Skip to main content

markets.json

The markets.json file controls how theme customizations are inherited downstream across different markets. This file only appears in your theme's config folder when you have market-specific customizations.

While Shopify's markets feature allows one market to inherit from multiple parents, theme customizations require each market to have only one parent. The markets.json file manages this structure and allows developers to modify it.

Anchor to LocationLocation

When a theme contains market-specific customizations, the markets.json file is located in its config directory:

└── theme
...
├── config
| ├── settings_data.json
| ├── settings_schema.json
| └── markets.json
└── locales

Anchor to UsageUsage

The markets.json lists the markets for which the theme was customized and their source of inheritance.

Here is an example of a markets.json file for a theme that includes customizations for the following markets: North America, Canada, United States, and Europe.

config/markets.json

/*
* ------------------------------------------------------------
* IMPORTANT: The contents of this file are auto-generated.
*
* This file may be updated by the Shopify admin theme editor
* or related systems. Please exercise caution as any changes
* made to this file may be overwritten.
* ------------------------------------------------------------
*/
{
"markets": {
"europe": {
"parent": "@default"
},
"north-america": {
"parent": "@default"
},
"canada": {
"parent": "north-america"
},
"united-states": {
"parent": "north-america"
}
}
}

In this example, the North America and Europe markets inherit from the store default. The Canada and United States markets inherit from North America.

When you customize a theme for a new market, Shopify sets the source of inheritance automatically. To customize this inheritance, update the parent field for the market in markets.json. The value for parent can be set to:

  • Store default (@default): This is the default parent for all markets.
  • Any parent market handle for that given market.
Was this page helpful?