---
title: "Add merchants and business owners"
description: "Each merchant gets a business owner login that only sees its own stores. You stay in control of the whole marketplace; they run their kitchen or shop."
canonical: https://docs.ordering.co/docs/discovery-ordering/launch-your-marketplace/part-4-merchants/add-merchants/
---

# Add merchants and business owners

Each merchant gets a business owner login that only sees its own stores. You stay in control of the whole marketplace; they run their kitchen or shop.

**Where:** Users › Business owners

## Create a business owner

1. **Go to Users › Business owners › Add user.**
2. **Enter name, email, phone, and a temporary password.** Use the merchant's real work email; order alerts can go there.
3. **Assign the stores.** Open the owner again and tick their stores in the business section, or choose the owner from the store's Owner tab.
4. **Send them their login** with your project name and the merchant starter kit ([Chapter 23](https://docs.ordering.co/docs/discovery-ordering/launch-your-marketplace/part-4-merchants/merchant-readiness/#the-merchant-starter-kit)).

## What a business owner sees

Business owners sign in to the same dashboard and the Business App, but only with their own stores: their orders, their menu, their reports. They cannot see other merchants, your customers list, or your platform settings.

> **One owner, many locations**
>
> A merchant with several locations gets one business owner login with all its stores assigned. For a brand with many locations, you can also group them under a **Brand** in **Stores › Brands**, so customers see them as one brand.

## Who builds the store: you or the merchant?

### You build it (recommended at launch)

You create the store, import the menu, set zones and payments, then hand it over. Merchants switch faster when the store is ready on day one. This is the best approach for your first ten merchants.

### The merchant builds it

You send a ready template ([Chapter 13](https://docs.ordering.co/docs/discovery-ordering/launch-your-marketplace/part-3-build-the-marketplace/first-store/)) and the merchant adds products, photos, and hours. This scales once you have dozens of merchants and a clear onboarding kit.

> **Real scenario: Giving switching merchants a reason to switch**
>
> An owner preparing a marketplace in the UK pointed out that restaurants leaving the big delivery apps are tired of setup work. The plan: tell them "this is your dashboard", but load their menus, schedules, and zones for them as part of the offer. With the menu importers ([Chapter 15](https://docs.ordering.co/docs/discovery-ordering/launch-your-marketplace/part-3-build-the-marketplace/import-menus/)) that takes minutes per merchant, and a ready store is a strong reason to switch.