# Sell internationally with Markets

Level: Intermediate. About 60 minutes. Plans: Regional markets on all plans; per-market theme and checkout changes need Advanced or Plus. Checked against Shopify's documentation on 2026-10-08.

**Short answer:** From your Shopify admin, go to **Markets**, click **Create market**, name it and add the countries under **Includes** > **Add condition** > **Regions** [4]. Then open the market to set a local currency, a language and a domain or subfolder, and change its status to **Active** once shipping rates cover every country in it [4][3][5]. Regional markets are free on all plans [2].

## Before you start

A market is a group of customers, defined by conditions such as their country, that you can give their own currency, product availability, theme content, domain, language, taxes and, where your store has it, shipping options [1]. This guide sets up a regional market: one or more countries outside your home country.

What to check first:

- **Plan.** Creating regional markets is free on all Shopify plans [2]. Currency, domain, language, discount and duty and tax settings per market are on every plan. Theme customization and checkout and accounts pages per market need the Advanced plan or higher; checkout page blocks and business entities per market need Shopify Plus [2].
- **Payments.** Customers can pay in their local currency only if you use Shopify Payments or Adyen. With any other payment provider, every market pays in your store's default currency [2][3].
- **Shipping.** You need shipping rates for every country in a market before you can activate it [2][4].
- **Staff access.** A staff member needs several permissions to use the **Markets** page, including all order, product, analytics and discount permissions and the shipping, taxes and domains store settings [2].

Your store already has a domestic market, created from your store address and currency, and may show a suggested international market that is inactive by default [4].

A worked example: a candle shop in the US that wants to sell to Canada creates a market called "Canada", adds Canada as its region, sets Canadian dollars with rounding, and keeps English as the language.

## Steps

1. **Add shipping rates for the new countries.** Make sure every country you plan to include already has a shipping rate. A market with countries you do not ship to stays inactive [4].

2. **Create the market.** From your Shopify admin, go to **Markets** and click **Create market**. In the **Name** section, enter a name, then set the status next to it to **Draft** so you can preview before customers see it [4].

3. **Choose the countries.** In the **Includes** section, click **Add condition** and select **Regions**, then select the countries or regions [4]. To target only some states or provinces, open the country and select them [4].

4. **Review inherited settings.** The **Inherited** section shows settings that come from your store defaults. Click the plus-circle icon next to a setting to change it for this market; it moves to the **Customized** section. Click **Save** [4].

5. **Set the currency.** Open the market and click the plus icon next to **Currency**. Select the currency, then choose an exchange rate setting [3]. A dynamic rate tracks the market rate and adds a conversion fee of 1.5% or 2%, depending on your store's location, to the price the customer sees [3]. A manual rate is one you enter and keep up to date; the fee then comes out of your payout instead [3]. Optionally activate **Rounding**, click **Done**, then **Save** [3].

6. **Add a language, if you need one.** Go to **Settings** > **Languages**, click **Add language**, select it and click **Save** [5]. A language must be added to the store before you can assign it to a market [5].

7. **Assign a domain and language.** In **Markets**, open the market and click the plus-circle icon next to **Domain / language** [5]. Choose **Subfolder** (for example `yourstore.com/fr/`), **Subdomain** (`fr.yourstore.com`) or **Separate domain** (`yourstore.fr`, which must already be connected in **Settings** > **Domains**). Select the **Language**, click **Done**, then **Save** [5].

8. **Turn on automatic redirection.** Go to **Online Store** > **Preferences**. In the **Automatic redirection** section, activate **Country/region** and, if you offer more than one language, **Language**. Click **Save** [6].

9. **Add country and language selectors.** Go to **Online Store**, click **Edit theme** on your published theme, open the header or footer section, and activate the **Country/region selector** and **Language selector**. Click **Save** [6]. Shopify recommends keeping these even with redirection on, because location by IP address can be wrong for shoppers on a VPN or some mobile networks [6].

10. **Activate the market.** Go to **Markets**, click the market, change the status from **Draft** to **Active**, and click **Save** [4].

## Check your work

- On the **Markets** page, confirm the new market shows as active. A draft market, or one with a country you do not ship to, stays inactive, and its customers cannot complete a purchase [4].
- Use the country selector on your storefront to switch to a country in the new market and check that prices show in the expected currency, with rounding if you turned it on [3][6].
- Visit the subfolder, subdomain or domain you assigned and check that the store opens in the language you chose [5].
- Pick a fixed-amount discount and check it at checkout in the new currency. Fixed-amount discounts are created in your default currency and converted at checkout [2].

## Common problems

- **"Customers in a country can't check out."** Only customers in countries within an active market can check out [2]. Customers in an inactive market get the backup region experience [4]. Add shipping rates for every country, then activate the market [4].
- **"Prices still show in my home currency."** Local currencies need Shopify Payments or Adyen [2]. In a multi-country market, check that **Local currencies** is still activated in the market's currency settings [3].
- **"The language I want isn't in the list."** Add it first in **Settings** > **Languages** [5].
- **"My separate domain isn't offered."** Connect it in **Settings** > **Domains** before you assign it to a market [5].
- **"I can't change the theme for one country."** Theme customization per market needs the Advanced plan or higher. Only one theme can be published at a time [2].
- **"A refund came out to a different amount."** Refunds on foreign-currency orders convert at the rate on the refund date, and the original conversion fee is not refunded [3].
- **"Post-purchase offers don't show abroad."** They work only in your default currency and are not shown in markets that use another currency [2].

## Further reading

- Markets, Shopify Help Center [1]
- Requirements and considerations for Markets, Shopify Help Center [2]

## Sources

1. [Markets](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/markets), Shopify Help Center, accessed 2026-10-08
2. [Requirements and considerations for Markets](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/markets/getting-started/requirements-and-considerations), Shopify Help Center, accessed 2026-10-08
3. [Setting up currencies for markets](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/markets/customizations/local-currencies), Shopify Help Center, accessed 2026-10-08
4. [Creating and activating markets](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/markets/getting-started/set-up-markets), Shopify Help Center, accessed 2026-10-08
5. [Assigning domains and languages to markets](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/markets/customizations/domains-and-languages), Shopify Help Center, accessed 2026-10-08
6. [Setting up localization](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/markets/getting-started/localization), Shopify Help Center, accessed 2026-10-08

Source page: https://webmerchants.net/guides/sell-internationally-with-markets