How to Set up Different Markets on Shopify

If you have a project that needs to be able to sell in different countries, great news: Shopify just released the ‘Markets’ feature (Winter ‘23 update) where you can set this up.  

And in this tutorial, I will walk you through every step in adding different markets on your project. 

Step 1: Setting Up the Domains

Depending on the marketing approach of the store owner, a market can either use the same domain as the default one or be assigned with its own. 

In using the default domain, you can skip this step since there is no domain to set up. The ‘Subfolders’ option will be used in step 2.

Steps in adding a new domain:

1. Go to Settings > Domains.

2. Connect your domain. (You may connect an existing domain, transfer or buy one from Shopify.)

3. In connecting the domain, you may choose manual, or automatic. However, not all domain providers allow connecting automatically. You may follow the configuration in the screenshot and add it to your DNS settings if you need to do it manually.

Step 2: Setting up the Markets

1. Adding a new market

In setting up a new market, you can include multiple countries.

1. Go to Settings > Markets.
2. Click ‘Add market.’
3. Name the market and select the countries you want to be part of it.
4. Save it.

2. Managing your markets

Setting up the status of your market

1. First you need to make sure that the market’s status is active. If you don’t have a setup shipping rate for the countries included in that market, you will need to set that up first. To do that, go to Settings > Shipping and delivery.
2. After this, you can then change the market’s status to ‘Active.’
3. Under ‘Market settings,’ you can set up the domains and languages. 

Managing the Market’s Domains

1. Click ‘Domains and languages.’
2. Under ‘Domains,’ you will see ‘Market domains and subfolders.’ In this part, you have 3 options: 

• Don’t assign any dedicated domain for the market.
• Assign a different domain for the market. 
• Use the same domain as the default but add a subfolder (example: www.website.com/es).

Select which applies to your project's requirement.

3. You may skip the Languages settings for now since we are yet to set it up in the 3rd step.
4. Save it.

Step 3: Setting up the Languages

Now if any of the countries you want to sell in has a different language, needless to say, you will need to set up and assign a language for it. 

In this tutorial, we will be using the Shopify Translate & Adapt app.

What it does is it allows you to create your own translations of your content across your theme and store. 

While it has an option for ‘Auto-translate,’ the last time I checked, that option was limited and only offered a maximum of 2 languages to be automatically translated. 

So, if you have more than 2 markets, you will need to manually translate them.

If you need a step by step guide on this and how to use the app, you may follow my tutorial: ‘Translating A Shopify Store’s Language Using the Shopify Translate & Adapt App.’

Note: 

If you prefer something more automatic (meaning, auto-translate your store depending on the market) than having to import the translations and are willing to pay extra, you may check Shopify’s app store if there is anything that may work with the Markets feature given this is new. 

Steps: 

1. Go to the Shopify App store and install the app called: ‘Shopify Translate & Adapt.’
2. On your Shopify admin page, go to Settings > Languages.
3. Click ‘Add language’ and select the language you want to add. 
4. Select the Market you want to assign that language to.
5. Save.

Now that we’ve set up the language, if you wish to see and update the language settings of the market you’ve set up: 

1. Go to Settings > Markets.
2. Click the ‘Manage’ button for the market that you want to update.
3. Under ‘Languages,’ select the language/s you want to assign. 

Note:

Your default language is also automatically selected, and you have to uncheck that so only the language you want to assign to that market would work. 

Another important thing to understand is that this guide only covered how to set up the languages, this doesn't mean that your store will automatically be translated, you will need to use the Shopify Translate & Adapt in order to manually translate your store.

If you need help in understanding how the app works, you may follow my tutorial on: 'Translating A Shopify Store’s Language Using the Shopify Translate & Adapt App.'

Conclusion

Shopify’s new Markets feature is a great addition. It makes offering products to multiple markets way easier and seamless. It is also very straightforward to set up and can be done by anyone whether new to Shopify or not. Current and future Shopify merchants are guaranteed to love the platform even more!