Shopify in German: Is Shopify Suitable as an Online Shop System for Germany?

Shopify is without a doubt one of the most popular eCommerce platforms of our time. This platform offers numerous advantages that set you apart from your competitors – its amazing user-friendliness, affordable prices, a wide range of customization options, beautiful design templates, and much more.

However, until recently, Shopify faced some challenges in the German market. Several obstacles, such as the limited availability of payment options, led users to seek alternative solutions. However, the Shopify team is known for its innovative ideas and its commitment to overcoming all obstacles.

Therefore, 2018 marks a new chapter for Shopify and its role in the German market. Thanks to many good, new ideas, the company is on the verge of becoming one of the leading providers of eCommerce shop systems for small and medium-sized businesses. This will cater to the needs of German users who have long been searching for a simple solution to quickly and conveniently create a high-quality online store. With previous shop systems, extensive IT knowledge was often required—something many future shop owners simply do not have. Here, the Shopify in German offering can open up the market for many users who previously saw no way to implement their ideas due to a lack of technical programming expertise.

THE MOST IMPORTANT AT A GLANCE

Shopify in German – What’s New?

The excellent Shopify software is currently available in six other languages, including a German version of Shopify!

Users can already look forward to an extremely successful beta version that covers all the key aspects of Shopify and provides a good overview of the available features, themes, and design templates offered by the Shopify team.

This makes it much easier for users to create their own online store with Shopify in German according to their vision, while still handling daily routine tasks seamlessly. After all, many Shopify shops have to ship numerous orders or generate invoices for various services every day. With the Shopify in German offering, you can now perform these tasks in your native language, which is a great relief for most users.

The advantage of a beta version for users is that they can exert some influence on the design. After all, these beta versions are intended to give the software the final polish, tailored to customer needs. Some aspects can still be further refined to achieve perfection. However, there are still a few areas in the beta version that remain available only in English. This includes the mobile app, which still needs to be switched to German on Shopify. Nevertheless, Shopify is working hard to translate these text elements into German for users. Ultimately, the goal is to establish Shopify in German on the German market as quickly as possible.

Users can contribute by providing honest feedback, thereby advancing the further development of Shopify in German. The Shopify team also welcomes suggestions and ideas regarding the beta version to optimize the software for customers.

If you want to activate the German beta version of Shopify, you can do so via a link. Once you wish to work in English again, you can restore the previous version through the settings area.

The experienced team at Shopify is well aware that the addition of many new languages opens up many new possibilities for users. The developers and partners of Shopify are happy to conduct extensive experiments to adapt to regional conditions and better meet individual needs. The translations for Shopify in German are partly managed by Shopify’s partners and are quality-controlled. To ensure you have the latest versions, users should regularly check the App Store for updates.

Händlerbund Certification

Since September, Shopify in German has been pre-certified by Händlerbund!

If you want to create your Shopify shop, you will be guided through the process step-by-step to build a complete Shopify shop. The first available button will ask if you want to list a product. If that’s the plan, you should click that button. The product presentation page is very similar to the concept offered by WordPress. You can enter the necessary details such as the title, description, sale price, and seller. You can do everything exactly as you envisioned. Just be sure that your listing is actually saved.

What Benefit Do You Gain from This Pre-Certification?

The intensive collaboration between Händlerbund and the software provider Shopify has significantly optimized and advanced online retail in Germany. In addition, the technical conditions for the online shopping system have been further adjusted, while also meeting legal requirements to ensure legal compliance in Germany. Ultimately, both Shopify as a provider and its users must be able to collaborate on a legally secure foundation to prevent legal issues with Shopify in German.

However, the pre-certification granted by Händlerbund is, in the initial phase, intended only for the beta version of Shopify in German, and thus also applies to the free Shopify themes. Nonetheless, the Shopify team plans to release additional free Shopify themes as well as new premium themes in the coming months. After all, there is a high demand for the popular Shopify themes that often give an online store the desired professional look.

The pre-certification ensures that online stores now have the opportunity to certify their Shopify shop with the buyer seal, as it has been granted by Händlerbund.

Does the Händlerbund Buyer Seal Influence Buyers?

Buyers do pay close attention to the available buyer seals, and as online retail is rapidly on the rise, the various certifications are becoming increasingly important for emphasizing credibility. Buyer seals are therefore regarded as a clear advantage in the competition for customers.

