Arabic and international selling
How do you create an Arabic and English Shopify store?
Set up both languages as complete shopping experiences. Translating the homepage does not translate the product choices, delivery explanation or customer messages.
Follow one product all the way through
Choose a representative product and review its collection, description, options, cart and checkout in both languages. Note which parts come from the theme, Shopify or an external app. Agree who supplies and approves translations, including product terminology. Missing translations can fall back to the default language, so check the result on real pages. Review the same route again after a meaningful product or app change.
Where missing translations tend to show up
Swipe across the table to see all columns.
| Part of the journey | What to read in both languages |
|---|---|
| Collection | Names, sorting and filtering labels. |
| Product | Facts, size names, selected options and delivery information. |
| Cart | Variant names, totals and important instructions. |
| Checkout and external tools | The language actually displayed by the configured platform or provider. |
| After ordering | Confirmation, fulfilment instructions and support links. |
Inventory the content to translate
List menus, collection names, product details, size information, policy pages and customer messages. Assign translation and approval responsibilities. When a translation is missing, Shopify can display default-language content, so review the customer journey for mixed-language gaps rather than assuming publishing a language completes the work.
Review the presentation separately
Arabic introduces direction and typography requirements that translated text alone does not resolve. Check menu alignment, product cards, selectors and long titles on mobile. Keep brand names and technical identifiers consistent. Ask a fluent reviewer to judge the meaning, not just whether Arabic characters are present.
Test routes and notifications
Open a product directly in each language, switch language and continue to the cart. Review checkout and notifications in the configured setup, including connected apps. Record any third-party tool that does not match the storefront language and explain the limitation instead of leaving an unexpected change for the customer.
What makes an Arabic translation feel natural
Keep the facts and intended action equivalent without copying English word order. Product and service terminology should remain consistent, but the sentence can change to make sense in Arabic. Read it aloud: would a customer ask or understand it that way? Check whether the reader gets an answer or only a literal sequence of instructions. Give the reviewer enough product context to judge the meaning.
Who maintains the second language?
Agree how a change to a product, policy or promotion reaches the other version. A translation that was correct at launch can become wrong after a later edit. Keep a short list of intentionally untranslated brand names and identifiers. Review external tools separately and explain limitations honestly. A fluent Arabic homepage does not establish that notifications, checkout and app content remain consistent.
Follow the same purchase in both languages
Choose a product with sizes and delivery information. Read its page, choose an option, add it to the cart and follow the permitted checkout journey in each language. Record every place where a translation disappears or the layout becomes difficult; a translated homepage alone does not complete this job.
Official references
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