International Sales using Shopify Markets have Been Made Simple!

In today’s connected world, there are no reasons why you should limit yourself to a domestic audience. There’s literally a world out there waiting for your Shopify store. That said, while the product remains the same, the way you sell your product domestically and internationally may differ. For starters, not all countries speak English fluently and you need to speak to your audience in the language they understand. Sounds complicated? Don’t worry – All you need is Shopify Markets.

Shopify Markets allows eCommerce merchants to promote and sell their products internationally without worrying about translating descriptions, currency conversions, duty and import, etc. You can take your products to new markets and tailor experiences for each country. Now let’s take a look at how Shopify makes international selling easier.

Customized domains

You can localize your store with international domains. International customers can be automatically redirected to domains for their country. If a customer visits a domain that doesn’t match their location, Shopify will automatically redirect them to the correct domain.

For example, Your French customers can see products on yourstore.com/fr while the German customers are redirected to yourstore.com/de. You could also choose to create a subdomain such as fr.yourstore.com.

This doesn’t mean you’re managing multiple stores – your backend store remains common to all. Having a country-specific domain also gives you an edge when it comes to SEO ranking and thus makes your brand more visible to international customers. International domains are available on the Shopify Basic plan and all other higher plans.

Language support.

40% of eCommerce customers will leave a site and their cart if the website’s content is in a language they don’t understand. Neither do you have the time to create content in multiple languages and nor do your customers have the time to find translations.

Shopify Markets takes this over and can translate all the content on your website into 20 languages. The Shopify admin can create individual URLs for translated content. When a customer lands on these pages, the store automatically shows their content in a language they understand. For example, yourstore.com/fr will show content in French while yourstore.com/de will show content in German.

All free Shopify themes are compatible with being translated. Choosing the language is easy. You can either use the theme’s language selector or the Shopify Geolocation app. This automatically recognizes your customer’s location and presents suitable language options.

If you’re using a third-party theme, you may need to check the compatibility. In this case, you may need a third-party translation app or import translations with CSV files.

Currency conversion

A recent survey showed that 76% of eCommerce customers prefer making payments in their local currency. Showing prices in local currency removes any conversion-related ambiguity and makes them more confident about their purchase.

With Shopify Markets, you can now price your products in 133 currencies. By default, prices are converted using the current market exchange rate. If you’re selling to customers in multiple countries, your customers can use a country selector to see prices and pay for products in their own currency. With Shopify Payments, the payment is processed in the customer’s local currency.

Shopify not only takes care of the conversion but also ensures that your pricing complies with local rules about rounding purchases. This extends beyond the product page to the checkout process and refunds pages as well.

Tax compliance

Every country has its own tax regulations. Some charge a sales tax while others use more complicated value-added tax (VAT) calculations. It could be a flat amount or a variable percentage based on the type of product. And then, there are certain product categories that are exempt from taxation. When you’re selling internationally, you also need to keep import taxes and customs duties in mind. For international sales, you also need to consider the brokerage and disbursement fees levied by carriers as well as shipping, handling and insurance costs.

Shopify Markets automates all tax calculations. Once you select the country, it will add relevant taxes and can even set the shipping rate accordingly. Your customer will see these charges on the checkout page when they are paying for their purchase. Thus, transactions are kept clean and complete and customers do not have to worry about paying additional import taxes and duties when they receive their shipment.

Multiple payment methods

46% of customers from Ireland and the UK prefer making payments via digital wallets while 45% of French customers prefer paying through their Visa or Mastercard.

To further ease the customer’s purchase process, Shopify Markets expands the available payment methods to include a payment mode that is popular in their country. For example, Belgian customers can make payments through Bancontact while a customer in the Netherlands can pay through iDeal as long as the Shopify store uses Shopify Payments as the primary gateway.

Accurate Inventory

As your business grows, you may feel the need to warehouse inventory in different countries. With a regular Shopify store, inventory levels are not shown on product pages but with Shopify Markets, inventory levels as per what is available in the region can be seen by the customer.

For example, you may store 5 units of a product in the USA and 3 units in Germany. With Shopify Markets, your customers can see what’s available in their country.  So, a customer in Germany knows they can’t order more than 3 units. However, if they change the shipping location to the USA, they can buy 5 units.

In Conclusion

Taking your business to an international market is easy with Shopify Markets. It’s not just about beautiful presentation but it lets you give customers a pleasant experience no matter where they are. When you talk to a customer in a language they understand, show them prices in their currency and let them choose a payment mode they are comfortable with, you’ll see them build trust in your brand. This can set you apart from the competition and push your business towards success.

FAQ

• Are Shopify markets available in all Shopify plans?

Yes, it is available in all Shopify plans. But features vary according to your plan. The common feature included in all plans are,

1. Can manage selling from one market to another
2. You can sell in 130+ currencies with Shopify payments
3. Local payment options are available
4. You can sell in up to 20+ languages, and more

For Advanced Shopify and Shopify Plus plans additional features like,

1. Calculate and collects duty and import taxes at the point of sale.
2. With Shopify Payments, you can create different pricing for each market.
3. Catalogues and storefronts can be tailored to each market.
4. Manage each market's fulfilment sites.

• How do I enable more locales in my Shopify store?

1. Go to Settings in your Shopify admin. Then select Languages.
2. Click Add Language under the Translated Languages section.
3. Click Add after selecting a language from the drop-down menu.
4. To add a translation app to your Shopify store, go to the Shopify App Store and follow the procedures.
5. To translate your online store's content and publish new languages, follow the procedures in the app.
6. To see different languages in your online store, click Preview. Both published and unpublished languages are available for preview.

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