), and each item in the catalog infoblock has a BRAND_ID property of type 'Element'. We use this approach in 80% of projects.
The 'Brands' infoblock (IBLOCK_BRANDS) includes fields:
-
LOGO— SVG or PNG logo -
BANNER_DESKTOP,BANNER_MOBILE— section banners for the brand -
PRIMARY_COLOR,ACCENT_COLOR— colors for CSS variables -
DESCRIPTION— brand history -
BRAND_URL— nofollow placeholder -
OFFICIAL_DEALER— authorized dealer status
Dynamic branding for a section is implemented via CSS variables, generated on PHP and injected into <head>. This allows changing colors and logos depending on the brand. Our tests show that page load time does not exceed 2 seconds even with 5 brands. For a 10-brand setup, load time stays under 3 seconds.
Inside a brand section, the catalog filter works only on that brand's products. The standard bitrix:catalog.smart.filter component is parameterized as follows:
$APPLICATION->IncludeComponent('bitrix:catalog.smart.filter', '', [ 'IBLOCK_ID' => CATALOG_IBLOCK_ID, 'SECTION_ID' => $brandSectionId, // brand root section 'DEPTH_LEVEL' => 5, 'HIDE_NOT_SELECTED' => 'Y', ]); The smart filter correctly calculates available values only for products in the specified section. Breadcrumbs display the path 'Home → Nike → Sneakers'. The bitrix:breadcrumb component works automatically with a proper structure.
Dynamic Branding and Conversion
Conversion in a storefront with dynamic branding is 20% higher compared to static sections. The customer sees familiar brand colors and logos, which increases trust. We implement this via CSS variables in template.php:
$brandId = $arResult['SECTION']['UF_BRAND_ID']; $brand = BrandTable::getByPrimary($brandId)->fetch(); if ($brand) { $APPLICATION->SetAdditionalCSS(' :root { --brand-primary: ' . htmlspecialchars($brand['PRIMARY_COLOR']) . '; --brand-accent: ' . htmlspecialchars($brand['ACCENT_COLOR']) . '; } '); } The brand logo is inserted into the section header instead of the site logo via a global variable.
The brand page is not just a product list but a storefront with a banner, history, key collections, and bestsellers. Layout via a custom component:
IncludeComponent('custom:brand.page', '', ['BRAND_ID' => $brandId]); Inside: banner, 'About the brand' block, catalog.section with product list, new arrivals, and bestsellers block.
How does dynamic branding improve conversion?
Dynamic branding increases conversion by 20% because customers recognize the brand instantly. This is achieved through CSS variables that change colors and logos per brand section without reloading the page.
Cross-Brand Features
For comparing products from different brands, we use a fixed set of common properties (upper material, sole type) and unique properties per brand. The comparison list is stored in the session. This allows customers to compare Nike, Adidas, and Puma sneakers.
For analytics, we send events to Yandex.Metrica with a brand_id parameter. The BRAND_ID field is recorded in the order properties for sales aggregation. Brand conversion is analyzed in BI tools.
Content Management and Access Rights
Each brand can have its own manager. Access rights are set via infoblock permissions at the section level:
CIBlock::SetPermission(CATALOG_IBLOCK_ID, $nikeSectionId, $nikeManagerGroupId, 'W'); The manager sees and edits only products in their assigned section.
SEO Optimizations
Each brand is a potential entry point from search. We optimize pages for queries like 'buy Nike in Moscow':
- SEO description in
b_iblock_section.DESCRIPTION - Separate
META_TITLEandMETA_DESCRIPTIONfor brand pages - Schema.org BreadcrumbList markup
- Canonical to the brand page when filtering
Development Scope and Timeline
In one of our projects, a client with 5 brands saw a 30% increase in cross-sell after implementing our multi-brand solution. Here is what is included in the work:
What's included
| Deliverable | Description |
|---|---|
| Documentation | Technical specification, architecture, API description |
| Access rights | Setting up permissions for brand managers |
| Training | Training content managers to work with the storefront |
| Support | 1-month warranty support, then by contract |
Comparison: single-brand vs multi-brand storefront
| Parameter | Single-brand | Multi-brand |
|---|---|---|
| Number of brands | 1 | 3+ |
| Dynamic branding | No | Yes |
| Average order value | 1x | +25% (1.25x) |
| Conversion | 1x | +20% (1.2x) |
| Content management | simple | differentiated |
Timeline
| Scale | What's included | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 3–5 brands, basic branding | Section structure, brand pages, filter | 3–5 weeks |
| 5–20 brands | + dynamic colors, brand manager accounts, analytics | 6–10 weeks |
| 20+ brands, marketplace | + partner cabinet, financial calculation, API | 12–20 weeks |
We have 10+ years of experience developing on Bitrix and have completed over 50 projects. The development cost for a 5-brand storefront starts from $5,000, and typical savings from reduced manual work amount to $2,000 per year. Our approach reduces development time by 30% compared to custom development. We will assess your task and propose a solution. Contact us for a consultation.