International Sales Tools for Global Expansion (2026)

International sales tools help businesses sell online to customers in other countries. They let you adapt your store to local buying preferences and manage orders across borders.

With international ecommerce, reaching shoppers abroad is only part of the job. Customers need to understand your products, see what they’ll pay, and know when their order will arrive. For retail brands, each new market adds decisions about pricing and delivery, along with the work of keeping store content accurate.

Shopify Markets lets you manage international markets from a single store. This guide explains which capabilities to look for and how to use Shopify’s tools to localize your store and manage cross-border sales.

What to look for in international sales tools

International sales tools are software features that help businesses sell and fulfill orders across national borders. They let businesses adjust the shopping experience for visitors in different countries. For example, you could localize product page language and checkout currency for each market in which you sell. These tools can be built into an ecommerce platform or added through apps.

In DHL’s 2026 survey of 29,000 online shoppers across 29 countries, the top reason for buying internationally was lower prices, identified by 60% of respondents. Shoppers also sought products or brands unavailable at home (44%) and better product quality (32%).

Evaluate international sales tools against the experience you want to offer. Consider:

• Local currencies and pricing: Display prices and accept payments in the customer’s currency. Look for exchange rate settings and custom pricing so you can account for costs in each market.
• Translation and regional content: Translate product pages and checkout, then edit wording for each audience. For example, use local size terminology to make clothing descriptions easier to understand.
• Local payment methods: Offer payment options used in your target countries. Check availability for both your business location and the customer’s country before activating a payment method.
• International domains and search engine optimization (SEO): Assign dedicated URLs to different markets. Look for automatic hreflang tags, which help search engines identify the intended language and region for each page.
• Duties and import taxes: Calculate and collect applicable charges at checkout. Confirm that your shipping service can deliver with duties prepaid so customers receive orders with those charges already settled.
• Shipping and returns: Compare international shipping options for each destination and show delivery estimates. Customers also need clear return instructions, including who pays for return shipping.
• Market controls and reporting: Manage which products you sell in each country and review sales by location. Use those results to decide where to invest next.

Check plan eligibility and fees before committing. Account for subscription costs and any transaction or currency conversion charges when comparing providers.

Localize your store for international customers

Shopify Markets lets you tailor your store to customers in different countries. Shoppers can browse in their preferred language and pay in their local currency. You can also adjust product content and checkout options for each market from your Shopify admin.

Sell in local currencies

In a 2025 survey, 45% of online shoppers said prices shown in their local currency would encourage them to buy from a foreign store.

Combined with Shopify Payments, Markets lets customers browse, pay, and receive refunds in their local currency. You can convert prices automatically using current exchange rates or set exchange rates manually for more predictable pricing. Rounding rules keep converted prices consistent with the price endings you use in each market.

Translate your store in multiple languages

A multilingual store lets customers read product information and complete checkout in their preferred language.

Shopify’s Translate & Adapt app automatically translates your store into up to two languages for free. Its side-by-side editor lets you review the wording against your original copy. You can also manually add further translations.

Once you publish a language, translated content appears at checkout. Order emails use the customer’s checkout language when translations are available. Review essential information, such as your return policy, before publishing.

Adapt store content by market

With Translate & Adapt, adjust content for markets that share a language. Change wording to reflect local usage or adapt promotional copy to the season shoppers are in.

Japanese lifestyle brand Her lip to uses Translate & Adapt to localize their content. Through Shopify’s other international sales tools, the brand also adjusts product selections for local seasons and import restrictions. 

The brand customizes their storefront theme by country, giving shoppers a localized store experience.

Customize your store's domain for each market

Give each market its own URL so shoppers and search engines can find the appropriate version of your store. For example, your main store can use example.com, with example.com/en-ca for English-speaking Canadian customers. Shopify also lets you use subdomains or separate country domains.

An international SEO strategy helps search engines match each page to shoppers by country and language. Shopify automatically adds hreflang tags based on your market and language settings. These tags identify the intended audience for each version of a page.

Use Shopify’s automatic redirection settings to display the storefront that matches a visitor’s location or browser language. Add country and language selectors so customers can change their preferences.

For EU visitors browsing an EU country domain, Shopify doesn’t automatically redirect them to another market. A third-party app can offer a country recommendation that the shopper accepts.

Offer local payment methods

Customers need payment options they recognize. Among US shoppers who abandoned a cart for reasons beyond simply browsing, 9% cited too few payment methods as a reason for leaving.

