A Simple Guide to International Ecommerce with Shopify (2025)

We live in a global economy, where shipping something from your favorite brand in the UK to Australia is a completely accessible reality for the average consumer. It’s an interesting and exciting time for commerce, for both shoppers and businesses that are expanding their reach.

If you’re running an online store, there’s never been a better time to sell internationally with Shopify. Customers aren’t just in your country—they’re everywhere, and you can reach them online, through your Shopify online store. According to Shopify’s latest survey on online traffic, around 30% of online store visitors come from across borders, and with the right setup, those browsers can become loyal global buyers—and Shopify makes the task of reaching and acquiring international customers easy.

Did you know 59% of global shoppers buy from retailers outside their home country — and 35% do so at least once a month? It's a telling statistic— international ecommerce is the norm for the average consumer.

In this guide, we walk you through international ecommerce with Shopify in a simplified, uncomplicated way. A step-by-step path to taking your brand global.

Ready to take your brand global? Partner with The Experts. Ecommerce Pro, trusted Shopify Partners, can set up and optimize your store for international growth.

Start your cross-border journey. Contact Ecommerce Pro today. 

What is International Ecommerce with Shopify?

To be concise, international ecommerce with Shopify is the process of using your Shopify store to sell and deliver products to customers across borders. Instead of being limited to just one country, you can open your storefront to most of the world or a specific region of your choosing.

Shopify facilitates international ecommerce, enabling its merchants to:

• Show prices in local currencies so shoppers instantly understand the cost in their local currency.
• Offering international payment methods like credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, or even region-specific gateways minimizes friction and hesitation at checkout.
• Shipping orders worldwide, either directly from your home country or through fulfillment partners and warehouses you may have across different regions.
• Localizing your storefront for different regions with translated product pages, custom domains, and relevant content.

Now the question is, is it easy to sell internationally with Shopify? Yes—what makes Shopify stand out is how much of this is built right into the platform and how accessible features are to the average user. You don’t need to be a developer to manage an international business; Shopify allows you to easily:

• Enable multi-currency checkout with Shopify Payments.
• Add translations and local languages with Shopify apps.
• Use Shopify Managed Markets to handle duties, taxes, and compliance automatically.
• Manage everything in one dashboard, instead of juggling multiple storefronts.

International ecommerce with Shopify means reaching shoppers worldwide without making your business operations overwhelming. It’s scalable for small businesses, but also powerful enough for brands selling in dozens of countries.

Why sell internationally with Shopify?

Expanding globally might sound like something only giant corporations can do, but that’s really no longer the case, thanks to ecommerce platforms like Shopify that continue to push the envelope. With Shopify, businesses of all sizes are selling to customers across borders, and the tools to do it are already built into the platform. If you like the idea of being on the cutting edge of ecommerce trends and technology, Shopify consistently delivers.

When you sell internationally with Shopify, you’re joining one of the world’s biggest ecommerce platforms. Shopify currently powers 5.54 million active stores around the globe, across 175 different countries. In North America, Shopify is the #1 ecommerce platform by market share, powering nearly 1 in 3 online stores. If you’re selling on Shopify, you’re already on the same platform trusted by leading brands that sell internationally.

Now here’s exactly why taking your store international with Shopify is worth it:

• Reach more customers: Your potential audience isn’t just in your home country. By opening up your store to global buyers, you can instantly connect with millions of new shoppers who may already be looking for what you sell.
• More stable sales: Markets rise and fall. If sales slow down in one region, international customers can help balance things out. This makes your revenue less dependent on a single economy or season.
• Built-in features: Shopify is designed for global selling. From multi-currency checkout and translations to international domains, taxes, and shipping integrations, the heavy lifting is already done for you.
• One dashboard: You don’t need separate platforms or websites to reach new countries. Everything — from orders and payments to shipping and marketing — is managed from the same Shopify admin you already use.

