Running a business across multiple countries or entities doesn’t have to mean juggling separate Shopify stores. In the latest update from Shopify, if you’re on Shopify Plus or Enterprise, you can streamline your entire operation by selling from multiple business entities within a single store.
This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about setting up and managing multiple entities in Shopify – from understanding the requirements to implementing the system that could transform how you handle international sales.
Step-by-Step Setup Guide
Step 1: Set Up Your Business Entities
Before adding Shopify Payments accounts, you need to have your business entities configured in your Shopify admin. If you haven’t done this yet, you’ll need to add each business entity through your Organization settings first.
Step 2: Add Shopify Payments to Each Entity
- Navigate to Payment Settings
- From your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Payments
- Add New Shopify Payments Account
- In the Shopify Payments section, click “Add Shopify Payments account”
- Select Your Entity
- Choose the business entity you want to connect to Shopify Payments
- Click “Continue”
- Complete Account Setup
- In the “Complete account setup” section, click “Submit details”
- Choose your business account type (this may auto-populate if you’ve already specified it in Organization settings)
Repeat this process for each entity you want to add.
Step 3: Connect Entities to Regional Markets
This is where the magic happens – you’re telling Shopify which entity should process transactions for each geographic region.
- Access Markets Settings
- Go to Settings > Markets in your Shopify admin
- Select or Create Your Market
- Choose the market you want to connect an entity to
- Or click “Add market” to create a new regional market
- Connect the Entity
- Click the reset icon next to “Business entity”
- Select the appropriate business entity for that market
- Click “Save”
Example setup: If you have entities in the US and Germany, create a “United States” market connected to your US entity and a “Germany” market connected to your German entity.
Who Can Use Multiple Entities in Shopify?
Plan Requirements: This feature is exclusively available for businesses on Shopify Plus or Shopify Enterprise Commerce plans. If you’re on a lower-tier plan, you’ll need to upgrade first.
Geographic Requirements: Your business entities must be located in specific supported regions. Currently, Shopify supports multiple entities in these countries:
Europe: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
Americas: Canada, Mexico, United States
Asia-Pacific: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore
Important note: If your business entity is in Belgium, Finland, Hong Kong SAR, or Czechia, this feature isn’t available yet.
Important Considerations That Could Affect Your Setup
Primary vs. Secondary Entity Structure
Your original Shopify account becomes your “primary entity,” and additional entities are “secondary entities.” Some features (like adding third-party payment methods) are only available for your primary entity.
Subscription Limitations
While you can offer subscriptions across multiple entities, all subscription payments process through your primary entity. This means international fees might still apply for subscription customers outside your primary entity’s country.
Retail Location Requirements
If you’re planning to use this with physical stores:
- You need a separate entity for each country with retail locations
- Products must have identical pricing online and in-store within the same country
- POS transactions and online transactions must process through the same entity in each country
- All entities must be in countries where Shopify Payments for POS is available
Key Takeaways
Selling from multiple entities in Shopify can dramatically simplify your international operations while reducing processing costs. The setup requires careful planning and meets specific requirements, but the benefits – streamlined operations, reduced fees, and better customer experience – make it worthwhile for businesses operating across multiple countries.
