Shopify Markets vs. Expansion Stores: Choose the Right Strategy for Global E-Commerce

Before the introduction of Shopify Markets (September 2021), the only option for Shopify merchants looking to expand to new markets with locally tailored content was to open an additional Shopify store. With Shopify Markets, adding a new market has become easy. You can quickly get started and easily customize language, content, product selection, etc., and sell in local currency—all managed from the same admin.

It sounds like every e-commerce owner's dream. Yet, many companies still choose expansion stores, meaning separate shops for each market.

Choosing the right solution has significant implications both financially and operationally. But how do you know which solution is right for your business? We'll help you get clearer on that in this post.

Many of DTAILS' clients choose a combination model, where Shopify Markets are used for smaller or new markets, while expansion stores are used for larger markets or markets with a specific focus.

If you're already thinking, "Oh no... all that extra administrative work with expansion stores... I can't handle it," you're not alone. And precisely for that reason, we've developed an app that can automatically synchronize products and content across multiple shops. Want to know more about this app? Click here to learn more about the #SupremeSyncer app.

What is Shopify Markets?

Shopify Markets is a central part of Shopify's strategy to make global e-commerce the standard. As Shopify's focus on B2B and retail increases, their "global by default" tagline for Shopify Markets has been replaced with "A unified home for business expansion." You have access to Shopify Markets regardless of the Shopify plan you've chosen.

Via your Shopify admin, you can add a new market and immediately start customizing the content. You can read exactly how to add a new market in this guide: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/international/managing

When you create a market in Shopify Markets, Shopify ensures that the technical SEO is taken care of. You won't need to worry about duplicate content on Google or missing hreflang HTML tags.

Shopify Markets: Opportunities and Constraints

The launch of Shopify Markets was followed by an impressive roadmap of upcoming features, and Shopify has so far kept their promises. New updates are continually added, and at DTAILS, we keep a close eye on the developments. Even if you opt for expansion stores, you should still keep an eye on Shopify Markets, just as when you evaluate anything else in your business.

If it's your first time expanding to one or more new markets, then Shopify Markets is a great choice. The setup is lightning fast, and you get almost everything you need. You can test a new market before investing further.

With Shopify Markets, you can:

• Differentiate product selections per market
• Automatically convert prices to all currencies
• Upload fixed prices per currency
• Add multiple languages
• Differentiate content per market – e.g., images, pages, sections, etc.
• Manage all markets from one webshop
• Associate multiple domains, subdomains, and folder structures

As easy as it is for you to add a new market through admin, just as elegantly is the user journey for your customer on your shop.

What does Shopify Markets cost?

The cost for Shopify Markets varies depending on your chosen Shopify plan:

• Basic: 24 USD per month, includes 3 markets.
• Shopify: 69 USD per month, includes 3 markets.
• Advanced: 299 USD per month, includes 3 markets, with an additional cost of 59 USD per month for each additional active market.
• Plus: 2,300 USD per month and includes 50 markets at no extra cost.

Check the latest prices here, and be aware that there are additional charges for currency conversion and transactions. The percentage depends on the payment provider and Shopify plan you have chosen.

Selling internationally can vary greatly from shop to shop. Depending on how your business is structured, there may be limitations with Shopify Markets that make it necessary to choose separate shops. Let's take a closer look at the main limitations of Shopify Markets.

Shopify Markets Limitations

1. Shopify Markets require Shopify Payments to be activated

If you want to use Shopify Markets, Shopify Payments must be activated in your shop. However, you may still use third-party payment providers. This is necessary if you, for example, want to offer MobilePay to your Danish customers.

The benefits of Shopify Payments include high stability, in-line payment (when you check out, you do not leave the checkout window), full integration into Shopify admin, full transparency of costs, and traceability of all payments.

However, Shopify Payments is not the market's cheapest payment solution, and not all local payment methods are supported. Shopify Payments also gives you only 7 days to capture payment for an order. This can create challenges for, for example, pre-orders or backorders.

With a third-party payment provider, you can offer more local payment methods in different markets and extend the period in which you can capture payment for an order.

Note that it is not possible to hide Shopify Payments at checkout, but you can rename it and rearrange payment methods so that, for example, Danish customers encounter MobilePay as their first choice.

Shopify Markets makes it possible to display prices in local currency—but there is an important limitation:

Payment will always be processed in your shop's base currency, regardless of which currency the customer sees at checkout.

Example: If your base currency is set to EUR and you offer MobilePay to Danish customers, the price at checkout will be shown in DKK—but the amount will be processed in EUR. This applies to both Shopify Payments and third-party payment providers. If your base currency, on the other hand, is set to DKK, the amount will be shown and processed in DKK.

