How we built PixlCart, a multi-tenant e-commerce platform with a database per store

Small merchants needed their own store without the platform lock-in

Merchants who outgrow marketplaces want their own branded store, their own customer data and their own domain. Hosted builders solve part of that, but they mix every merchant's data into one system and make advanced customisation expensive.

We wanted a platform where every store is properly isolated, new stores can be launched without manual setup, and the same codebase can also run as a dedicated single-store installation for larger clients.

A landlord layer that provisions stores, and a tenant layer that runs them

PixlCart is split into two halves. The landlord side handles registration, approval and provisioning: when a new store is approved, the platform creates a dedicated PostgreSQL database and credentials for it, registers the store's domain, then runs migrations and seed data automatically.

The tenant side runs each store. Every request is routed to the right database based on the domain it arrives on, and serves both the public storefront and the merchant's admin dashboard. A separate landlord dashboard lets our team manage stores, and a marketing site handles sign-ups.

Live, growing, and trusted