How to Sell Internationally on Shopify: A Step-by-Step Guide for Global Success

When to sell cross-border

When scaling an ecommerce business, it can be very tempting to quickly look at international expansion, however, it does not come without risks. Expanding a business internationally too early can waste time, spread resources too thin and may not be successful. We advise merchants to plan and strategise international expansion before taking the plunge to ensure it is the right time for the business.

A key indicator that international expansion could be a good move, is if you organically begin to see traffic and sales from other countries. For example, if you start to see an increase in US traffic who are converting well, then it may be a no-brainer to create a tailored strategy for growth. Secondly, you may feel you have saturated a market in one particular country or at least made significant progress in growth and thus it's time to invest in repeating your strategy overseas.

The two biggest indicators that it’s time to start selling overseas are that you’ve saturated your domestic market and your website’s international sales have started picking up organically. This shows that you already have a successful product and business model and that there is already demand for it overseas.

The biggest consideration before beginning international expansion is whether you have enough resources to achieve it effectively. Not only will it likely require significant financial investment but also time too. Spreading your existing team thinly over many markets may not only affect your chances of success but also hinder existing market strategies too.

Identifying international markets to sell to on Shopify

The first step to internationally expanding your Shopify store is identifying which geographic target markets are best for your business focus. On the face of it, a ‘one size fits all’ strategy might seem like a productive idea to reach as many customers as possible, however, different countries and markets around the world have their own unique browsing and buying habits. A good place to start would be looking at analytical data within your Shopify store. By looking at the sessions by location report, you can examine whether you have international visitors from other countries already, and if so, funnel these countries down to a select few to investigate further. In the event that your online store doesn’t have any international traffic, you should still have a go at identifying a select few markets which you predict will have potential demand for your products or services. Our recommendation for selling internationally on Shopify would be going for markets which are geographically close to you, or countries which speak the same native language / have cultural similarities. We strongly believe it’s vital for merchants to understand their customers when selling online and adopt unique and tailored ecommerce strategies for each market specifically.

International Laws & Regulation

Before you begin your international strategy, it is vital to complete thorough due diligence on the laws and regulations of the country you wish to sell to. Firstly, ensure that your product category can be sold to the country in question for sensitive items such as alcohol or CBS. It's important to also think about wider business considerations such as the trade deals between the countries and whether you are required to create a business entity and pay tax in the country you wish to sell to. Shopify makes it easy to 'switch on' new markets but ensure you don't get caught out by not considering necessary compliance to local laws.

Competitor & Customer Research

You'll likely be very family with your customers in your home country and similarly have a strong knowledge of who you are competing against. It's important to begin gaining this contextual understanding of a new market to help you make a success of it. We advise you to analyse product offerings, pricing strategies, and marketing techniques but also conduct customer research as buying behaviours and reasons for purchase can be very different between countries.

Architectural International Approach

There are two key technical architectural approaches that can be employed to deliver an international strategy with Shopify; single-store and multi-store.

Single Store Set Up
A single-store approach, is becoming a preferred approach due ot it's simplicity, which involves having one single Shopify store that dynamically updates based on the geographical location the customer is shopping from. This approach leverages Shopify Markets technology that we discuss in greater detail later in this article.

Multi-Store Set Up
The more traditional approach involves having a separate Shopify store for each market - known as a multi-store set-up. This approach means that each store, product catalogue and settings are managed individually.

Let's explore these two approaches in more detail.

Single-Store Set Up

Single-store strategy to internationalisation means that a business will use one single Shopify store that will power all, or some, international markets. Leveraging Shopify's internationalisation built-in toolkit called Shopify Markets, the store will automatically and dynamically update delivering a tailored shopping experience based on the visitor's location or selected country.

Shopify Markets allows online ecommerce merchants to easily expand their online Shopify stores to reach international markets without the need to set up new and separate instances of a Shopify store, known as the 'multi-store' approach. Features and tools include multi-currency via the markets dashboard, localised domain control, automated duties collection, shipping rules, custom inventory per market and more. Shopify markets is also built directly into Shopify's content management system allowing brands to display unique content per region whilst still only managing one store.

The key benefit of a single-store strategy is that brands only have one individual Shopify store to manage massively reducing the workload that is involved with multiple stores. However, in some businesses where there is a lot of complexity between markets or entirely separate teams managing each market, it can sometimes be cleaner to manage stores separately using the multi-store approach.

