Guide

Shopify Markets vs expansion stores: which to use to sell abroad

When one Shopify store with Markets is enough, when to add expansion stores, and what Shopify changed in 2025 and 2026.

By Tom Carew and Tom Mucklow-Norell · Updated 4 November 2026

Shopify facts are from Shopify’s help centre, changelog and Editions pages, checked on 3 November 2026. Shopify changes Markets often, so check the sources listed at the end before you decide.

Shopify gives brands two ways to sell in more than one country. Shopify Markets runs every country from one store. Expansion stores, a Shopify Plus feature, give a country or channel a Shopify store of its own. Since we first wrote this guide in 2023, Shopify has rebuilt Markets, and most of the old reasons to run several stores have gone. This guide sets out what each option does in 2026 and which kind of brand each suits.

The short answer

Start with Shopify Markets. One store can now vary currency, language, domain, prices, product range, discounts, theme settings, checkout and duties by country.
Choose expansion stores when a country needs to run as its own business: a local team that ships its own changes, a very different range, or a legal or payment set-up that one store cannot carry.
Expansion stores are on Shopify Plus only. A Plus contract covers up to 10 stores, the main store and nine expansion stores, at no extra Shopify cost. Apps, themes and the people to run each store are extra.
Duties, tax and fulfilment matter as much as the storefront. Shopify Managed Markets, run with Global-e, opened to UK merchants in July 2026.

What has changed since 2023

The first version of this guide listed limits that no longer apply. On one store with Markets you can now:

limit any discount code or automatic discount to chosen markets, on every plan from Basic up;
set a catalog for each market, with its own products, prices and compare-at prices, and schedule price and publishing changes;
change theme settings, app embeds and checkout by market on Advanced and Plus;
pay out in several currencies through Shopify Payments on Advanced and Plus, with a bank account for each currency;
translate order notifications with Shopify’s free Translate & Adapt app, without a third-party email platform;
add as many country or region markets as you need. The old caps of three markets below Plus and 50 on Plus have gone.

Markets Pro, which was in early access in the US when we last wrote, became Shopify Managed Markets in June 2024 and is now open to UK and some Canadian merchants.

Shopify Markets and expansion stores at a glance

	Shopify Markets	Expansion stores
What it is	One store with settings for each market	A separate Shopify store for each country or channel
Plans	All plans; some features need Advanced or Plus	Shopify Plus only
Products and prices	A catalog for each market	A full catalog in each store
Content and theme	One theme, with settings and translations by market	A theme for each store, edited separately
Discounts	Limited to chosen markets; same amount everywhere	Set separately in each store
Payments	Local currency needs Shopify Payments or Adyen	Each store has its own payment set-up
Legal entities	Several on one store, on Plus	One per store, or several on Plus
Teams	One admin, with permissions by role	A separate admin, team and release plan for each store
Apps	Installed once; must support Markets	Installed and billed in each store
SEO	Domains or subfolders, with hreflang added by Shopify	Separate domains; links between stores set up by hand
Running cost	One store to maintain	Each store adds apps, a theme licence and work

Shopify Markets in 2026

A market is a group of customers that share settings. Shopify now has four types: country or region markets, retail markets for POS locations, B2B markets for company locations, and channel markets. Where they overlap, the most specific wins, so a B2B market overrides a retail market and a retail market overrides a region. Submarkets inherit settings from a parent of the same type. Customers outside every active market can browse but cannot buy.

For each market you can set the currency, the language, a domain or subfolder, duties and tax, a catalog of products and prices, and the payment methods shown. On Advanced and Plus you can also change theme settings, app embeds and checkout pages by market. Checkout blocks by market, unlimited B2B catalogs and selling from several legal entities are on Plus only.

The limits that remain are narrower than before:

A discount can be limited to markets, but its value is the same in each. Fixed-amount discounts are set in the store’s default currency and converted.
Charging in local currency needs Shopify Payments or Adyen. With any other payment provider, customers pay in the store’s default currency.
Apps that read markets or catalogs must use a recent version of Shopify’s API. Older apps show a warning when installed, so check each one before you rely on it.
Post-purchase offers do not show in markets that use a different currency from the store.
One theme serves every market. Settings and translations can change, but the layout and code are shared.

The fall 2026 Shopify Edition added more by market: scheduled catalog changes, shipping, and return and cancellation rules. Our guide to the Fall ’26 Edition covers the changes that matter most.

Expansion stores in 2026

An expansion store is a full Shopify store linked to your Plus organisation. Each has its own admin, theme, apps, catalog, checkout and payment settings. Shopify’s rules are that expansion stores extend the same brand and sell the same kinds of goods. Approved uses include international stores, a B2B store, an employee store and retail. Running several brands needs a separate multi-brand agreement with Shopify.

