You have set up your brand new Shopify store and you intend to sell to different countries. You are confused as to whether to set up one Shopify store for all countries, and toggle on the multiple currencies option, or set up different Shopify stores for each country you sell to.
Well, as for most things in life there are pros and cons associated with each option. Lets take a look:
One Shopify File with Multiple Currencies enabled:
All Shopify subscriptions allow you to toggle on multiple currencies. This allows your Shopify store to show your item price, in the local currency, based on allowing Shopify to make the conversion for you, or tied to a fixed spot rate that you specify in your file. This option can be turned on in Shopify settings (Settings | Payments | Shopify Payments | Manage | Currencies – select the currencies you wish to accept). You can also enable rounding in the Shopify / Advanced / Pro subscription levels. You will also need to enable a currency selector (read for more instructions here)
The main advantage to setting up your store this way is that you can pair one website with one Shopify store, instead of having to publish multiple websites, paired with multiple Shopify stores.
What we mean by this is you can have one eCommerce website – such as CandlesRUs.com instead of CandlesRUs.com + CandlesRUs.com.au + CandlesRUS.ca etc…
But there is one large disadvantage, and that is here in Australia you are only allowed to nominate one payout currency which is AUD. This means you will have to pay a much higher credit card fee for any orders that are checked out with a credit card with a non AUD default currency. In addition you will be charged a currency conversion fee. This often means you will pay about 2 – 3% extra of each order to Shopify in additional fees.
More than one Shopify File to handle multiple currencies
If you have more than one Shopify file, you will have to host more than one website. Most search engine browsers will direct your customers to the correct geographic location – i.e. Australians will get pointed to the .com.au and Americans will get pointed to the .com. But if your customer lands on the wrong site – i.e. an Australian goes to your .com page, they will be presented with USD for a checkout currency. Many developers can overcome these issues by having inbuilt capabilities in on your webpage that detects the arriving IP address.
The main advantage is that you will save on those higher credit card fees by pairing your eCommerce store to the correct payout currency. You can also have individual websites that use the local language and sayings to provide a customized experience.
The disadvantage is obviously multiple Shopify subscriptions, and more than one website to maintain.
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