Challenges of International Ecommerce & how Shopify Solves Them

Going global comes with hurdles, and you’re probably thinking about them and hesitating on whether you should go global at all because of said challenges— but Shopify has built-in solutions that take the complexity out of the process:

• Complex shipping rules: Duties, tariffs, and customs paperwork are simplified with Shopify Managed Markets, which automates calculations, so customers see the right costs upfront and packages clear customs smoothly.
• Currency conversion: Dealing with multiple exchange rates is tricky. Shopify Payments auto-converts prices into local currencies and even lets you refund in the customer’s local currency.
• Language barriers → A localized store builds trust, but translating manually is slow. Shopify’s Translate & Adapt app translates your store into 20 languages and automatically sets the right version for each visitor. There are also third-party apps with more extensive language translations.
• Compliance issues → From GDPR in Europe to cookie laws worldwide, Shopify includes built-in tools for cookie banners, data requests, and compliance, so you don’t need third-party add-ons.

Shopify makes international ecommerce more approachable, even for small brands taking their first steps into global markets.

More From the Blog: Black Friday Ecommerce Trends 2025

How to sell internationally with Shopify: Step-by-step

Selling internationally does sound overwhelming at first, but Shopify breaks it down into manageable steps. With the right setup, you can open your store to new markets without needing a separate website for each country. Here’s a simple roadmap to help you sell internationally with Shopify and start reaching global customers.

1. Pick your first market

One of the biggest mistakes new sellers make is trying to “go global” overnight. The truth is, expanding internationally doesn’t mean that you need to sell everywhere all at once — and you shouldn’t, because that’s overwhelming.

Instead, start small by focusing on one or two international markets where success is most likely. Many successful brands tend to expand slowly, adding regions over time.

So, what is the best way to decide which region to expand to next? Use Shopify Analytics. Under Reports → Sessions by Location, you can see which countries are already showing interest in your store. If you notice consistent traffic from a particular region, that’s a strong indication that shoppers there are interested in your products.

For instance, if your store is based in the U.S. and you’re already seeing meaningful traffic from Canada or the UK, those are natural first steps. These countries share a language, have similar buying habits, and are logistically easier to reach compared to launching in, say, Asia right away.

You can also think about:

• Language & culture: Is it easy to adapt your marketing and website for that region?
• Shipping distance: Can you deliver there quickly and affordably?
• Market demand: Is there a proven interest in your type of product?

By narrowing down to one market first, you make the learning curve much more manageable. Once you’ve proven your process in that country, you’ll have the confidence (and data) to expand further.

Note: Leverage social media marketing and content marketing to reach markets across borders. This will help you stir interest in your brand for people across different nations.

2. Localize payments and currency

One of the fastest ways to lose an international customer is by showing them prices in a currency they don’t recognize. Imagine being a US shopper, clicking on a product they want, only to see English Pound prices — most shoppers will bounce rather than figure out the conversion and charge themselves. That’s why localizing payments is an absolute essential.

With Shopify Payments, you can:

• Display prices in 130+ currencies so every shopper sees a familiar format.
• Accept payments in their local currency (whether it’s USD, EUR, GBP, or JPY).
• Refund in their currency, avoiding confusion if a customer needs to return an order.

To make the experience seamless, install Shopify’s Geolocation app. This automatically detects where a shopper is located and adjusts both the language and currency on your storefront. Customers don’t need to click around — they simply land on your site and feel right at home.

It's not just about convenience; it's also pure consumer psychology. Shoppers want to feel like the brand their shopping with feels local—this builds trust. Leads to higher conversions, fewer abandoned carts, and stronger global sales. It’s a small setup with a huge impact on international.

3. Manage taxes and duties upfront

One of the biggest pain points in international ecommerce with Shopify is unexpected costs. Nobody likes surprise tax bills at the door — and nothing ruins a customer’s excitement faster than having to pay unexpected duties just to receive their package. They saw a price and they expect to pay just that.

Here’s how Shopify helps smooth that out:

• Show prices with or without taxes depending on the region (for example, in North America, taxes are usually added at checkout, while in Europe, note that VAT is included in the listed price).
• Collect import duties upfront at checkout so your customers know exactly what they’re paying — no pesky hidden costs to add friction to the buying experience.
• Use Shopify Managed Markets to automatically handle customs paperwork, duties, and compliance in over 150 countries.

By being transparent about taxes and duties, you remove friction from the buying process and increase trust with international shoppers. Plus, when customers know the “real” total cost before clicking Buy, they’re much more likely to complete checkout.

Selling globally has its complexities, but this step makes things seamless — letting you sell internationally with Shopify without getting hung up on red tape.

4. Shipping internationally

Here’s the big one: “How do I set up international shipping on Shopify?”

Shipping is often the make-or-break moment in international ecommerce. The good news is that setting up international shipping on Shopify is simpler than you might initially expect.

