Expanding your eCommerce business internationally can unlock new revenue streams and long-term growth. We’ve helped brands in industries like paintball and hot tubs take their WordPress-powered stores global, handling everything from multi-currency pricing to local payment gateways. Whether you’re seeing organic international demand or planning to enter new markets, this guide will walk you through the process of selling internationally with WordPress.
When to Go Global
Going international too early can stretch resources thin and slow down growth. A good time to explore new markets is when:
- Your domestic market is saturated or growth has plateaued.
- You’re seeing organic international traffic and conversions.
- You have the resources and team capacity to support new markets.
Expanding globally is most successful when you already have a validated product, strong operations, and room to scale without disrupting your existing market.
Choosing International Markets
Each market has its own buying behaviours, regulations, and competition. Start by reviewing your analytics for traffic from other countries, and shortlist markets that already show demand. If starting from scratch, target countries that are geographically close or share cultural or language similarities. This makes localisation and customer support much more manageable.
We often support phased rollouts: starting with English-speaking regions such as the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, then expanding to European markets using Euros.
Legal and Regulatory Considerations
Before launching in any new territory, review:
- Import/export laws for your product category (e.g. sports gear, supplements, electronics).
- Local data privacy laws (such as in the EU).
- Tax registration requirements and trade agreements.
- Whether you need a local legal entity or fulfilment centre.
A careful compliance plan will help avoid fines, delays, or reputational risks.
Competitor and Customer Research
Just because your product sells well domestically doesn’t mean it will resonate abroad. Research:
- Local competitors’ pricing and positioning
- Buying habits and seasonal trends
- Customer expectations for delivery times, packaging, and support
- Marketplaces or channels that dominate in that region
Combining this with data from your analytics gives a clear picture of where to invest.
Technical Architecture for International Stores
There are two main approaches to structuring international WordPress stores:
Single-Site with Multicurrency and Localisation
This involves running one WordPress or site that adapts dynamically by location. You can:
- Display prices in multiple currencies (USD, EUR, NZD, AUD, CAD, GBP)
- Offer region-specific payment gateways (Worldpay, ANZ, Moneris, Stripe)
- Set country-based shipping rules
- Auto-detect location and serve translated content
This approach is simpler to manage and ideal if product ranges are similar across regions.
Multi-Site Setup
A multi-site architecture involves creating separate WordPress instances for each region, for example:
- us.yoursite.com
- eu.yoursite.com
- au.yoursite.com
This allows for:
- Completely localised content, campaigns, and product catalogues
- Independent SEO strategies per region
- Different teams managing different markets
This is ideal if you plan to operate unique catalogues or need a dedicated regional presence.
Payments, Currencies and Checkout
Customers want to shop in their local currency and use familiar payment methods. We’ve implemented setups supporting:
- USD, CAD, NZD, AUD, EUR, GBP
- Local gateways like Worldpay, ANZ, Moneris, Stripe, Square and PayPal
- Automatic exchange rate updates or custom price books per market
- Region-specific checkout fields and tax handling
Offering familiar payment methods increases conversion rates and customer trust.
International Taxes and Duties
Each country has its own rules for taxes and duties:
- EU markets often include VAT in product prices
- US/Canada show taxes at checkout based on shipping destination
- Duties depend on product type, country of origin, and HS codes
We integrate automated tax platforms like to calculate accurate taxes and duties, reducing the risk of delays, fines, or unexpected customer charges.
Domains, SEO and Local Presence
Your domain structure impacts trust and SEO. You can choose:
- Country-specific domains (example.de, example.co.uk)
- Subdomains (us.example.com)
- Subfolders (example.com/fr)
For SEO, using subfolders under one main domain is often best to retain authority. Implement tags so search engines understand your regional content. Localising meta tags, structured data and copy ensures your stores rank in local search.
Translations and Languages
Language is critical. Nearly 80% of shoppers prefer to buy in their native language. We help brands:
- Translate content using tools like or custom translation workflows
- Assign languages to specific regions
- Localise tone of voice and customer service scripts
- Ensure translated content is SEO-friendly
Content Management and Localisation
Internationalisation adds complexity to content. To manage this cleanly, we:
- Build market-specific content blocks that dynamically load per location
- Maintain language-specific versions of pages and products
- Offer CMS workflows for multiple regional editors
- Use centralised product information systems (PIMs) for consistency
This ensures customers in each region see relevant content without bloating your backend.
Marketing Strategies for New Markets
Launching internationally requires more than technical setup. Every market needs its own growth strategy:
- Localised ad campaigns using regional channels
- Market-specific promotions, imagery, and copy
- Local influencer or affiliate partnerships
- Adjusted product mix based on local demand
We create market entry playbooks that combine technical, creative and operational plans to accelerate traction in each territory.
Why WordPress is Ideal for International Expansion
and offer unmatched flexibility. They allow:
- Full control over design, content and infrastructure
- Seamless integration with third-party tools (payments, shipping, taxes)
- Scalable architecture that supports both single-site and multi-site models
- Thousands of localisation-ready plugins for currencies, languages and SEO
Unlike closed platforms, WordPress gives you complete ownership of your code, data, and hosting infrastructure making it ideal for brands planning long-term international growth.
How Smart Web Agency Can Help
Our eCommerce consultancy team specialises in internationalisation and localisation. We’ve delivered:
- Multi-currency storefronts for paintball brands (USD, NZD, AUD, CAD)
- EU expansions with Euros and localised tax handling
- Integrated local gateways like Worldpay, ANZ and Moneris
- End-to-end support from strategy and research to launch and optimisation
We combine strategic planning with technical execution, ensuring your international stores are fast, secure, compliant and optimised to convert.
If you’re planning to take your WordPress store global, our team can design, build and support the entire journey from market selection and payment setup to content localisation and growth strategy.
Get in touch today to discuss how we can help you expand internationally with confidence.