Multi-Store Set Up

Multi-store international strategy involves having a separate Shopify store managed independently for each market. The main benefit of an individual Shopify store per country or region is that you have complete control over every single option and element when setting up that store and you can manage different markets differently without conflicts

. Unique products are a given as you can offer unique ranges with ease when you separate your international selling strategy. Another key benefit is the ability to have complete linear control over the content and copy of each store - you can run unique campaigns, imagery and style based on the market you are selling internationally to. Whilst unique content can be offered using Shopify markets in a single-store strategy it can get messy. Many merchants like to change their tone of voice to target a particular international market. Unique products and content from one store is technically possible however it can become confusing to manage when all mixed within one Shopify account. Shopify Plus customers receive 9 expansion stores with their plan that can be used in a multi-store international strategy.

Some of the challenges around multi-store approaches include inventory management, increased marketing and site update workload and finally logistics considerations. Firstly you are likely to require a third-party inventory management tool to keep track of your inventory and stock levels when managing multiple channels. Secondly, your internal team will have to update multiple stores instead of one which can prove timely - remember each product might need to be updated multiple times across all your stores or you can consider a product information management system (PIM) to update product information and sync all your stores such as Akeneo.

Finally, you need to consider the edge-case scenarios of selling internationally on Shopify using the multi-store approach - consider what happens if customers want to purchase for a customer in another region they are in, will you allow them to change their currency or store.

When considering the multi-store approach you may wish to consider Shopify Plus as the overall monthly cost could be lower than pay singularly for multiple single stores with Shopify.

Shopify Payment Gateways

Shopify offers the ability to accept payments in hundreds of different currencies and payment providers. If you are using Shopify markets then you can dynamically change the payment providers you are offering per store to offer a localised checkout experience. Shopify Markets also allows merchants to have payouts into different bank accounts based on the market they sell to. Whether you wish to offer products at the same price at the exchange rate, apply a percentage increase or decrease or set unique prices per market together - Shopify can support a multitude of ways to price products. Shopify Payments accepts multi-currency transactions or alternatively, you can opt for approved third-party payment gateways.

Managing International Taxes & Duties

A complication for internationalisation on Shopify and a merchant looking to start selling internationally is the various tax laws that are specific to different countries and markets. European markets typically display product prices including any related taxes, whereas markets in North America typically display products exclusive of taxes and instead add them up later in the checkout based upon where in the world the buyer is shipping their order to. Tax being calculated incorrectly can result in delayed shipping time, fines and reduced profit margins, making it paramount to get taxes correct when selling internationally.

Thankfully, Shopify takes the international variables into account by including or excluding necessary taxes in product pricing automatically depending on where the customer is in the world, making the process easy for merchants. However, when Shopify does apply charges for duties and import taxes then these are estimates based on the available information at the time that the customer places an order. Inaccurate product information, such as a missing country or region of origin or an incorrect Harmonized System (HS) code, might result in additional duties being charged to the customer upon delivery. Partners such as Swap and Global-E offer improved accuracy in duties fees to give your customers the very best experience and prevent any additional fees from being due on delivery.

A fully integrated tax compliance solution such as Avalara Avatax can be set up and implemented to protect your business and ensure all tax rules are adhered to wherever your audience is.

Managing International Domains & SEO

International domains can be set for different countries to create a more localised website presence and user experience for customers on your website. Shopify markets allows brands to use unique top-level domains such as example.com for the US and example.co.uk for the UK. Alternatively, you can use subdomains such as us.example.com or finally, you can use subfolders such as example.com/fr for France.

Offering international domains can improve customer confidence that they are browsing a local version of your website. As a result, customers are more likely to trust your store and if you offer local currencies per domain then the friction of purchase will be reduced. Shopify markets automatically will show the most relevant market to the visitor or if they visit a different markets URL then they will be prompted with a pop-up to shop at their local store.

With international strategy, SEO should be carefully considered. The best case scenario is using the same domain with subfolders as you will retain any authority you built with your first market. Google sees unique domains and often subdomains and entirely separate stores. However, this isn't always possible if you have a localised domain such as .co.uk. Leverage HREFLANG tags in your code to ensure that Google understands any duplicate content - if you are using Shopify Markets then Shopify manages this automatically.

