International Ecommerce — Selling Globally with WooCommerce

## Going Global Selling internationally used to require separate websites, complex logistics, and multilingual content management. In 2025, WooCommerce makes global commerce significantly more accessible. ### Multi-Currency (Start Here) The lowest-effort, highest-impact first step. WooCommerce Payments supports 130+ currencies natively — customers see prices in their local currency, and you receive payment in yours. For more control, the Currency Switcher for WooCommerce plugin lets you set custom exchange rates and display a currency selector in your store. ### Multilingual (When You Have Demand) WPML + WooCommerce Multilingual translates products, categories, checkout pages, and transactional emails. Each language gets its own URL structure (/en/, /fr/, /es/). Only invest in translation when you have validated demand from non-English-speaking markets. Translation is expensive to maintain — every product update needs to be translated across all languages. ### International Shipping - **WooCommerce Shipping** handles domestic rates natively - **ShipStation** or **Shippo** for international shipping with customs documentation - **DHL Express plugin** for door-to-door international delivery with tracking - Offer free shipping above a threshold — it dramatically increases international conversions ### Tax Compliance - **WooCommerce Tax** (free) auto-calculates rates by location - **EU VAT:** WooCommerce EU VAT Number plugin handles VAT collection and exemptions - **Canada:** Configure GST/HST/PST by province in WooCommerce settings - **US:** Sales tax varies by state — automated calculation is essential ### Legal Considerations - **GDPR** for EU customers: cookie consent, data portability, right to deletion - **CASL** for Canadian marketing emails: express consent required - **Return policies** may need to vary by country (EU has 14-day mandatory cooling-off period) - **Product compliance** varies by country (labeling, safety standards, import restrictions) ### Our Recommendation Start with multi-currency — low effort, high impact. Add language support only when you see significant traffic from specific non-English markets. Ship internationally only to countries where you've validated demand through multi-currency sales data.