Duration: 25:39
💬 Interactive Q&A with the Odoo eCommerce Team
Alex (Business Analyst) and Jean (Product Owner for the eCommerce app) host a 30-minute interactive Q&A session where they answer audience questions submitted via QR code. The session covers everything from new features in Odoo 19 to migration strategies, SEO best practices, pricing, and infrastructure considerations.
🎨 Key Features in Odoo 19: Design Refinements
The team begins by highlighting the most significant improvements in Odoo 19—a major focus on design flexibility for e-commerce pages.
Shop Page Customization: Merchants now have preset style options when editing e-commerce pages, including different card layouts, list layouts, and showcase layouts. These templates allow for extensive personalization of product displays without coding.
Category Display Templates: A highly requested feature—new templates for displaying product categories. Customers wanted more control over how categories appear, and the R&D team delivered multiple display options.
Product Page Enhancements: New design possibilities for product pages enable very specific layouts and visual presentations, giving merchants creative control to match brand aesthetics.
Alex recommends watching the "What's New in eCommerce" talk on YouTube for a comprehensive walkthrough of all new features.
🔍 SEO: Avoiding Ranking Loss During Migration
A recurring concern: how to preserve SEO rankings when switching to Odoo?
Alex clarifies that the risk of losing SEO isn't specific to any platform—Odoo, Shopify, or others. The key is proper redirects. When migrating, set up 301 redirects from old URLs to new Odoo URLs using Odoo's redirect feature (accessible in debug mode). For example, if your old "About Us" page was /about-us and your new Odoo page is /contact-us, create a redirect to transfer all SEO authority.
Beyond redirects, migrate all content (pages, blog posts, metadata). Odoo's platform is optimized for speed and performance, which inherently supports SEO. In Odoo 19, new SEO improvements include:
- AI-powered SEO optimization: Click "Fill with AI" on any page, and Odoo's AI analyzes content and auto-populates keywords and metadata.
- Image alt-tag checker: Ensures all images have alt tags for accessibility and SEO.
- Broken link detection: Identifies broken links that hurt SEO rankings.
- Enhanced microdata: Structured data added to product pages for better search engine understanding.
There's also a dedicated "What's New in SEO" talk covering technical improvements in depth.
🌍 Market and Customer Segmentation
Can you restrict products by country or customer type? Not natively in a single website yet. Currently, merchants must create separate websites for different markets or customer segments. However, the Odoo team is actively working on this feature for next year to simplify multi-market management. Separate websites on the same database remain relatively easy to configure in the meantime.
📦 Stock Visibility and Forecasting
Can the product page show forecast stock arrivals? Partially. With Click & Collect enabled, Odoo displays real-time stock availability across multiple locations (physical stores and online warehouses). Customers can see which locations have stock and how many units are available. Quantities are displayed below a configurable threshold, providing transparency without revealing full inventory.
However, forecasted arrival dates for out-of-stock items aren't displayed directly on product pages yet.
🏢 Multi-Company Setup
In a multi-company environment, each company must be assigned to a specific website. You cannot have two companies sharing a single website (invoicing and accounting must be tied to one legal entity). However, you can have multiple websites for one company, offering flexibility for brands operating across regions or segments.
🎁 Product Personalization and Customization
Is there a built-in product personalizer? No plans to add a native visual configurator to Odoo eCommerce, as it targets a niche market. However, the Industry app may explore this functionality. For businesses selling personalized products, Alex references the Gelato integration (covered in a previous talk) for print-on-demand with customization options.
🛒 B2B Bulk Orders and Quick Reorder
Bulk ordering from the portal? Not directly from the portal, but Odoo 19 introduces the Quick Reorder feature specifically for B2B buyers who need to replenish stock regularly.
From the shopping cart, customers can access the 10 most recent orders, see quantities purchased previously, and quickly adjust quantities to reorder. This streamlines recurring purchases without navigating through the portal or searching for products individually.
Customers can still reorder a complete previous order from the portal with one click, but Quick Reorder offers granular control for adjusting quantities across multiple products.
💰 Pricing: Attributes, Tiers, and Packaging
Tiered pricing with attributes and add-ons? The question was complex, but Alex explains that Odoo supports attribute extra pricing—adding cost based on specific attribute values (e.g., aluminum vs. wood desk versions). For more intricate scenarios, consulting the booth or support is recommended.
Gift vouchers with custom values? Not currently possible for customers to enter arbitrary amounts. However, merchants can predefine voucher values using product variants with extra pricing (e.g., €10, €20, €50, €100 options).
Discounted pricing for packaging? Currently, packaging is a simple multiplicator of the unit price (e.g., a pack of 6 costs 6× the unit price). The team is working to enable differentiated pricing per package next year.
A workaround exists: use price lists with minimum quantity rules. For example, set a reduced price when customers purchase 6+ units. The limitation: buying 6 individual units applies the pack discount, but buying "a pack of 6" doesn't differentiate pricing yet. This is actively being improved.
🔧 Filtering and Custom Fields
Can you add filters based on custom Studio fields? No, but it's unnecessary. Use attributes instead—they're built for this purpose and don't require Studio. Create custom attributes, assign values, and link them to product categories. Customers can then filter products by those attributes on category pages.
Alternatively, use tags if attributes don't fit. Tags also support filtering and are simpler for non-product-specific categorization.
📊 Analytics and Tracking Tags
How to add Google and Meta tags? Navigate to Website Settings, scroll to the integrations section, and directly link Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Google Tag Manager.
For other tracking services (e.g., Hotjar, custom scripts), go to Edit Theme → Add to Head/Body. Insert custom code snippets in the <head> or <body> sections. These customizations persist across upgrades.
