Shopify in Thailand at a glance
Shopify is available in Thailand. You can sign up from Bangkok, sell in Thai baht, run the storefront in Thai and English, and ship with Thai couriers.
What does not come ready out of the box is local payment: at the time of writing, Thailand is not on Shopify's list of countries where Shopify Payments is offered, so Thai stores take cards and PromptPay through third-party payment providers, plus manual methods such as bank transfer and cash on delivery.
So the realistic picture is this. The store builder, themes, product management and checkout work well. Payments, shipping rates, Thai tax invoices and some local habits (customers who want to chat on LINE before they buy, or pay by transfer and send a slip) need apps, a gateway and a clear setup. If you are new to the platform, start with an introduction to Shopify and how it works, then use this guide as your map for the Thai side.
This guide assumes you have already chosen Shopify. It walks through the full life of a store: setup, payments, shipping, tax, point of sale, apps and growth, with links to deeper posts on each topic.
Is Shopify popular in Thailand?
Honestly, we do not know of a reliable public figure for Shopify's market share in Thailand, and we would rather not repeat guesses. What is easy to observe is where Thai online selling happens: large marketplaces such as Shopee and Lazada, social selling through LINE, Facebook and TikTok, and a growing number of brand stores on their own domains. Shopify sits in that last group.
Brands tend to pick Shopify when they want their own store that looks like the brand, collects customer data they control, and runs without a developer on call. Fashion, beauty, lifestyle, specialty food and export-minded sellers use it often. Businesses that need deep Thai customisation, complex B2B pricing or full control over hosting more often choose WooCommerce, which runs on WordPress; our guide to using WordPress in Thailand covers that route.
Popularity matters less than fit. Ask three questions: will you sell mostly to Thai customers or abroad, how many products and variants do you have, and who will run the store day to day? A small team selling a focused range to Thai and international buyers is where Shopify is strongest.
How do you set up a Shopify store in Thailand?
Create the account with your business email and Thai business address, choose a plan, set the store currency to baht and connect your own domain. Then add Thai and English versions, pick a fast theme and plan collections around how Thai customers browse. Each step is covered below.
Account and plan
Create the account with your business email and set the store address to your Thai business address. Plans are billed as a subscription; check the current plans on Shopify's pricing page before you budget. Our separate post on Shopify costs in Thailand breaks the fees down.
Currency and domain
Set the store currency to THB if most buyers are in Thailand. Connect your own domain (a .com or .co.th) rather than trading on the free myshopify.com address, because customers trust a real domain and it keeps your search history if you ever move platform.
Thai and English
Shopify lets you add languages and publish a translated storefront. Do the Thai version properly: product names and descriptions written for Thai buyers, not machine translated, and check that your theme's fonts render Thai clearly, including tone marks on small text. Translate the checkout labels, shipping notices and email notifications too, since that is where confused customers abandon orders.
Theme and structure
Pick a fast theme, then plan collections the way Thai customers browse, often by occasion, skin type or price band as well as by category. Collection names and handles also shape how the store is found, as our Shopify SEO guide explains. Keep the mobile layout first: most shoppers will arrive from a phone after tapping a link in a social post or chat. If you want the general groundwork before you start, our guide on how to build a website step by step covers planning pages and content.
Taking payments
Payments are the part Thai sellers most often get wrong, so plan them before you design anything.
Cards and PromptPay through a gateway
Because Shopify Payments is not offered in Thailand at the time of writing, you connect a third-party payment provider that supports Thai merchants and lists a Shopify integration. Look for card payments, PromptPay QR and, if you sell to older buyers, mobile banking options. Compare the provider's transaction fees, settlement time to your Thai bank account, and how refunds work. Shopify may also charge its own fee on orders paid through an external gateway, so read both price lists together.
Manual methods
Shopify supports manual payment methods. Many Thai stores add bank transfer or PromptPay transfer with slip confirmation, and cash on delivery for buyers who do not trust paying first. Manual methods cost nothing in gateway fees but create admin: someone must match slips to orders, and COD brings refused parcels and slower cash flow.
A sensible mix
- A gateway for cards and PromptPay QR, so most orders confirm automatically.
- COD for first-time buyers, possibly with a minimum order value.
- Bank transfer only if your team can confirm slips quickly.
Our detailed post on Shopify payments in Thailand goes gateway by gateway.
Shipping with Thai couriers
Thai buyers expect quick, cheap delivery and a tracking number they can check on their phone. The main couriers for online stores are Thailand Post, KEX Express (formerly Kerry Express), Flash Express and J&T Express, and many sellers use two: one for standard parcels and one for COD or remote provinces.
Rates at checkout
The simplest setup is flat rates by weight band, or free shipping above a basket value. Real-time courier rates need an app or an aggregator service that connects several couriers to Shopify. Whatever you choose, show the delivery cost before checkout, because a surprise fee is a common reason carts are abandoned.
Fulfilment
- Print labels in batches and mark orders fulfilled with the tracking number, so Shopify sends the customer an update.