Translations & Languages

Perhaps one of the most important factors to consider when selling internationally on Shopify is language translation. Research shows that nearly 80% of international buyers ‘strongly prefer’ to browse ecommerce stores in their native language, meaning that stores which are properly translated are a likely strategy to improve sales from international customers. With the Shopify platform, multiple languages can be dynamically set for an individual store so that customers from all over the world can be catered for without the need for creating a separate store for each region. Shopify Markets allows you to assign a language per market and you can easily translate and manage up to 3 translations with Shopify's free app called Translate & Adapt. If your translation requirements exceed the features included then we highly recommend integrating Weglot as it is generally more advanced and seamless than the alternatives available.

International Content Management

Managing content can become complex when you add another dimension - different markets. Languages, content, imagery, messaging, and tone of voice can become quite messy if you are not careful. The way in which you will manage content will depend on the technical and architectural approach you have chosen.

For single-store approaches, brands can leverage Shopify's content management system. Within the theme editor, you can choose a market and dynamically change content specific to a market, for example displaying a unique banner or changing text. Shopify Markets allows you to choose which products are available in different markets and translate apps allow you to show your store in different languages and even make edits too.

If you are running an international strategy using a multi-store approach then each store can be set up in the required language. You may want to use a native speaker to re-write the content or alternatively, you can still use translation apps to achieve this. It's also not uncommon for multi-store setups to still offer multi-language per market.

Global Marketing Strategy

When looking to achieve success in new and different markets, it's vital to adopt unique and tailored marketing strategies for the markets you are selling to. Buying habits, trends and tastes vary hugely between countries therefore you must have a thorough understanding of who you are selling to to adapt your strategy accordingly.

Many brands will run different campaigns in different markets to maximise the results achieved for example running unique ads, leveraging different marketing channels and even changing product ranges tailored to the market.

Why choose Shopify Plus for internationalisation

Shopify Plus is built for enterprise-level scalability, offering payment methods, advanced currency conversion, and a range of tools designed to simplify selling across multiple regions and cultures. Of course, you get all the things that standard Shopify provides—such as multi-currency, language translation, shipping rates, payment options like PayPal, and pricing controls—helping you cater to audiences and consumers across the globe. However, Shopify Plus goes even further, offering up to 9 expansion stores—essential for brands aiming for international domination. These stores allow you to easily duplicate your website content for different regions like Germany, enabling fine-tuned pricing strategy, tailored shipping options, local payment methods, and geolocation-based personalization to enhance customer experience.

While managing multiple domain names, stores, and operations can involve extra planning and budget considerations, the flexibility it offers allows retailers to fully optimise their performance across different markets. Shopify Plus equips teams with powerful functionality such as Shopify Flow, which automates operations like tagging VIP users, managing orders, and streamlining fulfilment—cutting costs and reducing hassle. Shopify Launchpad, another key feature, enables brands to schedule site changes like theme launches based on local time zones, helping to align better with each market’s preferences and cultural nuances, boosting conversions.

Shopify Plus also enhances checkout flexibility, enabling complex discounts and refunds processes that suit the expectations of different audiences. Plus, the analytics and insights provided give experts and shopify agencies the data they need to refine plans, reduce confusion, and make faster decisions based on real-time search results, search engines visibility, and customer behaviour. Whether you're adapting your tech stack to support B2C or B2B strategies, Shopify Plus offers opportunities to outpace competitors and improve seo tags, making sure your stores rank strongly across the globe.

From optimising exchange rates, ensuring accurate duty and tax calculations to offering seamless payment options for shoppers, Shopify Plus is your ultimate guide for scaling internationally without compromising the customer experience. No matter where your project or area of focus lies, the list of benefits is long: smarter planning, strategic budget management, access to millions of people, reduced operational friction, and better visibility to potential customers. In conclusion, Shopify Plus isn’t just about selling globally—it’s about doing so with mind-blowing precision, backed by best practices that give you an edge when competing for global audiences. Learn more about the benefits of Shopify Plus.

Charle X Internationalisation

We have a wealth of experience in delivering international strategies for fast-growth ecommerce brands alongside the experience of technical implementation within the Shopify platform. If you are looking for an expert partner who can support your international expansion, then get in touch with our team today.