In today’s world, creating an e-commerce store has become super easy with platforms like Shopify, Woocommerce, Wix, Magento, etc. However, there’s one thing that e-commerce store owners have often struggled with, i.e. expanding their e-commerce business to other countries. Understanding this issue, Shopify launched Shopify Markets to help merchants sell globally from their Shopify stores.
Shopify Markets helps manage international sales easily by taking care of currency changes, language differences, and local rules all in one place.
In this article, we will reflect on what Shopify Markets is, what are some of its key features, and how you can start selling globally with the Shopify Markets integration.
So let’s get started.
- What is Shopify Markets?
- Key features of Shopify Markets
- #1. Multicurrency – Offer products to customers in their local currency
- #2. Language Localization – Store’s content is localized as per the user’s location
- #3. Domain Localization – Automatically adds region-specific slugs to the domain
- #4. Payment Localization – Ability to offer local payment methods to customers
- #5. Tax Management: Automating the Tax and Duty collections
- #6. Pricing Localization – Set Product prices as per the region’s currency
- How to set up Shopify Markets in your store?
- What is the cost of setting up Shopify Markets?
- Feature comparison – Shopify Markets and Market Pro
- How to sell wholesale globally using Shopify?
- Summing up
What is Shopify Markets?
Shopify Markets is a feature offered by the Shopify platform that enables e-commerce businesses to enter new geographies and start selling their products globally. Launched in 2021, this feature helps Shopify merchants to ease the daunting process of international selling.
It has a centralized feature set that tackles major issues like currency conversions, legal compliance, local payment methods, language translations, automated tax and duty collections, etc. It’s quick to enable and set up in any Shopify store.
Related Article: Shopify VAT – All you need to know
Key features of Shopify Markets
Now that we know what Shopify Markets is let’s look at the key features that it offers which allow Shopify store owners to tap into new markets.
#1. Multicurrency – Offer products to customers in their local currency
Shopify Markets allows store owners to offer their international customers the convenience of viewing and paying for products in their local currency. This Shopify Multicurency feature is super important as every customer wants to purchase products in their local currency.
![shopify markets multicurrency example](https://wholesalehelper.io/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-03-at-16.27.41.png)
Shopify Markets automates this currency conversion process and reduces the manual work and errors associated with currency conversion. This automation ensures that the prices displayed are always accurate according to the latest exchange rates and ensures price consistency and seamless user experience irrespective of location.
#2. Language Localization – Store’s content is localized as per the user’s location
Users from different geographies would want to shop in their native language, but manually translating your store would require a lot of resources. Thankfully, Shopify Markets now takes care of this localization and automates the language translation process as per the user’s location.
With 3rd party apps available on the Shopify app store, one can quickly ensure that their Shopify store’s content is translated automatically as per the customer’s location.
#3. Domain Localization – Automatically adds region-specific slugs to the domain
When your store is operational across different geographies, it becomes crucial to ensure that both the customers and search engines can find and access the right language version of your store’s website. Shopify Markets automatically sorts this by creating unique URLs for each geographical version of your store when you publish a language.
![Domain Localization in Shopify Markets](https://wholesalehelper.io/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-03-at-16.30.57.png)
For example: Let’s say your primary domain URL is store.com and you decide to add Spanish and Chinese versions on your site, then Shopify will automatically generate URLs for the like store.com/es for Spanish and store.com/zh for Chinese (Mandarin).
#4. Payment Localization – Ability to offer local payment methods to customers
Shopify Markets goes a step ahead to personalize the user experience of the customer as per their location. It allows e-commerce store owners to offer local payment methods that are prominently used in their customers’ respective markets. However, only stores having Shopify payments enabled can process payments in the local currency of the customer.
This customization ensures that the checkout process feels more personal and trustworthy and also increases the conversion rate of the store since customers are more likely to proceed with a purchase when they see familiar payment methods.
#5. Tax Management: Automating the Tax and Duty collections
The complex tax and duty rules are something that scares Shopify store owners the most, and while selling internationally, store owners must understand and adhere to different region’s policies. This is surely a big hassle if handled manually but again, Shopify Markets automates the entire process of tax and duty management.
![Tax Management in Shopify Markets](https://wholesalehelper.io/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-03-at-16.33.14.png)
At the checkout stage, Shopify shows all the taxes and duties, that are applicable as per the region’s rules. This ensures that customers are fully aware of the amount that they are paying and that merchants are able to manage their sales operations easily.
#6. Pricing Localization – Set Product prices as per the region’s currency
With Shopify Markets, store owners can also set different prices for products for different geographies. For instance, if you are selling in the USA and Canada, you can set prices in USD for customers in the United States and AUD prices for customers in Australia.
