Shopify Plus Expansion Stores: What's Shared, How to Sync
Shopify Plus expansion stores are extra .myshopify.com stores in the same Plus organization, used for another country, a B2B store, a VIP or staff store, or a retail-only store. Up to ten stores come with the Plus contract at no extra cost (one main store and nine expansion stores), and staging stores do not count. Each store is fully independent: products, inventory, settings, apps and theme licenses are not shared.
Shared vs separate
The rules come from Shopify’s Help Center page on expansion stores, read on October 23, 2026.
| Shared across the organization | Separate in each store |
|---|---|
| Users, managed centrally | Store settings and configuration |
| Billing, managed centrally | Products, collections and inventory, not synced |
| The Plus contract and its store allowance | Apps, billed per store |
| Theme licenses, one per store; a paid theme imported into a staging store is unlicensed until that store buys it | |
| Files: a theme imported from another store keeps pointing to the original store’s files |
If you copy a theme from the main store and later delete a file there, the link in the expansion store’s theme breaks. To prevent this, Shopify says to import files together with the theme and update any URLs in the theme so they point to the files in the new store.
When an expansion store is the right tool
Shopify lists five typical uses: international expansion (the same brand and products in another language, region or currency), product line extensions under the same brand, B2B stores, employee or VIP stores, and retail-only stores. On standard Plus contracts, expansion stores must be extensions of the main brand, identical in name and branding, carry the same types of goods, and be billed in USD or INR.
For a new country, check first whether Markets is enough. One store with Markets gives each country its own currency, prices, catalog, language and domain, with one set of products to maintain. An expansion store makes sense when the country needs a different legal entity, a separate team with its own admin, or a catalog and apps so different that sharing one store causes more work than it saves. How Markets handles domains is in domains for regions.
Create an expansion store
- In your organization’s settings, create a new store and choose its purpose; Shopify says the purpose may affect billing or setup but does not restrict features.
- If you are within your contract limit, the store is added to the organization straight away; beyond it, a trial store is created, a request goes to Shopify Plus, you are asked to approve an extra fee, and the upgrade is processed within a few days.
- Set up the store’s own settings: payments, taxes, shipping, domains, policies.
- Buy a theme license for this store, then import and customize the theme.
- Install the apps you need; each one is a new subscription for this store.
- Load products and inventory. At creation you can import themes, files, and products and collections with their metafields (excluding reference types and category metafields) from another store in the organization; after that, use CSV or a sync tool.
Keep stores in sync
Shopify does not sync products, collections or inventory between stores. Its Help Center points to third-party apps or an ERP for syncing data such as inventory. Decide before launch:
- Which store is the master for products and prices, and what the others may change locally.
- How inventory moves: a sync app, an ERP, or separate stock per store.
- Who updates apps and themes in every store when one changes.
- How reports are combined, since each store reports on its own.
Write the plan down before launch. The broader choice between one store, Markets and several stores is in manage multiple Shopify stores, and what Plus includes in Shopify Plus. Other operations guides are in the running a store hub.
Frequently asked questions
How many expansion stores does Plus include? A Plus organization can have up to ten stores on its contract at no additional cost: one main store and nine expansion stores. Staging stores do not count, and more than ten requires contacting Shopify Support.
Do apps cost extra per store? Apps are billed per store, not for the whole organization, so an app used in three stores is three subscriptions. Theme licenses are also per store.
Can expansion stores share inventory? Stores do not share inventory or products by default. Shopify’s Help Center suggests third-party apps or an ERP system to sync inventory between stores.