How to manage locations in separate countries?

[Uni-Trend]

Hello,

Our parent company is a manufacturer, based in China. We have separate entities in the US and in Germany. Right now, we are using two separate Shopify websites because of corporate income taxes. We have inventory in the US for North America and in Germany for Europe. When sales are made, it's easy to reconcile the income taxes per each country where we ship from. 

We want to get rid of the redundant efforts. Using Markets doesn't change where the money is collected, only what is sold/delivered. We are trying to figure out how to make sure that orders shipping to North America go through our US office (from a money, as well as order flow) and European orders check out with the payment going to the German office. 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Regards,

Pete

[DaisyVo]

Hi @Uni-Trend 

I totally see where you're coming from, and this is a really common challenge for businesses with multiple entities across different countries. Right now, you’re juggling two separate Shopify stores mainly because of corporate income tax and inventory distribution—totally makes sense. The goal here is to simplify operations while keeping the tax and payment flow compliant for both regions.

The Challenge

Shopify Markets is great for managing localized pricing and inventory per region, but as you’ve noticed, it doesn’t change where payments are collected. Since you need payments for North American orders to go to the US entity and European orders to the German entity, you’re essentially looking for a multi-store structure without the redundancy of managing two separate Shopify sites.

Possible Solutions

1. Shopify Plus Expansion Stores (Recommended)

If you’re on Shopify Plus, you can create expansion stores under the same Shopify organization, meaning:

• You keep two stores (US & EU) but centralize management under one Shopify organization.
• It allows better syncing of products, inventory, and even automation to cut down redundant work.
• Payments can still be directed separately—US orders go to the US entity, and EU orders go to Germany.

Best for: Keeping tax & financial compliance in check while reducing operational headaches.

2. Separate Shopify Stores with a Shared Admin (Mid-Tier Solution)

If Shopify Plus isn’t an option, keeping two stores but integrating them more efficiently is the next best thing:

• Use Shopify Flow (if on Advanced/Plus) or third-party automation tools to sync inventory, pricing, and product listings between both stores.
• Use different Shopify Payments accounts: One store collects payments in USD (linked to the US entity), and the other collects in EUR (linked to the German entity).
• Manage inventory through an ERP (like NetSuite, Brightpearl, or Cin7) to avoid manual reconciliation.

Best for: If you’re on Advanced Shopify but need tax separation without full manual work.

3. Third-Party Checkout Routing (For One Shopify Store)

If you really want to keep it to one store, you’d need a custom solution using Shopify’s checkout process:

• Use Shopify Scripts (if on Plus) or Shopify Functions to dynamically assign payment gateways based on the customer’s shipping country.
• Example setup:
  • If shipping to the US/Canada → Checkout routes payment to Stripe/PayPal (linked to US entity).
  • If shipping to Europe → Checkout routes payment to a separate Stripe/PayPal account (linked to German entity).
• You’ll likely need a developer to help with this.

Best for: If you absolutely want a single Shopify store but need separate payment routing.

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Which Option is Best?

• Go with Shopify Plus Expansion Stores if you can—this is the cleanest solution for tax compliance and workflow simplification.
• If staying on Advanced Shopify, use two stores but automate syncs to reduce double work.
• If forcing one store, expect some custom development to properly split payments.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you need more details or specific tool recommendations.

If you need extra help, just let me know asap. Thanks
Daisy.