Solved

Operating from different country

Arisa3
Tourist
4 0 1

Hi there.

 

I am very new to Shopify and will start my online retail business in Australia.

If anyone could give me advice on followings, it would be greatly appreciated!

(1) I am currently living in Japan and will start business before moving back to Australia.

I have created my test account in Japan. Could I start doing business by just changing store address in Australia

(For instance, by getting virtual office address)?

I was worried that if I build in Japanese site, it may only work in Japan.

 

(2) Could I use Skype phone number as my store phone number?

 

Many thanks for your support.

Accepted Solutions (3)

Shay
Shopify Staff
2778 440 566

This is an accepted solution.

Hi @Arisa3 

Thank you for reaching out to our Community Forums for support with your new business! I'd be happy to help you with your questions about setting up your store and changing the contact information and address for it.

Quick answer, you can definitely change the address of your business at any time and you can also use a VOIP phone number without issue as well. There are some thing to consider with changing your address and I will cover that in more detail.

The address you have setup for your business will also affect the availability of certain apps on your store and access to certain payment gateways that you might already have setup. When changing your business location, this is something to keep in mind. Otherwise, you can absolutely change your business location at any time - Keeping in mind that the address for your business needs to be a legal  registered address for your business. This information will most likely be required to share with your payment gateway as proof that you are a real business entity. 

Starting a new business can take a lot of work and a lot of learning. If you have any questions I can assist with don't hesitate to reply back here and let me know. 

-Shay

 

Shay | Social Care @ Shopify 
 - Was my reply helpful? Click Like to let me know! 
 - Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
 - To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Shopify Blog

View solution in original post

Shay
Shopify Staff
2778 440 566

This is an accepted solution.

Hi Arisa!

That's a great business model you are working with. Easily stores and shipped food products are one of those items that never go out of popularity and always has a demand.

You are correct that our Oberlo service (Which uses Aliexpress as the provider) does not currently include food items for dropshipping. There are a lot of other suppliers out there though that do, a quick google search brings up a lot of alternative sources to check out.

It is important to keep in mind though that while you are dropshipping these products, the quality guarantee is coming from your business directly. If there is an issue with delivery or quality, that is something that does become your businesses responsibility to take care of, that includes product recalls and quality complaints. 

Another important factor is ensuring you have an affordable shipping option for large orders as "freight" orders may require special shipping services.

You can absolutely have products that are both dropshipped and shipped directly from your business. You would most likely want to setup shipping profiles for the different suppliers to ensure that you are charging accurate shipping/freight for the orders. You have full control over where your product is housed, sourced and fulfilled from and there is no limitation on that. 

Hope this information helps!

-Shay

Shay | Social Care @ Shopify 
 - Was my reply helpful? Click Like to let me know! 
 - Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
 - To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Shopify Blog

View solution in original post

TeamSpocket
Trailblazer
183 10 27

This is an accepted solution.

Hi @Arisa3 ,

Targeting the international market does come with its challenges but it's certainly doable. The first thing that you need to do is to look for a payment gateway that supports international currency (USD). You can check this list of third-party payment gateway supported by Shopify and see which one supports USD as a currency. 

After this, you can set up your account just like any regular store. Just make sure that you have a reliable carrier that can deliver your products in a timely manner.  It's also a good practice to give proper expectations to your customer on how long the shipping will take (since the products are coming overseas).  You can set this up in your shipping policies and/or advised the customers on the shipping times on the checkout section (you can add an extra message on the checkout page).

Have you checked Spocket? It's a dropshipping app that allows you to import and sell products from our suppliers around the world.  This is perfect for merchants like you who plan to sell in a different country.   You can choose our suppliers that are located near your customers. This will make things easier and faster in terms of shipping. 

You can check this article and see how easy it is to set up a dropshipping store using the app: 

Quick 5-Step Process to Launching your Store

You can sign up here for a free Spocket account.  You can also check our success stories on some of our retailers. 