- Decide a daily cut-off time and state it on product pages.
- For COD, agree with the courier how and when collected cash reaches your account.
- Plan for peaks: 11.11, 12.12, Songkran and year-end gifting bring volume spikes.
If you do not want to hold stock at all, supplier-shipped models are possible; our post on Shopify dropshipping from Thailand explains the trade-offs.
VAT, e-Tax invoices and registration
This section is general information, not tax advice. Confirm your situation with a Thai accountant.
Registration
Selling online in Thailand usually requires commercial registration for e-commerce with the Department of Business Development (DBD), whether you trade as an individual or a company. The DBD website explains the process and the trust mark scheme for online stores.
VAT
Under Revenue Department rules, a business must register for VAT once its annual turnover exceeds THB 1.8 million. If you are registered, set your Shopify tax settings so prices show correctly (most Thai consumer stores display VAT-inclusive prices) and make sure invoices carry the details the law requires.
e-Tax invoices
Business buyers will ask for a full tax invoice with their company name, address and tax ID. Shopify does not produce Thai tax invoices by itself. The common approaches are:
- an app or accounting tool that generates Thai invoices from Shopify orders;
- issuing e-Tax invoices through the Revenue Department's e-Tax Invoice system or an approved service provider;
- a checkout field where buyers enter company details and tax ID.
Connecting orders to your books saves hours at month end; our guide to linking your store to accounting software covers the options Thai businesses use.
Shopify POS for shops in Thailand
Shopify POS is the point-of-sale app that lets a physical shop, market stall or pop-up sell from the same product list and stock as the online store. For a Bangkok brand with a counter in a mall and an online shop, one stock count is the main attraction.
Before you commit, check two things on Shopify's POS pages for Thailand specifically. First, which card readers and hardware are supported in your country, because hardware availability varies by market. Second, how in-person payments will work without Shopify Payments: many Thai shops keep their bank's card terminal and a PromptPay QR stand at the counter and record the sale in POS as an external payment.
POS also needs Thai receipts that match your VAT status, and staff accounts with the right permissions. Test a full day of trading, including returns and exchanges, before opening.
Growing your store
Once orders flow, growth usually comes from one of these directions.
Bigger plans
High-volume brands eventually ask whether the enterprise tier pays off. Our honest take on whether Shopify Plus is worth it sets out the thresholds that matter.
Memberships and repeat buyers
Subscriptions, member pricing and loyalty points suit beauty, coffee and pet supplies. Read our guide to membership websites before choosing apps.
Integrations
Linking Shopify to a warehouse, ERP, marketplace or courier aggregator removes manual copying. Our explainer on API integrations for business websites shows what to ask before connecting systems.
Apps Thai stores commonly add
- Payment gateway and slip confirmation
- Courier rates and label printing
- Thai tax invoice or accounting sync
- Translation management
- Chat buttons for LINE and WhatsApp
- Reviews and PDPA cookie consent
Add apps one at a time: each adds script weight and a monthly bill.
Launch checklist
Run through this list on a real phone, in both languages, before you announce the store.
- Business detailsDBD e-commerce registration done, store address and contact details correct.
- Currency and taxTHB set, VAT display matches your registration status.
- Payments testedA real card order, a PromptPay payment, a COD order and a refund all completed.
- Shipping ratesRates show before checkout; free shipping threshold works.
- Thai contentProducts, checkout labels and notification emails read naturally in Thai.
- Tax invoicesBusiness buyers can request a full tax invoice with their tax ID.
- Legal pagesPrivacy notice, cookie consent, returns and shipping policies published.
- Chat and contactLINE and WhatsApp buttons open the right accounts.
- SpeedHome, collection and product pages load quickly on mobile data.
- TrackingAnalytics and conversion tracking record test orders once, not twice.
Getting help with Shopify
Many sellers set up a first Shopify store themselves, and that is a fine way to start. It is worth bringing in a developer when payments, Thai tax invoices and courier rates all need to work together, when you are moving a catalogue of hundreds of products, or when the store has to feel like your brand rather than a stock theme.
Our E-commerce package covers Shopify or WooCommerce with PromptPay, cards, COD, Thai couriers, product import, e-Tax invoice setup, staff training and a launch checklist. It starts from THB 50,000 as an indicative one-time price, and a typical project takes about 15 days; large catalogues take longer. See the detail on what an online store costs with us, or read about our work as a Shopify developer in Bangkok.
- E-commerce
from THB 50,000indicative, one-time
For stores selling in Thailand with local payments and shipping.
- Shopify or WooCommerce
- PromptPay, cards, COD, Thai couriers
- Product import and e-Tax invoice setup
- Staff training and launch checklist
Indicative starting prices, one-time. The final price is set in the written quote for each project, and payment terms are set out in your quote.
Who reviewed this guide
This guide was reviewed by Litesh Dhir, co-founder of Website Development Bangkok, responsible for SEO and web development.
Who builds your site
Litesh Dhir
Builds and ranks the websites: the systems behind the 17 client sites whose Search Console numbers we publish.
More about us