A Plus contract covers 10 stores at no extra Shopify cost. Staging stores do not count. Beyond 10, Shopify sets an additional fee for approval. If you leave Plus, the expansion stores are unlinked and each needs its own plan.

What separate stores still do well:

Local teams can change their store and release work on their own timetable.
Ranges, content and layout can differ completely by country.
Problems in one store stay in that store.
A country can use a payment provider or legal set-up that the main store cannot.

What they cost to run:

Each store needs its own apps, billed per store, and a theme licence.
Products, content and theme changes have to be kept in step across stores, by hand, with tools or with a shared codebase.
Reporting is split, although Plus has added analytics across stores.
Each store needs someone to run it.

Duties, tax and cross-border options

Selling abroad is about more than currency. Customers expect to know the full price, including duties, before they pay, and a parcel held at customs costs a sale and often a customer.

Shopify Managed Markets is Shopify’s own option, run with Global-e as the merchant of record. Global-e sells to the customer, collects duties at checkout, registers for and pays local taxes, and handles product codes for customs. It is available on every plan from Basic, with Shopify Payments, for businesses in the US and, since July 2026, the UK and parts of Canada. It cannot be combined with the standalone Global-e app or with selling from several legal entities, and it no longer supports shipping with duties unpaid.

On Plus, brands can also contract directly with a cross-border provider such as Global-e or ESW, which act as merchant of record, or use a service such as Zonos to calculate duties at checkout while keeping sales in their own name. The right choice depends on where you ship from, which countries matter most and who you want responsible for tax.

Several legal entities on one store

Brands used to run a store per country because each country had its own company or bank account. On Plus, one store can now sell from several legal entities, each with its own Shopify Payments account. Shopify Payments must be the main provider for every entity, and multi-entity selling cannot be used with Managed Markets or automatic tax filing. If a country’s entity sits somewhere Shopify Payments is not available, a separate store is still the answer.

SEO for international stores

With Markets, each country gets a subfolder such as /en-us or its own domain, and Shopify adds hreflang tags so Google shows the right version in each country. With expansion stores, each store has its own domain, and the links that tell Google the stores are versions of the same site have to be added and maintained by hand. Either way, translate page titles and descriptions as well as the content, and avoid redirecting visitors automatically by location, which can stop Google crawling other countries.

When one store with Markets is enough

You sell one brand with broadly the same range in each country.
One team runs marketing, merchandising and the website.
Differences by country are prices, range, language, discounts and delivery.
You want to test a new country before committing a team to it.

When expansion stores make sense

A country has its own team that needs to change the site and release work independently.
The range, content or design differs so much that a shared theme gets in the way.
A country needs a payment provider, legal entity or tax set-up that one store cannot carry.
You run a separate B2B or wholesale store, or an employee store, alongside the main site.

Moving from several stores to one

Many brands that opened expansion stores before 2025 could now run on one. Before you consolidate, map every product, price, discount and app in each store; decide which store becomes the main one; plan redirects from the old domains and keep titles and content; move customers, orders and subscriptions; and check every app supports Markets. Consolidation removes cost and duplicated work, but it is a migration, and it needs the same care as any move to a new platform.

How we have done it

Ceva runs four pet health brands across more than 20 sites in eight countries from one Shopify Plus codebase, so a new section works on every site. Allbirds moved its Canada and South Korea stores from headless to a native Shopify Plus theme the local teams run. HexClad sells through separate US and UK Shopify Plus stores. Finesse sells in local currencies in more than 30 countries. +44 runs storefronts for more than a dozen markets, with duties paid at checkout and stock in UK, US and EU warehouses. New & Lingwood sells internationally through Global-e. See our international expansion work.

Questions to ask before you choose

Which countries matter most in the next two years, and how different are the range and prices in each?
Who will run each country day to day, and do they need to change the site on their own?
Which company will sell in each country, and where will you pay tax?
Where will orders ship from, and who pays the duties?
Do all your apps support Markets?
What will each extra store cost to run in apps, licences and people?

FAQs

What is a Shopify expansion store?

A separate Shopify store linked to a Shopify Plus organisation, used for another country, a B2B or wholesale store, an employee store or retail. A Plus contract covers up to nine expansion stores alongside the main store.

Can I use Shopify Markets on any plan?

Yes. Markets is on every plan. Theme and checkout changes by market and payouts in several currencies need Advanced or Plus, and selling from several legal entities needs Plus.

Can I run different discounts in each country with Shopify Markets?

Yes. Any discount can be limited to chosen markets. The value is the same in each market, so a different percentage needs a separate discount.

Is Shopify Managed Markets available in the UK?

Yes, since July 2026, for UK businesses on Shopify Payments. It replaced Markets Pro, and Global-e acts as merchant of record.

Should we move our expansion stores back into one store?

Often, yes, if each country sells broadly the same range and one team runs them. Keep separate stores where a local team needs its own releases or a country needs a set-up one store cannot carry.