How I Set Up Shopify Markets to Sell Internationally

Shopify Markets is how one Shopify store sells to several countries, with the right currency, language, prices and checkout for each. Adding a country takes minutes. Getting it right takes planning, because prices, translations, shipping, duties and payments all depend on each other. I’ll walk through the order I set markets up in, the settings that matter, and the tests I run before a market goes live. One of my own Shopify builds, a clothing store launched with a pre-sale, sells in a second market and currency, so this comes from a live store, not a demo. Details reflect Shopify as of October 2026.

Plan your markets before you click anything

A market is a group of customers who get the same experience. Usually that’s a country or a group of countries, though markets can also be built around B2B company locations, retail locations or sales channels. Shopify creates a domestic and an international market for you, so start by reviewing those.

A common mistake is one market per country by default. I group countries that share a currency, language, price list and shipping approach, and split them only when something really differs. For each target country, write down:

• The currency you’ll charge in, and whether prices need round endings.
• The language, and who will check the translations.
• Which products you can legally and practically ship there.
• Whether you’ll collect duties and import taxes at checkout or leave them to the customer.
• Which payment methods local buyers expect.

Also check your backup region in Settings > General. It sets the currency and language for visitors who don’t match any active market. Those visitors can browse but can’t buy, so every country you want orders from must be in an active market.

How I set up Shopify Markets, step by step

1. Create the market as a draft. Go to Markets, click Create market, name it, set it to Draft and add the countries as a condition.
2. Keep inherited settings where you can. New markets inherit your store defaults. Override only what differs, so there’s less to maintain.
3. Set the currency. Charging in a local currency needs Shopify Payments or Adyen. With other gateways, local prices are for display only and customers pay in your store currency.
4. Assign a catalog. Catalogs decide which products a market can buy and at what price.
5. Choose the domain and language, covered below.
6. Set taxes and duties for the market.
7. Add shipping zones and rates. A country only appears at checkout when it’s in an active market and in a shipping zone with rates.
8. Test, then switch the market to Active.

If you’d rather hand this over, market setup is part of my Shopify development work.

Currencies, rounding and prices per market

By default Shopify converts prices at the current exchange rate, and you can set a manual rate instead. Converted prices move with the rate, so each market’s currency settings include rounding to Shopify’s preset price endings for that currency. You can’t write your own rounding rules, so if a product must sell at an exact price, set that price yourself.

Catalogs give you two tools. A percentage adjustment raises or lowers every price in the market, which suits markets where your costs are higher. Fixed prices override that adjustment for individual products, and you can import them by CSV. I usually set fixed prices for best sellers and anything advertised at a specific price, and use a percentage for the rest. On the pre-sale store, which you can see in my portfolio, the second market has its own catalog and currency.

Two details trip people up. Fixed-amount discount codes and gift cards are set in your store currency and converted at checkout, so a “10 off” code becomes an uneven local amount. You can limit discounts to specific markets, which helps. And Shopify Payments charges a currency conversion fee on payments in a non-domestic currency, so check the current rate for your country before you set margins.

Languages, domains and international SEO

Translate & Adapt, Shopify’s own app, auto-translates up to two languages for free, and you can add as many manual translations as you like. Third-party translation apps and CSV imports work too. Once a language is published, checkout and email notifications appear in it as well. Treat machine translation as a first draft and have a native speaker check product pages, size guides, policies and checkout wording.

For URLs you can use subfolders (example.com/fr-fr), subdomains (fr.example.com) or country domains (example.fr). Shopify recommends subfolders for most stores: they need almost no setup and share your main domain’s authority. Country domains send the strongest local signal, but each one is another property to manage. Either way, you need a custom domain, because international domains can’t be built on myshopify.com.

Shopify adds hreflang tags and lists market URLs in your sitemap automatically, and known search engine crawlers are excluded from automatic redirection so every version gets indexed. If you turn redirection on, keep a visible country selector in the header or footer anyway. People travel, use VPNs and buy gifts for friends abroad.

Duties, taxes, payments and shipping

This is practical setup guidance, not tax or legal advice. Where you must register for VAT, GST or sales tax depends on your business and your sales, so confirm your obligations with an accountant before you open a market.

• Tax-inclusive prices. Each market has a tax-inclusive pricing setting, including a dynamic option that shows tax-inclusive prices in regions where shoppers expect them, such as the UK, the EU and Australia.
• Duties and import taxes. Leave them to the customer at delivery, or let Shopify estimate and collect them at checkout. Collecting needs product data such as HS codes and country of origin, a carrier that supports duty-paid labels, and a shipping zone per country, since duties can’t be collected in “Rest of world”. Transaction fees apply to those checkouts. If you don’t collect, say so on your shipping page.
• Local payment methods. With Shopify Payments, each market lists the local methods its countries can use, such as iDEAL in the Netherlands or Bancontact in Belgium.
• Shipping in local currency. With Shopify Payments you can set fixed rates in the local currency for zones that use a single currency. Otherwise rates are converted.

If you’d rather not handle foreign tax registrations yourself, look at Managed Markets, where Global-e acts as merchant of record. At the time of writing it’s open to merchants in the continental US and certain stores in Canada and the UK.

Test every market before it goes live

Open the market and use More actions > View online store to browse as a customer there. Then put Shopify Payments in test mode and place orders in each new currency. Check:

• Prices and rounding on collection, product, cart and checkout pages.
• Shipping rates and, if you collect them, the duties line.
• Payment methods, including the local ones you expected.
• Translations in the theme, checkout and order emails.
• Apps that show or email prices, such as reviews, bundles and upsells.
• That analytics records the purchase in the right currency.

That last check matters more than it looks. If GA4 or your ad platforms read foreign-currency orders wrongly, your reports overstate or understate sales. When I set up conversion tracking for a store that sells in several currencies, I test a purchase in each one.

Quick checklist

• Markets grouped by real differences, not one per country.
• Backup region set, and every selling country in an active market.
• Shopify Payments active if you want to charge in local currencies.
• Catalogs with fixed prices for key products.
• Translations reviewed by a native speaker.
• Subfolders or domains chosen, with a visible country selector.
• Tax and duty decisions confirmed with your accountant.
• Test orders placed in every currency.

Related reading: Shopify Conversion Tracking: GA4, Google Ads and Meta Pixel Done Right and Shopify Product Page Optimization: What Makes People Buy.

FAQ

Do I need Shopify Plus for Shopify Markets?

No. Markets, catalogs, local currencies, domains and languages work on all plans at the time of writing. Customizing your theme or checkout per market needs Advanced or Plus, and Shopify’s Markets requirements page lists the current split.

Can I charge in local currencies without Shopify Payments?

Only with Adyen. With other gateways, shoppers see converted prices but pay in your store currency.

Should I use subfolders or separate domains?

Subfolders suit most stores. Choose country domains only if you already own them and can look after each one properly.

Should I collect duties at checkout?

Collecting them spares customers an unexpected bill at delivery. Check that your products and carriers meet the requirements first, and ask your accountant about the tax side.

Planning to sell in a second country? Request a free website review and I’ll check your markets, prices and checkout before your first international order.