By selling to international markets with your eCommerce store, you can create an exciting new opportunity to expand your online business further and connect with new shoppers from other countries.
According to Forbes, 57% of online shoppers continue to browse for items and products abroad when their local or national online stores can’t meet their needs. So, if you’re running a Shopify business, it might be time to take your business to the next level and start selling internationally.
Before you get started, we want to give you the key tips on how to sell your products and goods to international customers in multi-currencies.
Continuous growth of the global e-commerce market
Given the rise of e-commerce and globalisation, the world has become more interconnected which makes it essential for online stores to adapt to both national and international customers if they want to reach a wider audience.
With the global e-commerce market expected to total $6.3 trillion in 2023, it’s key for online stores to be at the forefront in terms of recognising and catering to their shoppers' needs, such as location and currency.
How can geolocation apps help you sell internationally?
Geolocation apps give your customers recommendations of which language and currency will be displayed for them when accessing your Shopify store. This is a simple solution for giving your customers a tailored shopping experience.
Welcome your customers in their own language
Give your customers the best possible welcome when visiting your e-commerce store by letting a geolocation app provide language and country recommendations.
With a geolocation app installed and activated, your customers can have language and country recommendations based on their geographical location, browser or device language.
According to Shopify, e-commerce businesses with personalised websites based on customers’ localisation can boost sales by 10 – 15% and customer satisfaction with 20%.
In addition to giving your customers a friendly and inclusive welcoming, country and language settings also create more transparency between your store and customers, as they are able to shop in a language they know or are familiar with.
Let your customers select preferred language
One of the many reasons customers choose to shop online is because of the comfort and convenience, so don't let language become a barrier between you and your international customer.
Geolocation apps also enable you to add a button in the footer which allows your visitors to select their preferred language, country or region to shop in. This feature creates a more personalised shopping experience for your customers, so they can more easily navigate your store and find and browse interesting items with ease.
Help your customers understand prices
As well as choosing to pay in local currencies when abroad, many customers prefer to do the same when shopping online. One of the reasons may be that local currencies give customers a clear understanding of the price of an item, rather than having to estimate with currency conversion and exchange rate fees.
With the geolocation app, you can easily enable payments in your shoppers’ local currencies, which both adds to a smooth shopping experience and helps your e-commerce to build trust among international customers.
Personalise your e-commerce and boost conversions
The Geolocation app is one among several options for selling internationally and in multi-currency on Shopify. This is a free app launched by Shopify in 2020. It can boost conversions and create a personalised shopping experience for your visitors without additional costs.
The app recommends a country and language to your customers based on their browser preferences, geographic location or device language. These recommendations are displayed on your eCommerce store in the form of pop-ups.
A country selector can also be displayed in your store’s footer, enabling your customer to change their preferences when needed.
As the app was developed by Shopify, all its features, such as the popups and the selector, will work with any Shopify theme and fit with your brand. While the Geolocation app may lack some advanced features, the app can be a good option for small e-commerce businesses just getting started and experimenting with localisation.
The app offers recommendations for languages and countries enabled within Markets, such as the following languages:
- Chinese (Simplified)
- Chinese (Traditional)
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- English
- Finnish
- French
- German
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Portuguese (Brazil)
- Portuguese (Portugal)
- Spanish
- Swedish
- Thai
- Turkish
- Vietnamese
These languages are supported for both backend and frontend. If you wish to translate your store to other languages, you may want to download a translation app which supports the languages desired.
The geolocation app works with shops that use Shopify Payments and can, therefore, sell in local currencies to fit shoppers’ preferences. Payments accepted on Shopify Payments are credit cards, such as Visa and Mastercard, Google Pay, Apple Pay or Shop Pay. Additional payment methods can be available depending on your business location.
3 easy steps to installing the Shopify Geolocation app
Installing Shopify's Geolocation app manually is quick and requires little to no effort. The requirement to use the app is that your e-commerce is using Shopify Payments and selling to multiple markets using Shopify Markets.
Here's how to get started, so you can start selling internationally and in multiple currencies today:
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Go to the Shopify app store and search for Geolocation app. The app can also be found in the collection "Made by Shopify".
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Click "Add" to view more information before installing.
- Confirm the installation and click "Install app".
Key takeaway on selling internationally in multi-currency
e-commerce localisation is a key factor that can play a major role in a shop’s performance when selling internationally. By customising the content to meet the needs and preferences of international customers, e-commerce businesses can also increase customer engagement and boost conversion rates.
With adaptions such as language, currency and payment methods, Shopify stores focused on localisation can have a competitive advantage on the global market.
There are several geolocation apps available, but Shopify’s own app Geolocation is one free alternative that smaller online businesses can try out. With features such as language detection, settings and enabling purchases in local currencies, your shoppers will be able to navigate and browse in you store with more ease. The app itself is free and easy to set up with a one-click installation.
