orion/docs/architecture/merchant-store-management.md

Merchant-Store Management Architecture

Overview

The Orion platform implements a hierarchical multi-tenant architecture where Merchants are the primary business entities and Stores are storefronts/brands that operate under merchants.

Merchant (Business Entity)
├── Owner (User)
├── Contact Information
├── Business Details
└── Stores (Storefronts/Brands)
    ├── Store 1
    ├── Store 2
    └── Store N

Key Concepts

Merchant

A Merchant represents a business entity on the platform. It contains:

• Owner: A user account that has full control over the merchant
• Contact Information: Business email, phone, website
• Business Details: Address, tax number
• Status: Active/Inactive, Verified/Pending

Store

A Store (also called storefront or brand) represents a specific storefront operating under a merchant. A merchant can have multiple stores.

• Unique Identity: Store code and subdomain
• Marketplace Integration: CSV URLs for product feeds (FR, EN, DE)
• Status: Active/Inactive, Verified/Pending
• Products: Each store has its own product catalog

Data Model

Merchant Model

class Merchant:
    id: int
    name: str
    description: str | None

    # Owner (at merchant level)
    owner_user_id: int  # FK to User

    # Contact Information
    contact_email: str
    contact_phone: str | None
    website: str | None

    # Business Details
    business_address: str | None
    tax_number: str | None

    # Status
    is_active: bool
    is_verified: bool

    # Timestamps
    created_at: datetime
    updated_at: datetime

    # Relationships
    owner: User  # Merchant owner
    stores: list[Store]  # Storefronts under this merchant

Store Model

class Store:
    id: int
    merchant_id: int  # FK to Merchant
    store_code: str  # Unique identifier (e.g., "TECHSTORE")
    subdomain: str  # URL subdomain (e.g., "tech-store")
    name: str
    description: str | None

    # Marketplace URLs (brand-specific)
    letzshop_csv_url_fr: str | None
    letzshop_csv_url_en: str | None
    letzshop_csv_url_de: str | None

    # Status
    is_active: bool
    is_verified: bool

    # Timestamps
    created_at: datetime
    updated_at: datetime

    # Relationships
    merchant: Merchant  # Parent merchant (owner is accessed via merchant.owner)

Key Design Decisions

1. Owner at Merchant Level Only

Previously, each store had its own owner_user_id. This has been refactored:

• Before: Store.owner_user_id - each store had a separate owner
• After: Merchant.owner_user_id - ownership is at merchant level

Rationale: A business entity (merchant) should have a single owner who can manage all storefronts. This simplifies:

• User management
• Permission handling
• Ownership transfer operations

2. Contact Information at Merchant Level

Business contact information (email, phone, website, address, tax number) is now stored at the merchant level:

• Before: Stores had contact fields
• After: Contact info on Merchant model, stores reference parent merchant

Rationale: Business details are typically the same across all storefronts of a merchant.

3. Clean Architecture

The Store.owner_user_id field has been completely removed:

• Ownership is determined solely via the merchant relationship
• Use store.merchant.owner_user_id to get the owner
• Use store.merchant.owner to get the owner User object

API Endpoints

Merchant Management (Admin)

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/v1/admin/merchants	Create merchant with owner
GET	/api/v1/admin/merchants	List all merchants
GET	/api/v1/admin/merchants/{id}	Get merchant details
PUT	/api/v1/admin/merchants/{id}	Update merchant
PUT	/api/v1/admin/merchants/{id}/verification	Toggle verification
PUT	/api/v1/admin/merchants/{id}/status	Toggle active status
POST	/api/v1/admin/merchants/{id}/transfer-ownership	Transfer ownership
DELETE	/api/v1/admin/merchants/{id}	Delete merchant

Store Management (Admin)

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/v1/admin/stores	Create store under merchant
GET	/api/v1/admin/stores	List all stores
GET	/api/v1/admin/stores/{id}	Get store details
PUT	/api/v1/admin/stores/{id}	Update store
PUT	/api/v1/admin/stores/{id}/verification	Toggle verification
PUT	/api/v1/admin/stores/{id}/status	Toggle active status
DELETE	/api/v1/admin/stores/{id}	Delete store

User Management (Admin)

Method	Endpoint	Description
GET	/api/v1/admin/users	List all users
GET	/api/v1/admin/users/search?q={query}	Search users by name/email
PUT	/api/v1/admin/users/{id}/status	Toggle user status
GET	/api/v1/admin/users/stats	Get user statistics

Service Layer

MerchantService (app/services/merchant_service.py)

Primary service for merchant operations:

