Global Commerce on Shopify, Without the Friction
Selling across borders multiplies complexity: currencies, languages, entities, duties, tariffs, fulfillment, and a different operating model in every market. SDG designs and builds global commerce with Shopify Markets, Managed Markets, and direct Global-e integrations, choosing the approach around margin, control, and how the business actually operates.
Trusted by brands that define their categories
Shopify Markets, Managed Markets, or Global-e
There is no single right international architecture. Shopify Markets gives a merchant native control over market configuration, domains, currencies, languages, catalogs, pricing, and localization. Managed Markets adds services powered by Global-e, including a merchant-of-record model that handles responsibilities such as tax remittance, duties and import tax, and local payment methods for eligible orders. A direct Global-e relationship can offer a different balance of control and service.
We compare the options against target countries, product eligibility, margins, shipping, returns, B2B and subscription requirements, legal entities, tax posture, customer experience, and the internal team that will run it. Product availability and requirements change, so the recommendation is documented against current Shopify and Global-e capabilities rather than a generic platform promise.
Store consolidation and multi-entity architecture
Many global brands carry a sprawl of regional stores from years of expansion. We consolidate where it makes sense, into a single store with market-specific catalogs, pricing, and content, or a deliberate set of stores, and we model multiple business entities, tax registrations, and fulfillment regions correctly. The goal is one coherent architecture that is easier to run and far easier to scale, with multi-language and multi-currency handled by design rather than bolted on.
Localization beyond currency conversion
A market-aware storefront needs more than a converted price. We plan domains and subfolders, language and translation workflows, market-specific catalogs and availability, local merchandising, size and measurement systems, payment expectations, shipping promises, returns, customer service, and the legal content required in each region.
The SEO plan protects regional URL signals and prevents markets from competing with one another. Hreflang, canonicals, redirects, internal links, localized metadata, translated content, and sitemaps are designed with the store architecture rather than repaired after launch.
Cross-border tax, duties, tariffs, and compliance
Landed cost is where cross-border experiences often succeed or fail. We implement the appropriate duty and import-tax calculation and collection, inclusive pricing where the operating model supports it, and the tax, invoicing, payment, and compliance flows each market requires. Customers should understand the price and delivery promise before they commit, while finance needs clean records after the order.
A merchant-of-record service can take on specific legal and tax responsibilities, but it does not remove every operational decision. Product restrictions, shipping routes, returns, customer support, payout reconciliation, and eligibility still need owners and tested workflows.
International operations connected to the back office
Market, currency, entity, duty, tax, payment, fulfillment, and return data have to reach ERP, OMS, WMS, finance, analytics, and customer service correctly. We define how orders are represented, which entity books the revenue, how inventory is exposed, how refunds and duties reconcile, and which team owns exceptions.
For brands moving away from a bolt-on arrangement, our Global-e to Shopify Markets migration guide covers the workstreams. Explore our enterprise integrations, Shopify Plus practice, and replatforming work for the wider architecture.
Everything your store needs, from one senior team
SDG is a full-service Shopify partner. The same senior engineers and designers behind enterprise replatforms also take on focused projects, ongoing support, and everything in between — for brands large and small. One accountable team, end to end.
Strategy & architecture
Platform evaluation, TCO, roadmaps, and technical architecture grounded in two decades on Shopify.
UX/UI design
Brand-led storefront design and interface work, engineered to convert as well as it looks.
Storefront development
Theme and fully custom front-end builds, from a single template to a complete storefront.
Headless & composable
Hydrogen, Oxygen, and custom React storefronts engineered to hit performance budgets others miss.
Replatforming & migrations
Moves onto Shopify and Shopify Plus without downtime or data loss, including the largest catalogs in retail.
Systems & data integration
ERP, OMS, PIM, CRM, and bespoke middleware — the back-office systems global retail runs on.
Performance engineering
Core Web Vitals, speed, and reliability treated as a baseline, not an afterthought.
Shopify SEO
Technical SEO, site architecture, and structured data so the right buyers find your store.
CRO & experimentation
Conversion-rate optimization and A/B testing that turn existing traffic into more revenue.
Support & retainers
Ongoing monthly support, maintenance, and enhancement — a senior team on call for your store.
Accessibility
WCAG-compliant builds and audits, so your storefront works for every customer.
Apps & custom functionality
Custom Shopify apps, checkout extensions, and bespoke features the platform doesn’t ship out of the box.
Frequently asked questions
What is Shopify Markets?
Shopify Markets is Shopify’s built-in toolset for international selling: multiple markets from one store, with multi-currency and multi-language support, localized domains, market-specific pricing and catalogs, and duties at checkout. SDG architects and builds it for enterprise catalogs.
What is the difference between Shopify Markets and Managed Markets?
Shopify Markets provides native tools a merchant operates for international catalogs, pricing, currencies, languages, domains, and localization. Managed Markets, previously called Markets Pro, adds services powered by Global-e, including a merchant-of-record model for eligible orders that handles responsibilities such as tax remittance, duties and import tax, and local payment methods.
How does Global-e fit in?
Global-e is the cross-border platform that powers Managed Markets, and it can also be integrated directly when a brand wants more control over the experience. We work with both approaches and recommend based on your margins, markets, and operating model.
Can you consolidate multiple regional stores into one?
Yes. Store consolidation is a core part of our global work. We migrate regional stores into a single, market-aware store or a deliberate smaller set, preserving SEO, data, and localized experiences while cutting operational overhead.
Do you handle multiple business entities and multi-currency?
Yes. We model multiple legal entities, tax registrations, currencies, and languages correctly in the store architecture and back-office integrations, so finance and operations stay clean as you scale.
How do you handle duties, tariffs, and cross-border compliance?
We implement accurate duty and import-tax calculation and collection at checkout, support guaranteed landed cost where available, and build the tax, invoicing, and regulatory compliance each market requires, so customers pay one transparent price.
Is Managed Markets right for every international brand?
No. Eligibility, supported products and destinations, B2B, subscriptions, fulfillment, margins, and the desired level of control all affect fit. We evaluate Managed Markets against native Shopify Markets and direct Global-e before recommending an operating model.