Shopify Markets: How to Sell Internationally From One Store (2026)

Selling to another country used to mean opening another store. With Shopify Markets, one store can show local currencies, prices, languages and domains to shoppers in each country you sell to. This guide explains what Markets does, what it costs, when Managed Markets or a separate expansion store is the better choice, and what US and Australian brands need to know.

The short answer: Shopify Markets is built into Shopify and lets one store sell in several countries, each with its own currency, prices, products, language and domain. You stay responsible for international taxes and duties, unless you use Managed Markets, where Global-e acts as merchant of record for a fee of 3.5% per order (3.25% on Plus). Managed Markets is currently for businesses based in the US, and some in Canada and the UK, so Australian brands use Markets on its own or a separate expansion store on Shopify Plus.

What a market is

A market is a group of customers you define, such as a country, a group of countries or a set of wholesale buyers. Each market has its own settings (Shopify Help Center):

You can set per market	What it means
Currency	Prices shown in the local currency, with automatic exchange rates
Catalog	Which products are available, and at what price
Domains and subfolders	For example example.com/en-au or example.com.au
Languages	Translated store content for that market
Theme customizations	Different content or layout for that market
Duties and taxes	Tax-inclusive pricing and duty collection at checkout
Business entities	Selling through a local company in another region (Shopify Plus only)

Shoppers who don't match any market see your home country's store. Markets can also be set up for B2B customers and retail locations, not just countries.

What it costs

Markets itself comes with your Shopify plan. The fees come from currency conversion and, optionally, from Managed Markets or Shopify's duty collection (Shopify international pricing):

Fee	Rate
Currency conversion	1.5% per transaction, included in the buyer's price
Managed Markets	3.5% per transaction (3.25% on Shopify Plus)
Duties and import tax with Managed Markets	No extra fee
Duties and import tax collection without Managed Markets	Optional add-on, charged per transaction

Payment processing is charged as usual on top.

Markets, Managed Markets or an expansion store?

	Shopify Markets	Managed Markets	Expansion store (Shopify Plus)
What it is	One store, settings per country	Markets with Global-e as merchant of record	A separate store for a country, brand or wholesale
Who handles foreign tax registration and compliance	You	Global-e	You
Extra fee	Currency conversion	3.5% per order (3.25% on Plus)	A Shopify Plus plan; each live store needs its own theme license
Who can use it	Every plan	Businesses based in the US, and some in Canada and the UK	Shopify Plus (up to 9 expansion stores)
Best for	Most brands starting international sales	US brands that want taxes and duties handled for them	Very different catalogs, prices, teams or legal entities per country

Managed Markets also requires Shopify Payments and an online store. Global-e handles tax registration and payment abroad, duties and customs paperwork, local payment methods, and address checks. You can't use it together with the separate Global-e app, and its merchant-of-record notice at checkout can't be hidden (Shopify Help Center).

For US brands selling abroad

• Start with Markets in your biggest overseas countries, often Canada, the UK and Australia.
• Consider Managed Markets if you don't want to register for taxes in each country. Compare the 3.5% fee with the cost of registering and filing taxes yourself in each country.
• Show duties at checkout so customers aren't surprised by charges on delivery, which is a common reason for refused parcels and chargebacks.

For Australian brands selling abroad

• Managed Markets isn't available to Australian-based businesses at the time of writing, so plan taxes and duties yourself or with your accountant.
• New Zealand first: many Australian brands start with a New Zealand market showing NZD prices.
• For the US or UK, check each country's tax rules for overseas sellers before launch.
• An expansion store on Shopify Plus suits brands that want a fully separate New Zealand, US or wholesale store. See Shopify Plus in Australia.

SEO for international stores

• Use subfolders or local domains per market, so each country has its own URLs Google can index.
• Shopify adds hreflang tags for your market URLs, telling Google which version to show in each country.
• Translate properly. Machine translation is a start, but review key pages, titles and product names by hand.
• Avoid forced redirects by IP address. Let shoppers switch country, and let Google crawl every version.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shopify Markets free? Markets comes with your Shopify plan. Currency conversion carries a 1.5% fee, and Managed Markets costs 3.5% per order (3.25% on Plus).

What's the difference between Markets and Managed Markets? With Markets, you handle international taxes, duties and compliance yourself. With Managed Markets, Global-e acts as merchant of record and handles them for you, for a per-order fee.

Can Australian businesses use Managed Markets? Not at the time of writing. Shopify lists eligibility for businesses based in the US, and some in Canada and the UK.

Do I need Shopify Plus to sell internationally? No. Markets works on every plan. Plus adds expansion stores and selling through business entities in other regions.

Should I use one store or separate stores for each country? Most brands should start with one store and Markets. Separate expansion stores make sense when catalogs, pricing, teams or legal entities are very different.

Does Shopify Markets help international SEO? Yes. Separate subfolders or domains per market, with hreflang tags, help Google show the right version in each country.

Planning to sell abroad?

We set up Shopify Markets, Managed Markets and expansion stores for US and Australian brands. See our Shopify Plus agency services, our Shopify Plus agency for Australia, or book a free consultation.