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Julien Mamalian
After an exciting 6 years of designing and optimizing Shopify sites for well-known French startups, I launched Bloggle.
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Congratulations, the time has come! Your Shopify store is going international.
But, before you can start welcoming customers from around the globe, there’s one important step you can’t skip - setting up international shipping.
Expanding into new markets is exciting, but it also requires a well-organized shipping strategy to ensure smooth deliveries, avoid delays, and keep your customers happy.
In this guide, I will walk you through the process of setting up international shipping on Shopify, breaking it down into easy-to-follow steps so you can start selling worldwide with confidence.
Shipping internationally requires careful planning because mistakes or lack of preparation can eat into your profit margins.
For example, incorrect product labeling, failing to account for customs fees, or using inappropriate packaging can lead to delays, extra costs, or damaged goods.
Here are three steps you should take:
When shipping internationally, select carriers that have a strong presence in the countries you plan to ship to.
Research and choose carriers that can handle the complexities of customs, taxes, and regulations in each region.
Establish clear pricing and conditions for international shipping, including handling fees, taxes, and customs duties. This will help you set realistic expectations with your customers and avoid misunderstandings.
Partnering with a local logistics provider can help you manage your international shipping process with safely and securely. They can handle tasks such as customs clearance, tax compliance, and inventory management, allowing you to focus on your core business.
#2 Choosing products to ship internationally
Not all items may be profitable when considering factors such as packaging requirements, product weight/dimensions (shipping larger furniture pieces can prove costly), fragile nature (like glassware), or perishability (such as food items).
Hence, select products that maintain viability during transit while also appealing significantly to foreign customers.
Each country has its own import rules and regulations, and ignoring these can lead to fines or returned shipments.
You can find this information on government websites or use tools like trade.gov or export.gov to check specific country restrictions.
It’s also important to understand the tariffs and taxes for different product categories.
What seems affordable at first can become expensive once extra fees are added.
Using language localization helps you connect with non-English speaking customers, improving their experience with your brand in different regions.
For example, offering French translations when targeting Francophone Africa can create a better connection with local shoppers compared to only using English.
You can easily do this by using Shopify translation apps to translate your website into the languages of your target markets.
Cultural sensitivity is also important in building trust. This means recognizing local holidays, respecting traditions, and adjusting product descriptions to fit local customs and preferences.
Blogging on Shopify about trends and solutions for specific regions can will connect you with international audiences.
Using Bloggle, a powerful Shopify blogging app, makes this process even easier.
Bloggle helps you create SEO-optimized content, feature products within your blog posts, and manage multiple authors.
Shopify's international sales tools make it easy to manage multiple markets, languages, currencies, and taxes from a single store.
With this feature, you can set up multiple stores for different regions, each with its own language, currency, and tax settings.
This makes it easy to tailor your store to specific markets and customer bases.
For example, you can create a store for the European market with its own language, currency, and tax settings, and another store for the Asian market with its own language, currency, and tax settings.
Shopify’s international sales tools allows you to:
For larger stores, Global-E is a specialized tool that provides additional features and support for international e-commerce.
With Global-E, you can streamline your international shipping, manage complex customs regulations, and provide a seamless customer experience.
With Global-E, you can:
Now, let's move on to the 5 simple steps to set up international shipping on Shopify:
And now you’re all set to sell internationally.
And there you have it!
Your Shopify store is now ready to conquer the international market with a seamless shipping setup.
Remember, a well-planned shipping strategy not only ensures smooth deliveries but also betters the customer experience, helping you build trust with people around the world.
Now, it's time to watch your business grow as you welcome shoppers from across the globe!
After an exciting 5 years of designing and optimizing Shopify sites for well-known French startups, I launched Bloggle. Our mission? To assist merchants worldwide in crafting compelling articles that rank high in SEO and truly engage their audience. In just 3 years, over 2,000 clients have trusted us, publishing more than 55,000 articles through Bloggle. Thanks to them, I’ve learned the keys to success and the pitfalls to avoid
It’s time to awake your sleeping blog.
Try Bloggle
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