• create_merchant_with_owner() - Creates merchant and owner user account
• get_merchant_by_id() - Get merchant with stores loaded
• get_merchants() - Paginated list with filtering
• update_merchant() - Update merchant fields
• toggle_verification() - Verify/unverify merchant
• toggle_active() - Activate/deactivate merchant
• transfer_ownership() - Transfer to new owner
• delete_merchant() - Delete merchant (requires no stores)

AdminService (app/services/admin_service.py)

Admin-specific store operations:

• create_store() - Create store under existing merchant
• get_all_stores() - Paginated list with merchant relationship
• update_store() - Update store fields
• verify_store() - Toggle verification
• toggle_store_status() - Toggle active status
• delete_store() - Delete store

StoreService (app/services/store_service.py)

Self-service store operations (for merchant owners):

• create_store() - Create store (requires merchant_id, validates ownership)
• get_stores() - Get stores with access control
• get_store_by_code() - Get single store

Creating a New Merchant with Stores

Via Admin API

# 1. Create merchant with owner
POST /api/v1/admin/merchants
{
    "name": "Tech Solutions Ltd",
    "owner_email": "owner@techsolutions.com",
    "contact_email": "info@techsolutions.com",
    "contact_phone": "+352 123 456",
    "website": "https://techsolutions.com",
    "business_address": "123 Tech Street, Luxembourg",
    "tax_number": "LU12345678"
}

# Response includes temporary password for owner

# 2. Create store under merchant
POST /api/v1/admin/stores
{
    "merchant_id": 1,
    "store_code": "TECHSTORE",
    "subdomain": "tech-store",
    "name": "Tech Store",
    "description": "Consumer electronics storefront"
}

Ownership Transfer

Ownership transfer is a critical operation available at the merchant level:

1. Admin initiates transfer via /api/v1/admin/merchants/{id}/transfer-ownership
2. Merchant owner changes - Merchant.owner_user_id updated
3. All stores affected - Stores inherit new owner via merchant relationship
4. Audit trail - Transfer reason logged

POST /api/v1/admin/merchants/1/transfer-ownership
{
    "new_owner_user_id": 42,
    "confirm_transfer": true,
    "transfer_reason": "Business acquisition"
}

Admin UI Pages

Merchant List Page (/admin/merchants)

• Lists all merchants with owner, store count, and status
• Actions: View, Edit, Delete (disabled if merchant has stores)
• Stats cards showing total, verified, active merchants

Merchant Detail Page (/admin/merchants/{id})

• Quick Actions - Edit Merchant, Delete Merchant
• Status Cards - Verification, Active status, Store count, Created date
• Information Sections - Basic info, Contact info, Business details, Owner info
• Stores Table - Lists all stores under this merchant with links
• More Actions - Create Store button

Merchant Edit Page (/admin/merchants/{id}/edit)

• Quick Actions - Verify/Unverify, Activate/Deactivate
• Edit Form - Merchant details, contact info, business details
• Statistics - Store counts (readonly)
• More Actions - Transfer Ownership, Delete Merchant

Store Detail Page (/admin/stores/{code})

• Quick Actions - Edit Store, Delete Store
• Status Cards - Verification, Active status, Created/Updated dates
• Information Sections - Basic info, Contact info, Business details, Owner info
• More Actions - View Parent Merchant link, Customize Theme

Transfer Ownership Modal

A modal dialog for transferring merchant ownership:

• User Search - Autocomplete search by username or email
• Selected User Display - Shows selected user with option to clear
• Transfer Reason - Optional field for audit trail
• Confirmation Checkbox - Required before transfer
• Validation - Inline error messages for missing fields

Best Practices

Creating Stores

Always use merchant_id when creating stores:

# Correct
store_data = StoreCreate(
    merchant_id=merchant.id,
    store_code="MYSTORE",
    subdomain="my-store",
    name="My Store"
)

# Incorrect (old pattern - don't use)
store_data = StoreCreate(
    owner_email="owner@example.com",  # No longer supported
    ...
)

Accessing Owner Information

Use the merchant relationship:

# Get owner User object
owner = store.merchant.owner

# Get owner details
owner_email = store.merchant.owner.email
owner_id = store.merchant.owner_user_id

Checking Permissions

For store operations, check merchant ownership:

def can_manage_store(user, store):
    if user.role == "admin":
        return True
    return store.merchant.owner_user_id == user.id

Migration Notes

The Store.owner_user_id column has been removed. If you have an existing database:

1. Run the migration: alembic upgrade head
2. This will drop the owner_user_id column from stores table
3. Ownership is now determined via store.merchant.owner_user_id

If migrating from an older store-centric model:

1. Create merchants for existing stores (group by owner)
2. Assign stores to merchants via merchant_id
3. Copy contact info from stores to merchants
4. Run the migration to drop the old owner_user_id column

Related Documentation

• Multi-Tenant Architecture
• Authentication & RBAC
• Models Structure
• Admin Integration Guide