If you have many customers in the UK and want these customers to be able to pay with Klarna, your base currency needs to be GBP. Your base currency is therefore important. It can affect whether a market needs its own separate shop.

Note also: There are countries and regions where Shopify Payments cannot be used—and then Shopify Markets will also not work.

2. Discounts and promotions are for everyone (or no one)

When you use Shopify Markets, discounts and promotions apply to all markets. It is not possible to create a discount code that only applies to Denmark. So if you want to run a Mother's Day campaign in Denmark but not in Germany and Sweden, it is currently not possible with Shopify Markets.

3. Price management must be handled via upload

Shopify Markets supports the upload of prices in all currencies. However, it is only your default currency that you can edit via Shopify admin (and thereby also bulk editing). If you want to set fixed prices in specific currencies, you need to upload the prices manually or use an app. This also applies when you want to reduce prices temporarily and need to show before/after prices.

You can choose to let Shopify Markets use automated currency conversion, making it easy for customers from different countries to shop in their local currency.

4. Not all apps support Shopify Markets

If you use apps as an important part of your shop, you should check whether they are compatible with Shopify Markets. Although Shopify Markets has existed for some years, not all apps support this expansion.

5. Regional teams and highly differentiated content increase complexity

If you want the content in two or more markets to be very different and you even have a team responsible for a given market, then Shopify Markets is not the right choice. Only one person can work in the theme at a time. If multiple people edit the theme simultaneously, changes will overwrite each other. This also applies when using Shopify Markets.

Although much can be differentiated, it quickly becomes complex and overwhelming if there must be significant differences in your markets.

6. Only one legal entity is possible

If you, for legal reasons, have established a US company and wish to conduct B2C sales in the USA with delivery from a local US warehouse, you need to be able to receive payment in the US company. It is not possible to have different legal entities linked to your payment gateways on a single Shopify store.

 

When Shopify Markets is not sufficient

Overall, Shopify Markets is a great opportunity for a larger company to quickly test a new market, and for smaller businesses, Shopify Markets may be good enough for now and maybe forever.

But if your company is serious about selling to international markets, separate shops provide more possibilities, as each shop can be set up exactly as it makes the most sense for your business.

Separate Shops: Challenges and Considerations

We'll skip the opportunities for now, as with shop number 2 and additional shops, you naturally get everything that you are already familiar with from shop number 1. But with more shops come a range of challenges and considerations that can impact your business strategy and cost structure.

• Increased cost for apps and tech stack: When you expand with more shops, you will likely need to pay for more licenses for the apps you already use, such as your Email Marketing platform, ERP systems, or PIM integrations. It may be worth considering whether your suppliers offer discounts for use in multiple shops.
• Bank accounts for new currencies: If you operate in different regions, it may be necessary to set up separate bank accounts to receive payouts in local currencies. This can also require additional administration and accounting.
• Increased time consumption for maintenance: Each additional shop requires its own maintenance, including updates, troubleshooting, and administration. Therefore, it can be advantageous to automate as many processes as possible.

Synchronization of Product Data

The biggest challenge with a multi-shop setup is synchronizing data between them. Most businesses have the same product assortment across markets and need a full copy of product data (and collections) in each shop.

Historically, larger clients have opted to store their data in a PIM system (Product Information Management), which increases complexity and costs. With a PIM system, you can centralize and standardize your product data, making it easier to manage and update information across multiple shops.

Synchronization of Content

If the content on your shops should be mostly identical, and the primary difference is the language and prices/currency, it's time-consuming to maintain and, importantly, ensure consistency.

As mentioned earlier, synchronization can be handled with the help of the DTAILS #SupremeSyncer app, which automates the process and allows you to maintain uniform content across all your shops.

A Future-Proof Setup with the Best of Shopify Markets and Expansion Stores

Few are not enamored with the simple administration of Shopify Markets. Maintaining everything in one place is absolutely optimal for many businesses.

Therefore, at DTAILS, we often recommend a hybrid solution where you get the best of both worlds: Easy maintenance in one admin and all the possibilities that only an independent shop offers. A hybrid solution utilizes the #SupremeSyncer app, allowing us to select a primary shop—a master shop where all data resides. On this master shop, all translations are added, and only the relevant language and content are synchronized to a defined secondary shop. If a new market needs to be tested, it can quickly be added before it potentially moves on to its dedicated shop.

In this way, you get a future-proof setup so that the day Shopify Markets is ready to handle one or more (maybe all) of your markets, we can easily change the configuration.

Depending on what your other IT landscape looks like, we can adjust what is managed in your master shop. Call or write if you want to know more.

If you need to quickly launch your new markets, we can help translate your current shop. With our AI translator app, it goes quickly.