How to Set Up a Clone Site for International Sales on Shopify?

Byte Blog • February 6, 2025

For businesses looking to expand internationally through Shopify, setting up a cloned site brings numerous benefits. However, the technical complexities of this process should not be overlooked. By working with Byte, you can achieve solutions that enhance both user experience and sales.

In the world of e-commerce, Shopify is one of the leading platforms for businesses looking to sell internationally. However, for brands that do not wish to sell globally, certain customizations in Shopify’s setup and the use of a clone site approach may be necessary.

What is a Clone Site?

A clone site is a version of an existing e-commerce site with the same structure but customized to suit a different market, language, and/or currency. A clone site typically involves copying the original Shopify store theme to the new store created for a specific region, followed by region-specific theme modifications and Shopify settings adjustments.

Setting up a clone site on Shopify is usually done to address specific needs, with currency management being one of the main reasons. For an e-commerce store built on Shopify serving global customers, allowing users to shop in their local currency is crucial for optimizing conversion rates.

This approach enhances user experience and increases customer trust in the brand. However, Shopify Payments does not support multi-currency payments for stores using third-party payment gateways. In such cases, creating a separate clone store for each region becomes the most reliable and seamless solution.

The process of creating a clone store is not only a technical task but also requires strategic planning. Currency differences impact more than just payment transactions; they also affect pricing and localized content. Therefore, the process should be handled carefully and professionally. To avoid errors, ensure customer satisfaction, and minimize technical issues, it is advisable to have Shopify experts manage this operation, ensuring successful global market operations.

Shopify Payments and International Sales

Shopify offers its own payment system, Shopify Payments. However, Shopify Payments is not available in all countries. You can check Shopify’s website to see the countries where Shopify Payments is supported. For countries where Shopify Payments is not available, alternative payment systems such as PayPal, Stripe, and other regionally available providers can be used.

Currency and User Experience Issues

For stores that cannot use Shopify Payments, third-party apps can display prices in the desired currency using real-time exchange rates. However, at checkout, the price reverts to the store’s primary currency. For example, if the primary currency of your store is USD, customers may see product prices in EUR based on the current exchange rate, but when they proceed to checkout, they will only see and pay in USD.

This inconsistency can negatively impact user experience, leading to confusion and mistrust. To resolve this issue and provide a seamless experience, separate clone sites can be created for different regions. For example, your main store could operate in USD, while clone sites could use EUR for European customers and GBP for UK customers.

Advantages of Setting Up a Clone Site

Setting up a clone site provides several benefits, including:

Enhanced User Experience: A site tailored to each region allows users to shop with higher conversion rates.
Currency-Compatible Infrastructure: Displaying prices in the local currency builds trust, and separate pricing strategies can be implemented for each site without real-time conversion.
SEO-Optimized Structure: Each clone site can have a distinct SEO strategy, making it more comprehensible for search engines and increasing visibility.
Higher Conversion Rates: Customers are more likely to complete purchases when prices remain consistent in their currency from browsing to checkout.
Single Theme Utilization: Cloning an existing theme minimizes development needs, reducing costs significantly compared to creating a new site from scratch.

How Does the Clone Site Setup Process Work?

Creating a New Store on Shopify

Before proceeding, remember that setting up a clone store for different regions requires both technical expertise and strategic planning. It is recommended to seek expert assistance. Shopify requires a separate store for each clone site. Follow these steps to set up a clone site:

Create a New Store: Open a new Shopify store specific to your target market.
Set Language and Currency: Configure the store’s language and currency according to the target market.
Adjust Tax and Shipping Settings: Customize tax and shipping policies to align with the regulations of the target country.

Design and Content Transfer

Design: Clone the original store’s theme and adjust colors and language settings for the target market.
Content Translation: Translate product descriptions, page content, and blog articles into the target language. Professional translation services are recommended.

SEO Configuration with Hreflang Tags

Hreflang tags inform Google that your site is available in different languages and regions, which is crucial for international SEO performance. Implementation includes:

Using Shopify apps or custom code for hreflang tag integration.
Accurately assigning country and language codes (e.g., en-us, en-gb).
Ensuring that hreflang definitions are correctly applied to all clone sites.

Key Considerations When Setting Up a Clone Site

Choose the Right Payment System: Select a payment provider that supports the target audience.
Ensure Currency Compatibility: Implement settings to prevent currency-related issues.
Develop a Unique SEO Strategy: Tailor SEO plans for each clone site.
Seek Professional Assistance: Working with experienced Shopify agencies can help prevent potential issues.

