Angry Creative specialises in helping SMEs grow using WooCommerce, with a particular focus on internationalisation. We’re really good at this and one of the leading experts in this area.

We have heavily standardised around solutions that we have battle tested and deployed across our client sites. This standard boilerplate is called ‘Qala’ and can add value either as a new build or when we add parts of it to an existing build.

Qala Multimarket is a core part of this standardised capability – enough that it deserves its own article to explain its features, benefits and how it works with other aspects of internationalisation.

What is Qala Multimarket?

Qala Multimarket is a WordPress plugin that builds on top of the popular MultilingualPress plugin, adding some internationalisation-specific features. In keeping with our development philosophy, Qala Multimarket is independent from any other Qala plugins, but designed to work brilliantly together with them all.

What are Qala Multimarket’s key features?

1. Create and manage an internationalised store
   
   Extends the multisite network configuration available with WordPress multisite and MultilingualPress. This gives store managers the ability to manage how locales are connected and how those connections appear to store visitors.
   
2. Enables location-based experiences
   
   With Qala Multimarket, each locale becomes its own independent yet connected store. Different locales can be managed by different store managers, hold a different inventory, use different plugins and use an entirely different look and feel. Or they can be exactly the same except for language and/or currency. This allows your store to fully support local requirements, whilst benefiting from staying part of a connected network.
   
3. Enables a language/site switcher
   
   Internationalised stores often need to allow users to navigate between locales. Qala Multimarket provides prompts to users who may want a more appropriate locale. The plugin can be configured to allow users to swap between locales using a switcher, which turns complex business logic into a simple user experience.

How does Qala Multimarket fit with other plugins?

Qala is designed in a modular manner, so as an ecommerce store’s requirements evolve, there are further Qala and 3rd party modules that are designed to work seamlessly and complement to the rest of Qala. Qala Multimarket is a keystone module which sits at the heart of Qala’s focus on WooCommerce internationalisation. 

Compatible internationalisation-related Qala plugins include:

1. Qala Multimarket Product Connector – enables linking of products between locales to output HREFLANG and enable the Qala Global Cart and other modules. This provides better SEO.
2. Qala Reviews – allows store managers to curate reviews for the same product into other locales. For example if you have a ca-en, ca-fr and en-en locales, this module allows you to pull ca-en reviews onto the en-en locale (and vice versa) but choose not to syndicate reviews from ca-fr (because they’d be in French). This maximises the impact of reviews on your store, amplifying social validation.
3. Qala Global Cart – fixes a limitation with the multisite approach to internationalising WooCommerce by rebuilding cart contents when a user switches between locales. This maintains the user’s shopping experience through locale-switching and increases conversion rates for such journeys.
4. Qala Single Admin – a module to streamline editorial and management workflows within an internationalised WooCommerce store (rather than having to click through the same action in multiple CMSs). This saves management time.
5. Qala Tax tools  – allows configuration of EU VAT, IOSS and VOEC schemes within WooCommerce to allow merchants to maintain compliance and keep shopping experiences simple.
6. Qala Single Stock – allows central stock management for a product that is available in multiple locales. Saves management time and greatly reduces the poor user experience of a customer purchasing an out of stock product for fast-moving inventories.
7. Qala Network Reports – in the absence of an ERP or other integration, this module gives store managers a quick and convenient way to generate reports from across the network of internationalised locales. This saves time and helps standardise workflows, minimising human error.

Whilst Qala includes a large number of Qala-specific modules, it is also built with the open source WordPress and WooCommerce ecosystem in mind. Where there are plugins we feel meet our quality standards and solve particular requirements, we are happy to use these rather than reinventing the wheel.

Some of the key 3rd party plugins that Qala is built to be compatible with include:

1. MultilingualPress – this awesome plugin takes a WordPress multisite and turns it into an internationalised network of locales. It is by far and away the best solution for WordPress/WooCommerce internationalisation for most use cases.
2. Aelia Currency Switcher – allows a locale to sell in multiple currencies.
3. Yoast SEO – the de facto plugin for WordPress and WooCommerce SEO.
4. WooCommerce EU VAT number – provides a service that can check the validity of EU VAT numbers – this helps B2B sites maintain compliance in terms of EU VAT.
5. WooCommerce Sequential Order Numbers Pro – allows one to customise order numbers across an internationalised WooCommerce store. This allows store managers to ensure order numbers are unique and logical, helping with integrations and other business processes.

And these are just the modules which relate primarily to internationalisation. Within Qala there are many more modules (both Qala-specific and curated from the wider ecosystem) that deal with other requirements. In this article, we hope we’ve demonstrated the power of Qala as a platform for internationalised ecommerce.