This case study documents an eight-month engagement with a Singapore pet food store on Shopify as it expanded into Malaysia. Selling across the border looks simple on Shopify: add a market, switch on a currency, start shipping. Search is harder. Malaysian shoppers search Google Malaysia, use their own terms and expect prices in ringgit and local delivery times. Two English versions of the same store can also look like duplicate content to Google if the set-up is wrong, and the newer version can end up hurting the established one.
The store had shipped to Malaysia for a year from its single Singapore store, with prices in SGD and Singapore delivery information on every page. Malaysia brought in 180 organic visitors and about S$1,100 in organic revenue a month, and the store ranked on page 1 of Google Malaysia for just 3 keywords. The client had begun working with a fulfilment partner in Malaysia and wanted a proper Malaysia version of the store, without putting at risk the 5,940 monthly organic visitors it had in Singapore.
We researched how Malaysians search for pet food and supplies. Many searches matched Singapore, but others differed: city terms such as "pet shop online KL" and "cat food Penang", different brand availability and some Malay-language searches. With the client, we set up Shopify Markets with Singapore at the root of the domain and Malaysia in its own /en-my/ subfolder, with ringgit pricing and Malaysian delivery and returns information.
A subfolder keeps both markets on one domain, so the Malaysia version starts with the authority the Singapore store had already built. A separate Malaysian domain would have started from zero.
Shopify Markets adds hreflang tags for each market automatically, but the theme had a hard-coded canonical tag that pointed every Malaysia page back to its Singapore version, which cancelled the hreflang. We fixed the canonicals, confirmed en-SG, en-MY and x-default tags on every template, and checked both versions appeared in the sitemap. We also replaced the automatic redirect by IP address with a country suggestion banner, so Google's crawlers could reach both versions.
Hreflang tells Google that two pages are versions of each other for different countries, so it shows the right one in each market instead of treating them as duplicates. A single wrong canonical tag can undo it, and forced IP redirects can stop Google seeing one market at all.
The product structured data on Malaysia pages was still showing SGD prices. We updated the theme so each market outputs its own currency and price, and added shipping and returns details to the structured data for each country.
Google uses product structured data for prices and delivery details in search results. Showing SGD to Malaysian searchers made the listings less useful and sent Google mixed signals about which market each page served.
We wrote Malaysia-specific introductions and buying guides for the 20 main collections, covering delivery times to the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Bahru, local brand availability and prices in ringgit. We added a Malaysia FAQ on delivery and returns and rewrote the top 40 product pages for the Malaysia version with local delivery and stock details.
Hreflang handles the technical side, but Malaysia pages still have to be useful to Malaysian shoppers. Local delivery details and local search terms gave the Malaysia version a reason to rank in Google Malaysia on its own merits.
We kept the Singapore and Malaysia versions clearly separate in internal links, so each market's collections link to that market's products. Shared product descriptions stayed shared where hreflang covered them, and the pages that mattered most were made unique. We also earned links from 21 Malaysian sites, including pet care bloggers, rescue groups and pet community sites, through product reviews and adoption guides.
Google Malaysia gives weight to links from Malaysian sites. A store with links only from Singapore looks like a Singapore store to Google, even with a Malaysia subfolder. Local links were what moved the Malaysia version into the top results for competitive terms.
Most of the risk in cross-border SEO is two versions of a store getting in each other's way. These four things kept them apart.
The Malaysia version at /en-my/ shared the Singapore store's authority from day one. A new .my domain would have needed years of its own link building.
Shopify Markets added the tags, but one hard-coded canonical had cancelled them. Checking every template is what made Google show the right version in each country.
Ringgit prices on the page, in the structured data and in the product results. Mixed currencies confuse shoppers and tell Google the page may not be for them.
Malaysian delivery details, local search terms and links from Malaysian sites gave the Malaysia version its own reason to rank, instead of copying Singapore.
You do not need a separate website to sell into Malaysia. If you run a Shopify store in Singapore, a Malaysia subfolder through Shopify Markets keeps your existing authority and lets you show ringgit prices and local delivery details.
Check hreflang yourself, even when the platform adds it. On this store, one canonical tag in the theme cancelled every hreflang tag Shopify had added. Inspect a Malaysia page and confirm it points to itself, not to the Singapore version.
Plan for the Malaysia version to need its own content and links. Translating prices is not enough to rank in Google Malaysia. Local delivery information, Malaysian search terms and links from Malaysian sites are what made this version grow.
No. A subfolder such as /en-my/ on your existing domain, set up through Shopify Markets or your platform's equivalent, usually works better than a new domain because it shares the authority your store has already built. It also keeps both markets in one admin.
Hreflang tags tell Google which version of a page is for which country and language, so it shows Singapore shoppers the Singapore page and Malaysian shoppers the Malaysia page. Shopify Markets adds them automatically, but theme code can break them, so they should be checked on every template.
Not if hreflang and canonical tags are set up correctly, because Google treats the pages as country versions of each other. It still helps to make the most important pages unique for each market, with local delivery details, prices and search terms.
Show ringgit on the Malaysia version, both on the page and in the product structured data. Shoppers expect local currency, and Google uses the currency in the structured data to judge which market a product page serves.
Start with a free SEO audit of your store. We check your market set-up, hreflang and canonical tags, currency in your product structured data and duplicate content between countries, then show you a realistic path to organic sales in each market before you commit to anything.
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