You are getting orders from overseas, but the experience for those customers is poor. They see prices in the wrong currency, shipping costs are unclear, and they have no idea what import duties they will face. Shopify Markets solves this by letting you sell internationally from a single store with localised pricing, languages, domains, and duty calculations. It is the simplest path to international expansion for most Shopify merchants.

What is Shopify Markets and how does it work?

Shopify Markets is a built-in feature that lets you define different markets (countries or regions) and customise the shopping experience for each one. All from a single Shopify store, a single admin, and a single set of apps.

Each market can have its own currency, language, domain or subfolder, pricing adjustments, and product availability. When a customer visits your store, Shopify detects their location and serves the relevant market experience.

Stores using Shopify Markets see an average 14 percent increase in international conversion rates, according to Shopify's data. That increase comes from removing the friction of wrong currencies, unexpected costs, and language barriers.

How do you set up Shopify Markets?

Setting up your first international market takes about 30 minutes.

Go to Settings, then Markets in your Shopify admin.
You will see your primary market (usually your home country) already configured.
Click Add market to create a new one.
Name the market (e.g., "Europe" or "United States") and select the countries or regions to include.
Configure the currency, language, and pricing adjustments for that market.
Set up a domain strategy (subfolder or custom domain).
Activate the market.

You can group countries into a single market (e.g., all EU countries as "Europe") or create individual markets for countries that need specific configurations. Grouping makes management easier but limits per-country customisation.

Choosing a domain strategy

Strategy	Example	Pros	Cons
Subfolders	yourstore.com/en-gb, yourstore.com/de	Simple to manage, shared domain authority	Less "local" feel
Subdomains	uk.yourstore.com, de.yourstore.com	Moderate separation, shared root domain	More DNS configuration
Country domains	yourstore.co.uk, yourstore.de	Maximum local feel, strong geo-signals for SEO	Separate domain costs, more management

For most stores, subfolders are the best starting point. They keep all your SEO authority on one domain, are free, and require no additional DNS setup. Country-specific domains make sense when you have significant volume in a specific market and want to invest in local brand presence.

How do you set international pricing that makes sense?

You have three approaches to international pricing in Shopify Markets, and the right one depends on your business.

Automatic currency conversion

Shopify converts your primary currency prices at the current exchange rate plus an optional percentage adjustment. This is the fastest to set up but gives you the least control.

When to use it: You are testing a new market and want to start quickly without manually setting prices for every product.

Tip: Add a 2 to 5 percent buffer to cover exchange rate fluctuations and international payment processing fees.

Manual pricing per market

Set specific prices in each market's local currency. This gives you full control over price points and lets you use psychologically effective pricing (£29.99 rather than £31.47 from a conversion).

When to use it: You have established demand in a market and want to optimise pricing for local expectations and competitor pricing.

Price rounding rules

Whether using automatic or manual pricing, configure rounding rules so converted prices do not end up at awkward amounts. Shopify lets you set rules like "round to .99" or "round to nearest .95" per market.

Properly rounded prices increase perceived trust. A product showing €31.47 feels like an afterthought. €29.99 feels intentional.

How do you handle duties and taxes for international orders?

Unexpected costs at delivery are the number one reason international customers refuse packages. A survey by Pitney Bowes found that 46 percent of cross-border shoppers have abandoned an order because of unclear duties and taxes.

Shopify Markets includes a duties and import tax calculator that shows customers the estimated fees at checkout. This feature is available on all Shopify plans with Markets enabled.

Setting up duties and taxes:

Go to Settings, then Markets, then select your market.
Under Duties and import taxes, enable the calculator.
Add Harmonised System (HS) codes to your products. These codes determine the duty rate per product category per destination country.
Choose whether to collect duties at checkout (DDP, Delivered Duty Paid) or let the customer pay on delivery (DDU, Delivered Duty Unpaid).

DDP vs DDU:

Approach	Customer Experience	Your Responsibility
DDP (collect at checkout)	No surprises, duties included in order total	You remit duties to carriers/customs
DDU (pay on delivery)	Customer pays duties separately on arrival	Less admin but worse customer experience

DDP is strongly recommended. The conversion uplift from removing delivery surprises far outweighs the admin of remitting duties. Stores that switch from DDU to DDP see international conversion rates increase by 10 to 20 percent.

Adding HS codes

HS codes tell customs authorities what your products are, which determines the duty rate. You can add HS codes manually to each product in Shopify admin under the product's shipping section, or use a bulk upload via CSV.

If you are unsure which HS codes to use, the UK Trade Tariff tool (gov.uk) and the WCO Harmonised System database are the official references. For complex product catalogues, a customs broker can assign codes accurately.

How do you add languages for international markets?

Shopify supports selling in multiple languages through its built-in translation features and third-party translation apps.

Setting up multi-language:

Go to Settings, then Languages.
Add the languages you want to support.
Assign languages to specific markets in Settings, then Markets.
Translate your content using one of these methods.

