What is Shopify Markets?

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, custom inventory per market and more! Shopify Markets was released in September 2021 and was a significant update to the Shopify ecosystem which has been introduced to revolutionise international commerce through the platform. Since Shopify Market's release, the ecommerce platform has continued to invest in the development of the feature and maximise what it can do for Shopify merchants.

What's the alternative to Shopify Markets?

Historically, Shopify markets would set up separate Shopify stores for each market they wish to target typically using Shopify Plus's expansion stores. Some merchants still will opt for this approach, however there are pros and cons. If you run your business from separate stores, their product catalogues are entirely separate meaning that stock levels will now sync between stores. To resolve this, merchants will typically opt for a product-information-management tool or an enterprise-resource-management tool. In addition, the workload of managing the stores is increased as content updates would need to be managed separately on a per-store basis. However, especially for larger-scale stores, logistical management can become complex and leveraging separate online entities is the only way to prevent conflicts between each market. Similarly, if there are dedicated separate teams for each market, who independently run unique stores then a multi-store approach may be best.

Currency control with Shopify Markets

Shopify markets comes equipped with 136 different currency options for your chosen market to allow your international customers and community to shop in their native currency. Selling in a local currency can reduce cart abandonment rate by 33% as data suggests a large portion of global customers refuse to make a purchase decision based on the currency offered to them on foreign ecommerce websites. From product pages to basket, checkout to refunds, Shopify Markets provides a consistent multi-currency shopper experience to buyers across the world so they can have confidence when purchasing from your store.

Multi-language

Shopify Markets allows merchants to translate their store to offer a native lingual experience to a global customer base. Research shows that nearly 80% of international buyers ‘strongly prefer’ to browse ecommerce stores in their native language, and 40% won't consider buying from website in other languages highlighting the importance for stores to be properly translated to improve number of sales and overall shopping experience for international shoppers. With the Shopify Markets platform and integrated translation apps, multiple languages can be dynamically set for an individual store so that consumers from all over the world can be catered for with ease, eliminating the need for merchants to create a separate store for each country or region. You can set languages to be specific to a localised domain name, so customers receive a localised experience combine that with currency, pricing and unique content and you canoffer a tailored experience.

Localised domain name

We know from repeated studies the impact of a domain extension on the level of trust. Shopify Markets offers localised domain names that can then be associated with a specific language and country to offer a truly native experience for international customers - they’ll feel right at home on your website. Localised domain names can improve customer confidence that they are browsing a local and relevant version of your website. As a result, customers are more likely to pay in their own native currency as domains set pricing and language defaults specifically for each market that is being targeted.

There are three types of domain options you have within Shopify Markets. Firstly, you can have entirely unique domain names per market such as yourshop.com for the USA and yourshop.co.uk for the UK. The second option is keeping the original domain but adding a subdomain such as fr.yourshop.com for France for example. Lastly, you can use sub-folders that can have more SEO benefits such as yourshop.com/es-es for Spain.

Traffic management for Shopify Markets

Ensuring that customers are directed to the correct market on a Shopify store is important, this enables them to see the right pricing, content and offering for their region. Merchants should direct customers to the specific URL for a particular market if applicable via marketing channels such as ads. Shopify Markets also creates the correct HREFLANG tags in the code to tell search engines which URL is for a particular market, this prevents incorrect market URLs from appearing in Search in the wrong territory. Lastly, if a customer does land on the wrong URL or version of the store, Markets will display a popup asking the customer if they wish to proceed to the correct store for their region.

Duties collection with Shopify Markets

Usually when selling internationally, price fluctuations often arise due to the various tax and duties rules that are specific to different countries and markets. Thankfully with Shopify Markets, merchants can automatically calculate and collect estimated tax and duty fees at checkout for total cost clarity so customers aren’t hit with unexpected charges on delivery. This helps create customer confidence about the total price of purchase, as some users might abandon their cart if they are uncertain of any additional costs. It is noteworthy that a small 0.85% fee per order is taken from the seller per order when duty and import taxes are calculated with Shopfiy Payments, which is a small price to pay as the often improved profitability from increased international conversions offsets this. Note at current this is only an estimated fee and actual fees may vary. Leveraging Shopify Markets Pro or third-party provides such as Global-E can help improve accuracy.

