Shopify Markets explained: selling internationally from India and the UAE

Guide for brands selling from India, the UAE or anywhere to customers abroad. Written by the Maison Global Agency team, using Shopify’s own help centre as the source for every platform claim. Checked October 2026.

Shopify Markets lets one store sell to several countries with their own currency, language, domain or subfolder, prices and duties settings. What it can do for you depends on where your business is based: local-currency checkout needs Shopify Payments or Adyen, which Indian merchants cannot use, and Shopify’s Managed Markets service is not offered to businesses in India or the UAE. Set expectations around that first and the rest of the setup is straightforward.

What a market is

A market is a group of one or more countries that you treat the same way. A typical Indian D2C brand might run three: India, the Gulf (UAE and Saudi Arabia), and Rest of World. For each market you decide:

• Currency shoppers see and, where supported, pay in.
• Language through Shopify’s Translate and Adapt app or a translation app.
• Web address: a subfolder such as /en-ae/, a subdomain, or a separate country domain.
• Prices: automatic conversion, rounding rules, or fixed local prices on higher plans.
• Products available in that market.
• Duties and import taxes and how they are shown.
• Shipping zones and payment methods offered there.

The constraint Indian merchants need to know

Shopify’s requirements for Markets state that multi-currency checkout needs Shopify Payments or Adyen. Shopify Payments is not available to businesses in India, so an Indian store usually checks out in rupees even when prices are displayed in dirhams or dollars, and the customer’s card or the gateway converts. That is workable, and many Indian brands sell abroad this way, but it changes the experience:

• Show clearly at checkout that the charge is in INR.
• Use a gateway that accepts international cards and set its settlement terms properly; Razorpay and PayPal are common choices.
• Expect a little more checkout drop-off from overseas buyers than a native-currency checkout would have.

UAE-based merchants are in a better position: Shopify Payments is available in the UAE for online payments, so local-currency checkout is possible.

Shopify’s Managed Markets, powered by Global-e acting as merchant of record for duties and taxes, is currently offered to businesses in the continental United States and certain stores in Canada and the United Kingdom. Indian and UAE businesses plan without it.

Step by step: a three-market setup

1. Decide the markets from data, not ambition. Use your existing orders, Instagram audience and Search Console countries. One strong export market beats five thin ones.
2. Choose subfolders. For most brands subfolders on the main domain (/en-ae/, /en-gb/) are simplest and keep authority in one place. Separate country domains make sense when the brand needs a local identity.
3. Set currency and rounding. Round converted prices to sensible endings in each currency, and set fixed prices for hero products where your plan allows.
4. Localise what matters. Shipping times, returns policy, sizes and payment methods per market, on the product page, not only in the policy pages.
5. Set duties and import taxes. Decide whether prices include duties and say so on the product page. Surprise duty bills on delivery are the most common cause of refused international parcels.
6. Payments per market. Tabby and Tamara for the Gulf, PayPal for the UK and US, UPI and cash on delivery for India. Hide the ones that do not apply.
7. Check the alternate-language tags. After launch, view the page source in each market and confirm the hreflang links point to the right market URLs, then watch Search Console’s coverage for the new subfolders.
8. Use internal links that start with a slash. Shopify’s own guidance: links written as full URLs ignore the shopper’s selected market, while links that begin with / keep them in it.

The theme has to be ready too

Shopify’s language requirements note that custom themes must use the routes object for internal links, and that a language and country selector must be active. For Arabic, Shopify states that the latest themes in the Horizon family support right-to-left layouts; other themes need checking. We cover that in building an Arabic Shopify store.

Markets is a configuration job. The hard part is the product page in each country telling the truth about price, duty and delivery.

Exporting from India: the paperwork side

Export sales from an Indian store are usually zero-rated for GST. Most small exporters file a Letter of Undertaking each year so they can export without paying IGST and claiming it back. Each shipment needs an export invoice and the courier’s export documentation, and the payment has to come in through banking channels with the inward remittance documented. None of this is set up inside Shopify, but your store’s order data should make it easy for your accountant. Read Shopify GST setup after GST 2.0 for the domestic side.

SEO for international stores

• Translate titles, descriptions and collection copy, not only the product names.
• Do not machine-translate and forget; a native speaker should check at least the top pages.
• Write market-specific buying guides where search behaviour differs, for example size guides for UK sizes.
• Submit the sitemap once; Shopify includes market URLs in it, and Search Console reports by country.

Frequently asked questions

Can an Indian Shopify store charge customers in dollars or dirhams?

It can display prices in other currencies, but multi-currency checkout needs Shopify Payments or Adyen, and Shopify Payments is not available in India. Most Indian stores check out in INR with the card network converting.

Should I use subfolders or separate domains for international markets?

Subfolders on your main domain are simpler and keep search authority in one place. Separate country domains suit brands that need a strongly local identity in each market.

Is Shopify Managed Markets available in India or the UAE?

Not currently. Shopify offers Managed Markets to businesses in the continental United States and certain stores in Canada and the United Kingdom.

Do I need a separate store for each country?

Usually not. One store with Shopify Markets handles currency, language and pricing per market. Separate stores make sense only when catalogues, legal entities or fulfilment are completely different.

Related: Shopify development, Shopify for Dubai and the UAE, Shopify for UK and US brands.