Here’s what you can do right from your Shopify admin:

• Create shipping zones for different regions, so you can customize rates and delivery options per country.
• Offer flexible shipping choices like flat-rate, free shipping, or calculated shipping at checkout.
• Connect with global carriers such as DHL, UPS, and FedEx using Shopify’s built-in integrations.

If you want to go a step further, Shopify’s Managed Markets makes cross-border shipping even easier. It automatically handles duties, tariffs, and customs forms so your packages clear borders faster and with fewer headaches.

Ecommerce Pro tip: Always be upfront about shipping times and costs. Customers value transparency, and being clear about delivery expectations builds trust and reduces abandoned carts. When you can, offer free shipping. It’s a service many consumers have learned to expect.

5. Localize your storefront

When someone shops your store from across the world, you want them to feel like they’ve landed on a local website — not a foreign one. That’s the power of localization. A localized storefront builds trust, increases conversions, and makes your brand feel, in a sense, “homegrown” in every market you enter.

Shopify makes this simple with built-in tools:

• International domains (like yourstore.ca for Canada or yourstore.it for Italy)that reassure customers they’re shopping locally.
• Shopify has vast language support and can translate into 20 languages using Shopify’s free Translate & Adapt app or by using a compatible third-party app. With a third-party app, you have access to more options.

A great example is Gymshark, a global fitness brand powered by Shopify. They use different storefronts for the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and beyond — each with localized pricing, language, and content. This is international ecommerce with Shopify at its best: one platform powering many markets, all while keeping the shopping experience consistent.

6. Market to global shoppers

Reaching international buyers isn’t just about opening your store worldwide — it’s about speaking their language, culture, and shopping habits. When you sell internationally with Shopify, your ads, social media, and promotions should feel local, not copy-pasted from your home market. Brands need to adopt language and even cultural nuances.

Shopify gives you a few powerful ways to do this:

• Shopify Collabs – Partner with influencers and creators in each market, send free samples, and track affiliate sales directly inside Shopify.
• Localized campaigns – Tailor your messaging to local holidays, shopping events, or cultural references (for example, Singles’ Day in Asia or Boxing Day in the UK).
• Discounts and promotions – Use Shopify’s built-in
  

The result? Higher trust and conversion rates. After all, international ecommerce with Shopify isn’t just about selling — it’s about building meaningful connections with your new audience.

More from the Blog: 5 Best Shopify 2.0 Themes

Ready to go global?

Expanding into international ecommerce with Shopify doesn’t have to feel complicated or reserved for enterprise-level brands. Shopify gives you everything you need in one platform—currency conversions, localized storefronts, global shipping, and tax tools—so you can start small and grow at your own pace.

If you want to start small so you can get your bearings, focus on one market at a time and use Shopify’s built-in features to your advantage, and see how seamless it can be to sell internationally with Shopify. With the right setup, your store can reach new audiences, build loyal customers across borders, and scale into a truly global brand—without adding overwhelming complexity into the mix.

Need expert help setting up your store for global success?

Ecommerce Pro is a certified Shopify Partner and expert team that specializes in international store setups, custom solutions, and ongoing support. Make your brand international. Contact Ecommerce Pro today.

International Ecommerce FAQs

1. Can I sell internationally with Shopify if I’m just starting out?
Yes! One of Shopify’s strengths is that you don’t need to be a big brand to go global. Even small stores can sell internationally with Shopify by starting with one market, enabling multi-currency checkout, and using Shopify’s translation and shipping tools.

2. Can I sell internationally with Shopify if I’m just starting out?
Yes! One of Shopify’s strengths is that you don’t need to be a big brand to go global. Even small stores can sell internationally with Shopify by starting with one market, enabling multi-currency checkout, and using Shopify’s translation and shipping tools.

3. How does Shopify handle taxes and duties for international orders?
Shopify can calculate taxes automatically based on your customers’ location. With Shopify Managed Markets, duties and import fees are shown at checkout, so customers aren’t hit with surprise costs at delivery.

4. What’s the best way to market to international customers on Shopify?
Localized marketing works best. Use Shopify Collabs to partner with influencers in each region, adapt your campaigns to local holidays or events, and run country-specific discounts with Shopify’s built-in tools. The more your store feels tuned into what is local, the higher your conversions will be.