Payment methods & pricing control

With Shopify Markets, merchants can give their customers direct and secure payment methods that they’re used to, with greater control of their international pricing strategy by setting specific prices per market. Payment method options can vary widely from debit and credit cards, to bank transfers, to third-party applications such as Apple Pay and Paypal. The 'norm' for payment methods of different areas of the world vary widely- international customers trust certain methods more than others, and network effects result in some methods being heavily preffered in different regions.

Similarly to customers paying in their own currency, using familiar payment methods can be the difference between a customer finalising a purchase on your online store rather than abandoning their cart on the last step of the checkout process. The seller's fees for using an alternative payment provider are 1.5% per transaction, with a 2% fee per order when a currency is converted. Fees for using local payment methods are included as part of Shopify Payments international payment processing.

Inventory management

With inventory locations around the world, merchants can serve their products to customers in different markets based on where their inventory is located. For example, if you have warehouses in France and the United States have a set-up where the French warehouse ships only to Europe, and the US warehouse ships only to North America, buyers in Europe will only see the inventory of the French warehouse. This ensures stock levels are managed appropriately and avoids overselling certain products when you have multiple warehouses in different markets. Shopify Locations allows merchants to assign stock to different places and you can assign different locations to be supplied from different Shopify locations.

Custom markets automation and analytics

Shopify Markets allows merchants to define market areas relevant to their business by creating a single country market or grouping multiple countries together. Depending on the nature of your business, it could be more viable to manage regions as a group rather than individually, making it easier to deliver strategies more efficiently without having to duplicate work for individual markets. Merchants can also use in-built analytics to see their performance across the international markets demand can be predicted, goals can be set and informed decisions can be made from the analytical data provided.

Pricing per market

Shopify Markets allows merchants to offer unique pricing per market, this can be via exchange rates, % increase or decrease or entirely custom product pricing per market. This enables merchants to account for international business costs that might occur to expand and run businesses in different locations and also to account for unique going-rates that are different per region.

Product availability per market

Commonly, ecommerce brands may have different product ranges for different regions. This might be due to product availability, or curating ranges that are tailored to a particular region. Shopify Markets makes selling different products per region easy, as you can publish products to only specific markets directly within the Shopify dashboard.

Unique store content per market

Shopify Markets offers the ability to edit one Shopify uniquely per market. Within Shopify's theme editor, you can easily switch between your Shopify Markets and add/hide page sections or change the content of existing ones on a per-market basis. This can be powerful for brands who wish to offer customers a unique on-site experience beyond, language, currency, products and price. This gives brands the flexibility to offer unique experiences to their customers without the need to have completely separate instances of Shopify stores per territory.

Different plans & what’s included.

The features offered on the Shopify Markets platform vary depending on which Shopify plan a merchant is on, with additional features being offered to those on Advanced Shopify and Shopify Plus plans. All merchants on the Shopify platform are able to manage how they sell to each market from one place, and will benefit from the following core features: Selling in 136 currencies, with local payment options with Shopify Payments. Selling in up to 20 languages around the world. Setting up custom domains to optimise for search platforms, and smart settings that optimise market operations.

Those merchants on Advanced Shopify and Shopify Plus plans can also benefit from further features such as: offering estimated duties and taxes. Estimate and collect duty and import taxes at checkout. And manage fulfillment locations per market. These features are especially beneficial for larger enterprises who want to establish or maintain a strong and competitive international presence.

Shopify Markets Pro

Shopify aunched Shopify Markets Pro to help larger business manage the complexities internationalisation brings, allowing merchants who use the platform to sell to 150+ markets more easily than ever before. Customers using Shopify Markets Pro are able to explore their store and make purchases in their own currency, as well as accept payments in their own currency at assured exchange rates. It is the simplest option for Shopify stores to expand globally. Shopify Markets Pro is powered and is in collaboration with Global-E. Unique features of Shopify Markets Pro include:

•Manage your biggest liabilities: Get protection against fraud and chargebacks, access guaranteed foreign exchange currency conversion, and avoid currency fluctuation.
•Allow Shopify to manage compliance; you can relax knowing that tax, duties, and local laws are being taken care of.
•Offer top payment methods, local currency, and eliminate surprise charges at delivery by ensuring that tariffs are collected in advance to give customers a fantastic experience.
•Global operations can be simplified directly from your Shopify admin. Access integrated tools like translations, domains, and much more. You may also access consolidated reporting and personalised recommendations.
•Utilise reduced shipping labels with DHL express to get affordable express shipping labels. Native fulfilment from Shopify or through significant third-party logistical partners

The fact that Shopify Markets Pro can be managed from a single dashboard is its most striking feature. You can specify the target markets that your company will sell to and learn more about how well your international sales are performing. By offering a variety of language choices and changing the prices of your products into the local currencies of each market, you can also create local experiences there.