Furthermore, buyer seals are not granted lightly; there is a prior evaluation by experienced lawyers from Händlerbund, who scrutinize the online store closely. Many online stores also opt for an in-depth review by Händlerbund to test their Shopify in German shop for legal compliance, thus helping to prevent potential warnings for breaches of competition law.

Shopify in German and Payment Providers in Germany

One of the perhaps most important changes in the reform by Shopify in German is the introduction of credit cards and instant bank transfers, which can now be used directly with Shopify. This makes it easier for customers to pay for ordered goods or services and also simplifies billing for Shopify shop owners, which can sometimes be very labor-intensive.

Shopify is now also working with Klarna, enabling customers to pay now or later, thereby allowing them to pay for their purchases at a low interest rate. This gives them flexibility and increased purchasing power – ultimately boosting revenue for you as a store owner.

It is repeatedly evident that the range of payment options is crucial for many buyers in an online store. A complicated payment process can deter many customers, as can a limited selection of payment options. The broader the range, the more likely customers are to use them. In Germany, paying by credit card is less popular than in other countries, and many Germans even prefer the traditional bank transfer.

Shopify and Instagram

As of April 16, 2018, Instagram for Shopify is now also available in Switzerland and Austria!

Instagram is used daily by over 500 million users and is currently regarded as the app with the fastest growth, wielding increasing influence among influencers, brands, and especially consumers.

In the past, Instagram was primarily used as an app for sharing photos or videos. However, it has now evolved into a powerful social media platform that all Shopify shop owners should leverage. Whether you’re in the jewelry, beauty, modeling, home decor, or furniture industry, Instagram is the ideal platform for users to communicate and interact effectively.

If a retailer is considering “Shopping on Instagram”, it means they can immediately tag their products in posts. This enables customers to seamlessly complete their journey from the first view of a favored product to the final checkout. Once a company has nine or more shopping posts on Instagram, they receive their own shop tab on their Instagram profile, which customers can click to view the entire product range.

It makes no difference whether you, as a user, utilize high-quality product photos or simply a smartphone picture on Instagram. The product tags provide customers with the opportunity for genuine interaction when they engage with your products and proceed to checkout, eliminating the need to click on the biography.

About the Tax Rates in Germany and the EU

If you want to offer your goods throughout the EU, you must charge different tax rates, such as VAT, for physical and digital goods, as these rates are not uniformly regulated. Fortunately, Shopify now provides an easy way to set up tax collection for physical and digital goods for businesses in Germany.

The Sale of Physical Goods

When selling physical goods to customers in the European Union, you must, for example, apply the respective VAT rate of your home country. In Germany, the VAT rate has been 19 percent since 2007.

Setting the Tax Rates for the Sale of Physical Goods:

First, navigate to the settings page and access the Shopify administrator. There, you will find the various tax rates for all EU countries and can set the EU countries to which you want to ship goods.

If one or more EU countries along with their tax rates appear in the list of countries you wish to ship to, you can go to the shipping settings category. There, you’ll find the shipping section, and when you click the button for the shipping zone, you can type “Europe” into the search field. This will add all EU countries to the shipping list. Additionally, you can remove any countries from the list that are not members of the EU.

When you access the EU countries individually in the settings, you will also find the respective tax rate, and in most cases, the current VAT rate should be displayed.

If your annual turnover in a particular EU country exceeds the VAT threshold, you must register for a local VAT identification number. In this case, you may also need to apply the VAT rate of that country. Learn more about VAT thresholds in our EU VAT guide for Shopify stores.

For instance, if your company is based in Germany, you may need to register for a local VAT identification number in France. Your tax rates might then be as follows:

Shopify Tax Settings for German VAT

The tax rates of a Shopify shop in Germany can also necessitate a local VAT identification number in France. As a Shopify shop owner, you should ensure that the German VAT rate of 19 percent is not applied universally, since, for example, the VAT rate in France is 20 percent.

Selling Digital Goods with Shopify in German

If you sell digital goods such as eBooks, downloadable music, archive photos, or online courses via Shopify in German to customers in the European Union, you should charge VAT at the rate applicable in the customer’s country.

Conclusion