Translation Method	Cost	Quality	Speed
Manual translation	Free (your time) or translator fees	Highest	Slowest
Shopify Translate and Adapt app (free)	Free	Good for basic translations	Fast
Langify	From $17.50/month	Good, with auto-translation option	Fast
Weglot	From $15/month	Strong auto-translation with manual override	Very fast
Professional translation service	£0.05 to £0.15 per word	Highest	Varies

For most stores, start with Weglot or Shopify Translate and Adapt. Both handle automatic translation that you can then manually refine. Prioritise translating product titles, descriptions, collection pages, and checkout content first. Navigation, footer, and policy pages come next.

Do not rely solely on machine translation for markets where you want to build a serious presence. Auto-translated product descriptions often sound unnatural and can hurt conversion rates. Have a native speaker review at least your top 20 products and key landing pages.

What products should you make available per market?

Not every product needs to be available everywhere. Shopify Markets lets you control product visibility per market.

Reasons to restrict product availability:

Products that cannot be shipped internationally (hazardous materials, perishables)
Products with licensing restrictions in certain countries
Products with very low margins where international shipping makes them unprofitable
Localised products that only make sense in certain markets

In your market settings, you can publish or unpublish entire catalogues or specific products per market. Use this strategically rather than enabling everything everywhere.

How do you handle international shipping and fulfilment?

Selling internationally means configuring shipping rates, delivery timeframes, and carrier options per market.

International shipping setup checklist:

Create shipping zones for each market in Settings, then Shipping and delivery.
Set rate-based or weight-based shipping rates per zone.
Display estimated delivery times on product pages and at checkout.
Consider offering free shipping thresholds per market (adjusted for local pricing).
Use Shopify Shipping for discounted rates with carriers like DHL Express and UPS for international shipments.

A common mistake is setting a single flat-rate international shipping fee. Shipping to France costs significantly less than shipping to Australia. Use zone-based rates to keep pricing fair and competitive.

For stores with significant international volume, consider using a third-party logistics (3PL) provider with warehouses in your key markets. Shipping locally within a market is cheaper, faster, and improves the customer experience dramatically.

What are common Shopify Markets mistakes to avoid?

Ignoring SEO for international markets. Each market creates new URLs that need unique meta titles, descriptions, and content. Duplicate content across markets hurts rankings. Translate and localise your SEO metadata for each language.
Not testing the checkout experience per market. Place a test order in each market to verify that currency, language, duties, shipping rates, and payment methods all display correctly.
Forgetting payment method preferences. European customers expect iDEAL (Netherlands), Bancontact (Belgium), and Klarna. Not offering local payment methods reduces conversion by up to 30 percent in some markets.
Setting unrealistic shipping expectations. If delivery takes 10 to 14 days, say so. Understating delivery times leads to complaints, chargebacks, and negative reviews.
Launching too many markets at once. Start with one or two international markets where you already see organic demand. Optimise the experience there before expanding further.

Key actions to take now

Check your existing international order data in Shopify Analytics. Identify which countries already generate revenue.
Set up Shopify Markets for your top one or two international markets.
Configure local currencies with appropriate rounding rules.
Enable duties and import tax collection at checkout (DDP) and add HS codes to your products.
Install a translation app and translate your top product pages for each market's language.
Create shipping zones with accurate rates and delivery estimates for each market.
Place test orders in every market to verify the full customer experience.

Shopify Markets setup is manageable for any merchant, and Shopify's documentation walks through each step clearly. Where a developer adds value is in customising the market selector experience, building locale-aware content sections in your theme, optimising hreflang tags for international SEO, and integrating with third-party fulfilment providers that serve multiple regions. For brands that need completely separate storefronts per region, Shopify Plus expansion stores provide that separation while keeping billing under a single contract.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Shopify Markets work on all Shopify plans?

Yes, Shopify Markets is available on all paid Shopify plans, including Basic. Duties and import tax collection at checkout requires enabling the feature in your market settings and adding HS codes to products. Some advanced routing and localisation options are more capable on higher-tier plans, but the core multi-market functionality is accessible to every merchant.

How many markets can you create in Shopify?

You can create up to 50 markets in a single Shopify store. Each market can group multiple countries or regions together, so one "Europe" market can cover all EU countries with shared currency and language settings. Individual markets make sense when you need country-specific pricing, a local domain, or distinct product availability.

Will Shopify Markets affect my SEO?

It can help or hurt depending on setup. Using subfolders (yourstore.com/en-gb) keeps all domain authority in one place and is the recommended starting point. Each market creates new indexed URLs, so duplicate content across markets becomes a risk if you do not translate and localise your metadata. Correctly implemented hreflang tags signal to Google which version to serve in each country.

What is the difference between DDP and DDU for international duty collection?

DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) means Shopify calculates and collects duties at checkout so the customer pays nothing on delivery. DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) means the customer pays duties separately when the parcel arrives. DDP is strongly recommended: stores switching from DDU to DDP typically see international conversion rates improve by 10 to 20 percent, because removing unexpected delivery costs is one of the biggest barriers to cross-border purchase.

Shopify Markets for Global Expansion