Benefits of Shopify Markets

On the face of it, Shopify markets allows merchants to enable a new market to sell their products through, reaching more customers and potential sales than they would be able to selling exclusively to domestic customers alone. Merchants can assign a region or regisions to a market, and set unique currencies and languages depending on the market selected, with inventory being tracked globally with Shopify Locations. Let’s dive in a little more detail on some of these benefits of using Shopify Markets.

For international customers, using Shopify Markets makes currency conversions simpler. Approximately 92% of shoppers, according to Shopify, would much prefer to make purchases in their home currency. Shopify Markets makes currency conversion easier by showing prices in the native currency of the market you've selected. In addition to this the use of Shopify Markets makes language translation simpler. Three-quarters of buyers prefer to make purchases in their native tongue, according to Shopify data. Localising your storefront with local languages improves the entire experience for customers, much like using local currencies does. With the help of this functionality, you can improve conversion rates, generate sales, and improve profitability of your online store.

By utilising Shopify Markets, you can benefit from additional payment options. Usually, some payment options are restricted depending on region. For example, credit cards, third-party payment gateways, and other applications can be made available as local payment options. Customers usually prefer paying in a particular way depending on where they are based in the world. For instance, credit cards are preferred by 82% of US consumers. Around 80% of people in Europe choose digital wallets. Particularly in the Netherlands, bank transfers are the most popular way to pay. Using Shopify Markets to offer a wider variety of payment options can help improve conversions around the globe.

Your SEO is improved by using Shopify Markets. One of the most important factors in increasing the visibility of your online store to potential customers is search engine optimisation (SEO). Your SEO ranking for a chosen market can be improved by localising your content. Utilising customised domains specifically helps in raising the SEO positioning of your Shopify store. For example, improving your positioning in the French market by emplying a .ft domain name. These specialised domain names are usually more effective at ranking websites in different countries than their .com or .co.uk counterparts.

You can automatically collect duties and taxes by utilising Shopify Markets. Shopify Markets make it easier to collect taxes and levies. For multinational business owners, this position might become a real headache. Fortunately, Shopiffy Markets handles the details. The fact that this Shopify Market feature informs clients up front about pricing, shipping, and taxes is its strongest feature. You can anticipate an increase in sales conversion and a decrease in cart abandonment rate as a result.

Limitations of Shopify Markets

Of course, there are some limitations to using Shopify Markets. Although these drawbacks are fewer and less significant than the benefits of Shopify Markets, they are worth noting before jumping right into the platform.

Shopify Markets has some exclusive features that cannot be accessed without the Shopify Markets Pro version of the platform. The Shopify Market app and the Pro version are the two major tiers of Shopify Markets. Features such as additional payment methods, more seamless duties processing, prepaid shipping costs, tax and duty compliance, and fraud prevention are only availble through Shopify Markets Pro. While this is a drawback of using standalone Shopify Markets, it is definitely a reason to consider the new and improved Shopify Markets Pro platform. Only Shopify Payments allows customers to pay in their local currency at checkout with the standard Shopify Markets for example, and features such as this could be the difference for a customer to complete the checkout process of their purchase.

Another drawback of using Shopify Markets is that it is currently not fine-tuned to transling Shopify websites into certain dialetics. For example, Chinese (simplified or traditional) or Portuguese (Brazilian or standard). This is worth keeping in mind if merchants are looking to target particular markets.

Finally, Shopify Markets can be quite expensive. Due to currency conversion, there is a 2.00% fee each order (1.5% in the US). In addition to this, when Shopify calculates taxes and tariffs, there is a 0.85% cost each order.

Summary

So there you have it. Shopify Markets is the new global hub for anything and everything international commerce. With globalisatoin accelerating at an exponential rate, growth of businesses are largely depending on getting international commerce right. Shopify Markets offers an all-in-one platform to make international selling easier than ever before. Get your online store started by clicking here and start a free trial today. As always, be sure to get in touch with us if you require assistance getting your online store internatoinal using the new Shopify Markets platform.

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