Cross-border Shopify commerce for Australian brands selling overseas
- 20+Shopify builds shipped
- +28%Avg conversion lift
- DDPLanded cost at checkout
- 90+Avg Lighthouse
- WCAG 2.1 AAOn every launch
Selling overseas shouldn't cost you the sale at the border
Most AU stores can technically ship internationally. Far fewer make it feel local, priced right, and free of nasty surprises at checkout.
Duty shock at the door
Customers refuse parcels when a courier bills them for duties nobody warned them about. You wear the return and the chargeback.
Prices stuck in AUD
Overseas shoppers see the wrong currency and unfamiliar totals, second-guess the order, and leave.
No local way to pay
Without the payment methods a market trusts, local cards, wallets, buy-now-pay-later, checkout completion drops off a cliff.
Shipping that's a guessing game
Vague delivery windows and unclear landed cost make buyers hesitate on the highest-intent page you have.
Tax compliance you're unsure about
US sales tax, UK and EU VAT, and IOSS thresholds are easy to get wrong and expensive to ignore.
Who does what
Cross-border touches parties beyond the storefront. Here's how the work splits.
| We handle | With you | Out of scope | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duties & tax | Configure DDP, currency and tax mapping in Shopify | Confirm registrations and thresholds with your accountant | Filing and remitting overseas tax returns |
| Payments | Enable local methods and multi-currency | Approve provider accounts and fees | Underwriting decisions made by the provider |
| Shipping | Build rate profiles and delivery messaging | Negotiate carrier and 3PL contracts | Physical fulfilment and customs brokerage |
| Content & SEO | Set hreflang, localised URLs and translation wiring | Supply or approve translated copy | Ongoing translation of new content (available on retainer) |
Is cross-border the right move right now?
A good fit if
- You already see overseas demand, orders, traffic or enquiries from outside Australia.
- You're on Shopify or Shopify Plus and want to sell into the US, UK, NZ or EU properly.
- You want duties and taxes calculated at checkout, not sprung on the customer later.
- You'd rather localise pricing, payments and shipping than bolt on a redirect.
Probably not yet if
- You haven't validated demand in a single market, start there first.
- You need a full replatform or new build, begin with our theme or migration teams.
- You're chasing every country at once with no fulfilment or returns plan in place.
- You want a fully separate storefront per region, that may be a Hydrogen build, not Markets.
What cross-border with Nexly includes
Everything needed to sell into new markets cleanly, configured in your own Shopify admin.
What's included
- Shopify Markets configured for your target countries and regions
- Landed-cost pricing with duties and import taxes shown at checkout
- Local currency display with market-based price rounding
- Local payment methods enabled per market
- International shipping profiles, rates and delivery timelines
- Geolocation prompt and a clear market and currency selector
Technical deliverables
- Markets / Managed Markets setup with duty (DDP) configuration
- Multi-currency via Shopify Payments
- Tax mapping for US sales tax, UK and EU VAT, and IOSS
- Localised URLs and hreflang for international SEO
- Translated content wired in via Translate & Adapt or a third-party app
- Market-level reporting across GA4 and Shopify analytics
Technology & integrations
- Shopify Markets, Managed Markets and Shopify Payments
- Duty and tax engines such as Zonos or Global-e where needed
- Carriers and 3PL: DHL, FedEx, Australia Post, Shippit, Starshipit
- Local payments and BNPL: Klarna, Afterpay, iDEAL and more
- Translation apps: Translate & Adapt, Weglot, Langify
- Tax compliance tooling such as Avalara where required
How a cross-border build runs
A typical single-market launch in around six weeks, longer for multi-market rollouts.
Discovery & market pick
Week 1. We map demand, unit economics and compliance for the one to three markets worth doing first.
Compliance & pricing plan
Week 1–2. Duties, tax registrations, landed-cost and currency-rounding strategy agreed before any build.
Markets & payments build
Week 2–4. Configure Shopify Markets, multi-currency, local payment methods and the duty (DDP) engine.
Shipping & fulfilment
Week 3–4. Rate profiles, carrier and 3PL mapping, and clear delivery messaging at checkout.
Localisation & SEO
Week 4–5. hreflang, localised URLs and translated content wired in without hurting your AU rankings.
QA & test orders
Week 5. Real test orders per market to prove duties, tax, currency and shipping all reconcile.
Launch & monitor
Week 6. Phased go-live with market-level analytics and a fortnight of close monitoring.
How we prove it works before you launch
No market goes live until it clears this checklist.
- Live test orders placed in every target market
- Duties and taxes reconciled against a landed-cost model
- Currency rounding and price display checked per market
- Each local payment method completed end to end
- hreflang and localised URLs validated for international SEO
- Checkout and market selector tested on mobile to WCAG 2.1 AA
Investment
Typical ranges, scoped after discovery. Cross-border cost tracks the number of markets, payment methods and how much localisation you need.
Single-market launch
One priority market, duties at checkout, local payments and shipping.
Multi-market rollout
Two to four markets with localisation, translation wiring and market analytics.
Managed Markets programme
Plus-level, DDP across many markets, deeper integrations and ongoing optimisation.
Cross-border commerce FAQs
Related services
Ready to sell overseas without the border friction?
Book a call and we'll map the one or two markets worth doing first, the compliance you'll need, and a realistic timeline and budget.
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