🚚 Importing Products from Other Platforms
How to import products from Shopify or other platforms? Two methods:
- Manual Import: Export products from Shopify (CSV/Excel), then import into Odoo using templates. Odoo provides documentation and video tutorials. While time-consuming, it's an opportunity to clean and organize your catalog.
- Website Import Tool (New): Odoo now offers a website import feature that pulls products and content automatically from existing platforms. The team is working to enhance this feature further next year.
Known Issue: Importing HTML product descriptions for translations currently has bugs affecting all HTML fields. The framework team is working on a fix to be backported to Odoo 18.
🛡️ Stock and Price Validation at Checkout
Can customers place orders days after adding items to the cart if stock/prices change? Previously, yes—this was a gap. Odoo 19 refined checkout validation: stock and price checks now occur before order confirmation. If a product goes out of stock or the price changes, customers are notified before completing checkout.
📦 Packaging in Quick Reorder and Cart
Does Quick Reorder support packaging? Yes. If a product has multiple packaging options (e.g., single units, packs of 2, cases of 12), the Quick Reorder feature respects packaging selections from previous orders.
New in Odoo 19: Customers can now select packaging directly on product pages—previously unavailable. For example, purchasing a single Coca-Cola can vs. a 6-pack is now configurable during shopping.
Auto-reconciliation: If a customer buys 2 individual units, the system treats them as 2 units, not a "pack of 2." This is intentional (customers may want separate items for different purposes). During delivery, warehouse staff can adjust packaging manually if needed.
🔐 Account Creation and Portal Access
Can customers create accounts while placing their first order? Yes. Customers can:
- Create an account before shopping (traditional flow)
- Create an account during checkout (if they forgot earlier)
- Create an account after checkout to link the order to a new portal account
Merchants can also restrict account creation in settings—useful for B2B scenarios where you want to manually approve accounts and prevent competitors from browsing prices.
Benefits of portal accounts: Order history, invoice downloads, delivery tracking, and easier reordering.
🌐 Smooth Migration with Zero Downtime
Best practices for migrating from Shopify/Magento to Odoo?
- Set up Odoo e-commerce and configure all settings.
- Export and import data (customers, products, orders).
- Connect shipping providers (e.g., Bpost, Sendcloud) and payment gateways.
- When ready, transfer the domain name from Shopify to Odoo.
Downtime concerns: Domain transfers cause no downtime. The website remains accessible immediately. The only brief issue: SSL certificate generation may take 10 minutes to 1 hour. During this period, the site is accessible but shows as "not secure" in browsers. Schedule the migration during low-traffic hours (e.g., overnight) to minimize impact.
⚡ High-Traffic Scenarios and Infrastructure
How does Odoo handle traffic spikes (e.g., event ticket sales)? This question is best addressed by Infrastructure and Framework teams. However, Odoo has built-in optimizations for high-traffic events, including:
- Delayed ticket generation to smooth checkout processes during spikes
- Scalable SaaS infrastructure designed for large traffic volumes
Odoo already powers high-traffic websites successfully. For specific infrastructure concerns, consult with the SaaS or SH (Self-Hosted) teams.
📋 Delivery Terms and Customization
Can delivery times in terms and conditions be customized? Yes. Simply edit the terms and conditions to reflect accurate delivery windows (e.g., 5-7 days instead of the default 2-3 days).
💳 Price Lists and Customer-Specific Pricing
Do price lists apply when customers are logged in? Yes, with flexibility. Price lists can be:
- Public (applied to everyone)
- Customer-specific (assigned individually)
To assign a custom price list, navigate to the customer record and set the price list field. When that customer logs in, their personalized pricing applies automatically. Logged-out visitors see the default public price list.
Viewpoint: Odoo Perspective
⚠️ Disclaimer: AI-generated creative perspective inspired by Odoo's vision.
This Q&A captures the essence of our approach: transparency, continuous improvement, and listening to users. The design refinements in Odoo 19 aren't just cosmetic—they reflect real merchant feedback asking for flexibility without complexity. We're not building features in isolation; we're solving actual pain points reported by thousands of businesses. The SEO improvements with AI, the Quick Reorder for B2B efficiency, packaging options on product pages—these are all responses to community needs. And yes, we're candid about limitations: multi-market segmentation isn't perfect yet, but it's on the roadmap. We'd rather admit where we are and show where we're going than overpromise. That's how we build trust. When you grow with Odoo, you're not just adopting software—you're partnering with a team that evolves alongside you.
Viewpoint: Competitors (SAP / Microsoft / Others)
⚠️ Disclaimer: AI-generated fictional commentary. Not an official corporate statement.
Odoo's Q&A format is refreshingly practical—direct answers, live demos, honest acknowledgment of gaps. The focus on design flexibility and AI-driven SEO optimization shows they're paying attention to SMB e-commerce trends. However, several responses highlight structural limitations in enterprise contexts. Multi-market segmentation requiring separate websites, for instance, is a workaround rather than a native solution—something enterprise platforms handle with advanced locale and currency routing. The admission that packaging pricing is still a "multiplicator" rather than supporting complex tiering underscores a simpler data model compared to SAP Commerce or Microsoft Dynamics, which offer granular pricing logic out of the box. That said, for their target market—growing businesses prioritizing speed and simplicity—these limitations may not be dealbreakers. The real test is whether Odoo can scale its architecture for multi-national enterprises without introducing complexity that undermines its core value proposition: ease of use.
Disclaimer: This article contains AI-generated summaries and fictionalized commentaries for illustrative purposes. Viewpoints labeled as "Odoo Perspective" or "Competitors" are simulated and do not represent any real statements or positions. All product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.