Shopify store owners can easily set these prices using a CSV file, which is super helpful if you have a lot of products and want to update their regional prices in bulk.
Pros of using Shopify Markets | Cons of using Shopify Markets |
Easy to Use: Shopify Markets is very user-friendly, making it easy for anyone, even without any technical skills, to start selling globally on their e-commerce store. | Complex Pricing: The costs for using Shopify Markets can be complicated since it involves transaction fees, handling taxes, and converting currencies. |
Global Reach: You can expand the reach of your business to multiple countries, helping you to increase the sales of your business. | Pro Plan Expenses: If you want more advanced features like fraud protection and guaranteed tax management for your store, you need to pay for the Markets Pro plan, which is more expensive. |
Local Customization: With Shopify Markets you get tools like automated market-specific language translations and localized web domain addresses, which can make your store more personalized to customers from different regions. | Extra Costs for More Features: Though basic features on Shopify Markets are free, but you’ll pay extra for additions like fast shipping and comprehensive tax handling under the Pro plan. |
Setup for Growth: The platform is designed to help your business expand smoothly into new markets. | Dependence on Shopify: Using Shopify Markets means your business must adapt to changes, rules, and prices set by Shopify, which might limit some of your choices. |
How to set up Shopify Markets in your store?
#1. Sign in to your Shopify account with admin credentials.
#2. Go to ‘Settings’ from the left side navigation as displayed in the image below.
![set up Shopify Markets in your store - STEP 1](https://wholesalehelper.io/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-03-at-16.44.10.png)
#3. Next, under the setting dashboard, head on to ‘Markets’ as shown below.
![set up of shopify markets step 2](https://wholesalehelper.io/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-03-at-16.45.58.png)
#4. Now you are inside the Shopify Markets dashboard. To add a market i.e. to add a new country where you want to sell products, click on ‘Add Market’ as depicted in the screenshot below.
![step 3 to set up Shopify Markets](https://wholesalehelper.io/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-03-at-16.47.24.png)
#5. Select a country where you want to start selling and then click on ‘Add Market’ as shown below in the screenshot.
![step 5 to set up shopify markets](https://wholesalehelper.io/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-03-at-16.52.00.png)
#6. This will bring you the dashboard of your new Market setup and it will show ‘Active’ as depicted in the screenshot below.
![step 6 of setting up shopify markets](https://wholesalehelper.io/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-03-at-16.53.48.png)
That’s it! Your Shopify Market is live and now you can control all the Language and Domains, Product Pricings, Taxes, Shipping Rules, and payments from the dashboard.
What is the cost of setting up Shopify Markets?
Here are the pricing options for setting up Shopify Markets:
- Markets – The Markets plan is free to set up and fees are applied per transaction when using payment processing, currency conversions, or duty and import taxes. The currency conversion rate is 2.5%. Also, 0.85% for duties and import taxes, if the store uses Shopify Payments, and 1.5% if the store uses some other payment provider.
- Markets Pro – Markets Pro charges 6.5% per transaction and this fees includes payment processing, currency conversion, duty and import taxes, express shipping rates, and other features.
Feature comparison – Shopify Markets and Market Pro
Feature | Shopify Markets | Market Pro |
Localized currency | Yes | Yes |
Localized languages | Yes | Yes |
Customizable domain | Yes | Yes |
Payment methods | Limited | More options |
Control price by market | Yes | Yes |
Currency exchange rates | Market rates | Guaranteed for 30 days |
Fraud protection | Basic | Advanced |
Shipping | Basic | Discounted rates, DDP Shipping |
Compliance | Basic | Automatic restriction management |
How to sell wholesale globally using Shopify?
If you are a wholesale business running on Shopify and you want to expand your business to multiple markets, you would need a platform to show wholesale prices and discounts, offer tiered pricing to special customers, implement a wholesale sign-up form, offer Net Payment Terms, and more.
To cater to your wholesale customers, you can either upgrade to a Shopify Plus plan or use existing 3rd party applications like the Wholesale Pricing Discount B2B. The app integrates seamlessly with Shopify Markets and offers a centralized platform for wholesalers on Shopify to expand their business globally.
![sell wholesale globally using Shopify](https://wholesalehelper.io/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-03-at-17.01.51.png)
Summing up
Shopify Markets is a great feature by Shopify that opens opportunities for e-commerce entrepreneurs aiming to take their business global. Scaling e-commerce businesses to global markets has always been a challenge for store owners because of multiple currencies, languages, tax implications, payment options, and other rules and regulations. And Shopify Markets has addressed each of these challenges effectively by automating most of the regulatory things and providing a one-stop platform for e-commerce entrepreneurs to sell globally from their Shopify store.
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