With total household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) of US$17.48 trillion in 2019, according to the United Nations Statistics Division, the vast US market offers your business a wealth of opportunities. Learn how to take the first step toward entering this lucrative market by setting up your Shopify store today with a fully incorporated U.S. business entity.
As the world’s largest consumer market, the United States (US) offers overseas businesses significant opportunities to sell products. If your business is not yet exploring these opportunities, one easy way of entering the US market is by setting up an online store on Shopify.
Using Shopify to Access the U.S. Market
The Shopify platform allows your business to start and manage an online store without opening an office in the US. Here are seven steps to take before launching your US operation on Shopify. If you’re looking for a way to sell physical products online, Shopify is one of the best options available.
Incorporate in the United States
Many new online business owners aren't sure if they should incorporate, what their business structure options are, what incorporation might mean for the business, or even what they need to do to form a company.
Before you can trade in the US, you’ll need to open a US company.
Our interactive online portal allows you to chose your specific business type, select the state of incorporation and add additional services to your company setup that cover everything from selecting a registered agent, obtaining your EIN tax ID from the IRS, getting stock certificates issues, obtaining your custom minutes and bylaws, issuing membership certificates, obtaining your letter of good standing, issuing annual reports and getting all of these documents delivered to you in a company branded leather binder with a company seal. Incorporate a U.S company online today.
Open a US Business Bank Account
Once your business is incorporated, opening a US business bank account is straightforward, but slightly more complex for non-residents.
To help facilitate the opening of a business bank account as a non-resident in the United States, you have a couple of options depending on where you are in the stage of setting up your company. We partner with financial institutions in the United States who specialize in setting up business bank accounts for non US resident owners of US companies, that we would be happy to introduce you to.
Set up a Merchant Account
A merchant account with a credit card company allows you to accept credit and debit card payments directly from your customers. However, before deciding to set up a merchant account, find out about all the fees attached to the account and read the terms and conditions carefully.
Our partner and recommended processor is Stripe. Millions of companies of all sizes—from startups to Fortune 500s—use Stripe’s software and APIs to accept payments, send payouts, and manage their businesses online.
Decide on and Purchase a Domain Name
Brainstorm possible domain names for your Shopify store. If your current business name would be easily recognized and remembered by US consumers, it could be used in your domain name. If not, choose a new name for your US Shopify store.
Select a domain name suffix that identifies your business as a US-based one, such as .com or .us. Purchase your domain name either through Shopify or through an online domain name registration company.
Choose a Shopify Pricing Plan
Shopify offers four different pricing plans with payments being made either monthly or annually. Choose the plan that best meets your needs. For example, some businesses start with the reasonably-priced Basic plan and upgrade to the Unlimited plan once their sales have reached a certain level.
Design Your Shopify Store
It’s easy to design your own attractive Shopify store without any specialist technical knowledge. Choose from over 100 professionally designed templates and customize them with your own fonts, colors, photographs and branding.
If you need some assistance, consult Shopify’s online manuals and tutorials or ask a question on its forums. A Shopify expert can also help you enhance and complete your store.
Arrange for Local Shipping
Shipping products from your home country to customers in the US can be expensive and take longer than necessary. Therefore, it’s a good idea to use a US-based fulfillment service to ship all your orders. Shopify works with a number of e-commerce fulfillment companies. Compare their services before deciding which one would be most suitable for shipping the items you sell.
Get started today by forming your U.S. company
Via our online platform, you can obtain a U.S. business address and incorporate a U.S. company in any of the 50 U.S. states, we then ship your approved, state issued articles of formation and corporate kit (find out more) to you anywhere in the world. On top of this, you can access digital copies of your formation documents via our portal and access your business mail via the same platform. Get started today with Yondaa, Inc.
