Right now we have two independent stores running (.com for US and .ca for CA), which we've had long before Shopify Markets existed.
The stores are practically identical — same product catalog, images, and descriptions — other than pricing and inventory, which is fulfilled from local warehouses. For example, only about 80-90% of our catalog is available in Canada at any given point based on inventory.
The challenge with two stores is obviously having to update everything twice.
The simplicity is that the setup easily reflects the way we independently manage each store in regards to product selection and inventory. We also don't pay currency conversion fees or international sales fees because each store is housed in its respective country.
So the question… should I move to Shopify Markets?
It seems like it would make store management easier (one set of theme updates, only adding products one time to the backend, etc).
However I'm confused by Shopify's fee structure. Would I be opening the door to paying international fees on each sale from Canada, if we were to keep the US store as the primary? Do all of my Canadian customers immediately become “international customers” at that point, versus domestic customers in Canada like they are now?
I reached out to my LinkedIn network and also made posts on r/Shopify and r/ShopifyeCommerce with the questions above to see what advice I could obtain. Check out those links above to see the comment threads.
I also reached out to Shopify support:
Here's a copy of our conversation with the domain names redacted.
Shopify: Hi, this is Carlo, your Shopify Support Advisor!
Paul: Hi Carlo — hope you're well. We're currently running two stores….
[redacted].com
[redacted].ca
each has its own Shopify subscription
and each deposits into a local bank… one in USA and the other in Canada
The challenge is having to update both stores twice for each change, when they are practically running identical setups in each market.
I was looking into Shopify Markets — but I want to make sure I'm understanding something correctly.
Shopify: Hello Paul, I hope you are doing well. Thanks for sharing this with me, no worries, I am here to help.
Paul: Right now we don't pay a currency conversion fee or international fees… because we're running two domestic stores — one unique store for each country.
However if I were to switch to Shopify Markets to consolidate our store management — let's say I made the US store the primary.
Does that mean that immediately, all my Canadian customers become “International” customers… and I have to pay both a currency conversion fee and a international fee?
Even though the money would still be deposited into local banks in local currency for each market?
Shopify: Thank you for explaining your situation in detail. I understand your concern about potentially incurring additional fees with Shopify Markets. When you use Shopify Markets and designate your US store as the primary, your Canadian customers would indeed be considered international in terms of store management. However, the currency conversion fee would apply only when transactions occur in a currency different from your payout currency. Since you have local bank accounts in each country, this can help mitigate some of the international fees, as payouts would still be in the local currency.
Paul: Oh okay, that's good news.
So what would the ‘international' fee be?
Shopify: The ‘international' fee can differ depending on several factors, including the payment processor and specific transaction conditions. To provide you with the most accurate information, I would need to know more about which payment gateways you are using for each store. This will help us determine the exact fees you might face and how to potentially reduce them.
Paul: We are using the default SHopify Payments in both US and CA
And a BNPL product in one of the stores.
Shopify: Thanks for that information, Paul. With Shopify Payments already set up in both the US and Canada, you're in a good position. Shopify Payments typically offers a seamless way to handle transactions with minimal fees. For international transactions, the fees are usually incorporated into the exchange rates provided by Shopify Payments.
Paul: But in this case, there are no exchange rates, correct?
Since we're operating in each respective country's local currency?
Shopify: That's right, Paul. Since you are accepting and processing payments in the local currency for each respective store and depositing into local bank accounts, there shouldn't be any currency exchange issues or related fees through Shopify Payments. This is an optimal setup for avoiding unnecessary conversion costs. You're set up well to handle transactions in each market's local currency.
Paul: So just to make sure I'm not missing anything — right now we're paying, I think, 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction in both countries. It'd be the exact same if we switched to Markets?
There are so many fees listed on this page: https://www.shopify.com/international/pricing#pricing
I'm not sure which ones would apply to us, given the scenario I outlined.
Shopify: That's right, Paul. The transaction fees of 2.9% + $0.30 are standard for domestic transactions with Shopify Payments. If you switch to using Shopify Markets and keep each transaction in the local currency with local bank deposits, your fees per transaction should remain the same.
Paul: And as far as customs and duties.. because we're fulfilling orders from warehouses in each respective country, we would not run into issues with that either I presume
Two last questions about the transition process…
1) I understand that Shopify Markets does allow for two unique store designs for each market…. however, one of the reasons we'd look to switch to Markets is because we want to minimize store management and updates. So does Shopify markets allow us to have one Master Theme design, one product catalog, one set of product descriptions and SEO titles, etc….
Effectively all I'd look to do is change the price, inventory count, and availability of each product from the same product catalog
Is that possible? Or with markets am I essentially running two stores and updating two themes like I am now?
2) What's a transition look like from our setup of two separate stores to a new setup of using Markets? Would I add the Canadian market to the US store as a starting point, setup the inventory counts, bank payout info, fulfillment, shipping, etc (basically rebuild the CA site as a Market) and then add the [redacted].ca domain in the final step to takeover the store?
Shopify: Absolutely, Paul. With local fulfillment in each country, you shouldn't face customs and duties issues for your domestic orders. As for managing your stores with Shopify Markets, it does allow for a more centralized approach. You can use one master theme across different markets, which means any design updates are universally applied, simplifying the management process. Additionally, while you maintain a single product catalog, Shopify Markets provides the tools to adjust pricing, inventory, and availability for each market individually. This means you can manage these aspects without having to duplicate efforts across multiple store setups.
Your proposed transition plan is on point. To consolidate your two stores into Shopify Markets, you would begin by integrating the Canadian market into your existing US store. This process includes configuring all necessary settings for the Canadian market like inventory management, setting up the appropriate bank payout details, and configuring shipping and fulfillment options specifically for Canada.
After these settings are in place and functioning correctly, the final step would be to redirect the [redacted].ca domain to this new unified platform. This method ensures a seamless transition and minimal disruption to your operations.
Paul: Any way to transfer over our historic reports / analytics / sales / customers / orders / etc?
Or would those be lost in the transition?
Shopify: When transitioning to Shopify Markets, you won’t lose historical data such as reports, analytics, sales, customers, orders, etc. Shopify allows you to maintain access to your historical data even after migrating to a new setup.
Paul: When I begin to add “Canada” as a market to the US store, would I indicate at that point that there's an existing store I'm migrating? Or would that data migration happen after the final step of connecting the domain? Something Shopify would do instead of me?
Shopify: When you begin adding “Canada” as a market to your US store, the process typically involves setting up the market configurations first, rather than migrating data from an existing store at the initial stage. The data migration would generally occur after you have configured the market settings and just before or after you connect the [redacted].ca domain.
Paul: Okay got it. Thanks for all the great information today.
You've been a great chat bot. I'm impressed with how far Shopify's AI has come. Felt like I was talking to a real person this whole time.
(Just kidding Carlo.)
Thanks for your help. Have a great rest of your day.
Shopify: Not a problem, Paul 🙂
Conclusion:
If all the information Carlo from Shopify support shared with me is correct, then it seems like it'd be a smart move to switch from our two store setup to Shopify Markets.
Switching to Shopify Markets would:
- Allow us to only have to add / edit new products one time.
- Mean only having to maintain one store design.
There's got to be some limitations or cons that I'm not considering. I think the next best move is to create a secondary Market on my US store and play around with it to see what those limitations are before committing to the transition. I'll report back after I've had a chance to do that.
If you're already using Shopify markets and have run into limitations, drop a comment below and let me know what issues you've run into. Thanks in advance.