Recommended Shopify Apps for Clone Site Setup

The Shopify App Store offers several solutions for clone site management. Some recommendations include:

Location Detection and Redirection

Geolizr: Displays the store in different languages or currencies based on user IP and redirects visitors accordingly.
GeoIP Redirect: Automatically redirects users to the appropriate store based on location.
EasyLocation - Geo Redirects: Provides an easy-to-use interface for location-based redirection and notifications.

Stock Synchronization

Stock Sync: Synchronizes inventory levels across multiple sites.
Multistore Sync: Automatically syncs stock across all stores, enabling seamless inventory management.

Content and Translation Tools

Langify: A tool for translating content into different languages.
Weglot: An SEO-friendly translation app that automatically generates hreflang tags.

SEO Tools

SEO Manager: Helps optimize keywords and manage hreflang tags.
GWA: Hreflang Manager: Identifies technical SEO issues and provides solutions for multi-store hreflang implementation.

Common Issues and Solutions

Stock and ERP Integration Managing stock integration between different sites can be challenging due to ERP system inconsistencies. Solutions include:

API Integration: Use Shopify APIs to synchronize inventory data.
Manual Checks: Monitor stock levels manually during critical periods.

Hreflang and SEO Mistakes

For websites that offer international sales and services in multiple languages, hreflang configuration is one of the most critical aspects. When a cloned site enters the equation, this issue becomes even more complex and significant. To understand the root of the problem, let’s first take a brief look at how the hreflang structure works.

The hreflang tag informs search engines about the country and language a webpage is intended for. It is also a piece of code that specifies the existence of other language or regional versions of a page and provides their links.

Manually added hreflang tags on cloned sites work with the following logic:

link rel="alternate" href="{{ canonical_url | replace: shop.domain, example.com }}" hreflang="en-us"
link rel="alternate" href="{{ canonical_url | replace: shop.domain, example.de }}" hreflang="de-de"

This snippet automatically generates hreflang tags based on the current page. For instance, on a dress collection page, it might produce the following output:

link rel="alternate" href="https://example.com/collections/dress" hreflang="en-us"
link rel="alternate" href="https://example.de/collections/dress" hreflang="de-de"

At this point, a critical error may arise. Notice that the hreflang link for the international site still includes “/dress.” However, in the cloned site with German as the primary language, the correct equivalent should be “/kleid.” If the hreflang link does not point to an existing page, it can lead to SEO issues.

To manage this correctly, structuring Shopify clone stores properly and using necessary plugins if needed is essential. Therefore, when dealing with cloned sites, collaborating with an experienced Shopify agency specializing in international SEO, such as Byte, can be the safest choice.

User Experience Challenges

When cloned sites operate under different domains (or subdomains) with varying languages and designs, managing the user experience effectively becomes crucial. Each region and even each country has distinct e-commerce habits, meaning that simply cloning a design may not always be sufficient. Customizing the site based on language and regional preferences significantly enhances the user experience.

For languages like Arabic, which follow an RTL (right-to-left) script, direct design cloning is entirely inadequate. Major design changes must be implemented to ensure usability and accessibility, making customization essential for success.

Key Factors for Cloned Sites

To measure and optimize the performance of a cloned site, consider the following critical metrics:

Traffic and Visitor Behavior

Analyze organic and paid traffic sources in the target market.
Track the time visitors spend on the site and bounce rates.
Determine whether visitors arrive from the main site, external referrals, or direct searches.

Conversion Rate

Compare conversion rates across different language versions of the site.
Identify and fix payment process issues affecting conversions.

Sales and Revenue

Analyze which markets generate the highest sales.
Measure the average order value (AOV) and repeat purchase rates.

Customer Satisfaction

Review customer feedback and support requests.
Ensure customers are directed to the correct version of the site.
Offer transactions in the local currency to enhance user trust.
Implement improvements based on feedback from the target market.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Cloned Sites

Cloned sites provide significant opportunities for businesses but also come with certain challenges. By offering a localized experience, they help build customer trust and improve visibility in target markets through better SEO. Additionally, businesses can implement region-specific pricing strategies to cater to different purchasing behaviors. All these factors contribute to stronger customer loyalty and higher sales.