With Shopify Payments, you can activate local payment methods for eligible markets. For example, Bancontact gives Belgian customers a familiar way to pay. Check each method’s eligibility rules for your business location and the customer’s country and currency.

SilkSilky uses Shopify checkout customization to prioritize frequently used payment methods. Adjusting their display order lets the brand tailor checkout to payment preferences in different markets.

Collect duties and import taxes up front

Showing duties and taxes up front was identified as the leading incentive to order more from abroad in Sendcloud’s 2026 survey. The study covered 8,000 consumers across eight European markets, and 20.24% selected this option.

Shopify lets you calculate and collect duties and import taxes at checkout. Add accurate Harmonized System (HS) codes and country-of-origin details to your products. Use a carrier that offers delivered duty paid (DDP) shipping so the charges collected at checkout cover customs payments.

Shopify charges a transaction fee for calculating these amounts. Checkout estimates depend on the accuracy of your product information.

For US-bound orders, the duty-free de minimis exemption was suspended globally on August 29, 2025, and the suspension was continued in 2026. Commercial shipments no longer qualify for this duty-free treatment because their value is at or below the former $800 threshold.

Manage international operations with Shopify Markets

Shopify Markets brings your international settings into one place. You can use it to select new markets, group countries, control pricing and product availability, and route orders across fulfillment locations.

Optimize new markets quickly

Use Shopify Analytics’ Sessions by location report to identify countries already sending visitors to your store. Compare that traffic with existing orders and shipping costs to assess where to expand. 

Use those results to develop an international ecommerce strategy for the markets showing demand. Then create a draft market, review its inherited settings, and configure shipping rates before activating it.

Configure your own market areas

Group countries into one market when they share a selling strategy. Create individual markets for countries that need different settings.

For example, manage several European countries together, then create a separate market for a country that needs different pricing. This lets you organize markets around how you sell.

Set custom pricing by market

Use market catalogs to apply a percentage increase or decrease across products, or set fixed prices for individual items. Fixed prices override the catalog’s percentage adjustment.

For example, increase prices in a market where delivery costs more to protect your margin on each order.

Customize product publishing by market

Control which products shoppers see through catalogs assigned to each market. For example, exclude an item you aren’t licensed to sell in a particular country.

These settings also apply to your online store’s search results, so shoppers see products available in their market.

Define order-routing rules by market

For stores with at least two active fulfillment locations, Shopify’s order-routing rules determine where orders are fulfilled. The default rules run in this order:

• Minimize split fulfillments: Prioritize locations that can fulfill the order in fewer packages.
• Stay within the destination market: Favor locations in the same market as the shipping address.
• Ship from the closest location: Prioritize the nearest location among those ranked equally by earlier rules.

As order volume grows, an international warehouse can reduce shipping costs and transit times by storing inventory closer to customers.

Rearrange these rules under Settings > Shipping and delivery > Order routing. Their sequence determines which locations take priority.

Shopify Markets vs. Managed Markets: Which do you need?

Shopify Markets gives you tools to manage international sales yourself. Managed Markets adds services from Global-e, which operates as the merchant of record, or legal seller, for eligible international orders.

A service like Managed Markets helps build trust with international customers. In DHL’s 2026 survey, 45% cited fear of fraud or lack of trust as a barrier to buying internationally, tied with high delivery costs and long delivery times as the leading barrier.

Use the table below to compare Shopify Markets and Managed Markets. 

Shopify subscription and shipping costs apply to both options. For US stores, the currency conversion fee is 1.5% when applicable.

Markets fits teams that already manage international tax and compliance. Consider Managed Markets when its service fee compares favorably with the staff time and external services required to perform that work.

Outdoor gear brand BattlBox used Managed Markets to expand their sales reach to more than 140 countries. CEO John Roman said the launch “has added revenue with zero process change.”

Check Managed Markets eligibility before planning a rollout. It’s available to eligible merchants in the continental US and selected stores in Canada and the UK.

Start going global today

Plan your first launch around one market, then use the results to guide your next expansion.

1. Find existing demand. Review Shopify’s Sessions by location report and your international orders to identify a country to prioritize.
2. Assign responsibility for taxes and compliance. Compare the cost of managing these tasks yourself with Managed Markets’ fees and eligibility.
3. Prepare your store. Create a draft market and set local pricing. Translate essential product information and review the storefront.
4. Check the order economics. Configure shipping rates and duties settings. Calculate what you’ll earn after delivery costs and transaction fees.
5. Launch and review. Activate the market, then monitor sales and conversion. Use delivery issues and customer questions to decide what to improve before expanding further.