Cheers,
Spencer and the Spocket team

View solution in original post

Replies 4 (4)

Shay
Shopify Staff
2778 440 566

This is an accepted solution.

Hi @Arisa3 

Thank you for reaching out to our Community Forums for support with your new business! I'd be happy to help you with your questions about setting up your store and changing the contact information and address for it.

Quick answer, you can definitely change the address of your business at any time and you can also use a VOIP phone number without issue as well. There are some thing to consider with changing your address and I will cover that in more detail.

The address you have setup for your business will also affect the availability of certain apps on your store and access to certain payment gateways that you might already have setup. When changing your business location, this is something to keep in mind. Otherwise, you can absolutely change your business location at any time - Keeping in mind that the address for your business needs to be a legal  registered address for your business. This information will most likely be required to share with your payment gateway as proof that you are a real business entity. 

Starting a new business can take a lot of work and a lot of learning. If you have any questions I can assist with don't hesitate to reply back here and let me know. 

-Shay

 

Shay | Social Care @ Shopify 
 - Was my reply helpful? Click Like to let me know! 
 - Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
 - To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Shopify Blog

Arisa3
Tourist
4 0 1

Hi Shay

 

Thank you so much for your advice!

It is great to know that I can set up the store from where I am now.

 

I plan to sell food products such as stable food(rice, flour, cereal), dry fruits, nuts and spice,

which are packaged and can store in the warehouse.

 

May I ask following questions?

(1) Could we find any food products through dropshipping such as Oberlo?

It seems there is no food product category.

 

(2) In general, could we mix dropshipping and non-dropshipping items in a store?

Shay
Shopify Staff
2778 440 566

This is an accepted solution.

Hi Arisa!

That's a great business model you are working with. Easily stores and shipped food products are one of those items that never go out of popularity and always has a demand.

You are correct that our Oberlo service (Which uses Aliexpress as the provider) does not currently include food items for dropshipping. There are a lot of other suppliers out there though that do, a quick google search brings up a lot of alternative sources to check out.

It is important to keep in mind though that while you are dropshipping these products, the quality guarantee is coming from your business directly. If there is an issue with delivery or quality, that is something that does become your businesses responsibility to take care of, that includes product recalls and quality complaints. 

Another important factor is ensuring you have an affordable shipping option for large orders as "freight" orders may require special shipping services.

You can absolutely have products that are both dropshipped and shipped directly from your business. You would most likely want to setup shipping profiles for the different suppliers to ensure that you are charging accurate shipping/freight for the orders. You have full control over where your product is housed, sourced and fulfilled from and there is no limitation on that. 

Hope this information helps!

-Shay

Shay | Social Care @ Shopify 
 - Was my reply helpful? Click Like to let me know! 
 - Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
 - To learn more visit the Shopify Help Center or the Shopify Blog

TeamSpocket
Trailblazer
183 10 27

This is an accepted solution.

Hi @Arisa3 ,

Targeting the international market does come with its challenges but it's certainly doable. The first thing that you need to do is to look for a payment gateway that supports international currency (USD). You can check this list of third-party payment gateway supported by Shopify and see which one supports USD as a currency. 

After this, you can set up your account just like any regular store. Just make sure that you have a reliable carrier that can deliver your products in a timely manner.  It's also a good practice to give proper expectations to your customer on how long the shipping will take (since the products are coming overseas).  You can set this up in your shipping policies and/or advised the customers on the shipping times on the checkout section (you can add an extra message on the checkout page).

Have you checked Spocket? It's a dropshipping app that allows you to import and sell products from our suppliers around the world.  This is perfect for merchants like you who plan to sell in a different country.   You can choose our suppliers that are located near your customers. This will make things easier and faster in terms of shipping. 

You can check this article and see how easy it is to set up a dropshipping store using the app: 

Quick 5-Step Process to Launching your Store

You can sign up here for a free Spocket account.  You can also check our success stories on some of our retailers. 

Cheers,
Spencer and the Spocket team