Selling in Arabic got easier

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🌙 Walk your store right to left before launching in arabic or hebrew

Set a phone to Arabic and open your store. It shows what Shopify's latest update fixed and what's still on you.

On October 2, Shopify improved support for three right-to-left languages: Arabic, Urdu and Hebrew. It covers the admin, storefronts and checkout, customer account pages and the Horizon theme family.

Display language adapts to a shopper's device settings where possible. Your own content, such as product pages, appears in whatever languages you've enabled, and Shopify points merchants to its Translate & Adapt app for translations.

The timing is useful. Gulf retailers run November sales, often called White Friday, and Ramadan 2027 is expected to begin in early February, so planning for it starts in December.

Here's the walk, from the top of the store down.

The homepage

Mirrored layouts leave images untouched. A hero banner with English text baked in, or an arrow pointing left toward "shop now," reads wrong once the page flips.

Make right-to-left versions of every banner with text or direction cues.

Product pages

Mixed-direction text is where pages break. Sizes like "XL," model numbers and prices inside an Arabic sentence can display out of order.

Check your top 20 product pages line by line. Then check size charts, which are often uploaded as images and won't translate at all.

Show prices in local currency, such as AED or SAR, and confirm the currency symbol sits on the correct side of the number.

Cart and checkout

Shopify's own checkout is covered. Apps you've added to cart or checkout may not be. In my judgment, third-party widgets are the most likely place for broken layouts, so test every one.

Notifications

Order confirmations, shipping updates and abandoned-cart emails need translated templates. A shopper who checks out in Arabic and receives an English confirmation may wonder whether the order went through.

Translation quality

Machine translation is a starting point. Have a native speaker review product names, sizing guidance and return policy text for your top products.

Arabic also varies by region. Copy written for Egypt can sound unnatural to shoppers in Saudi Arabia, so brief your reviewer on which market you're targeting first.

Payments and delivery

Check which payment methods local shoppers expect. Card-first checkout isn't universal across the region, and delivery promises need local carriers' real timelines.

One full test order

With the phone still set to Arabic, browse, add to cart, check out, receive the emails and start a return. Note every screen that looks wrong.

Before you translate a word

List every banner, size chart and app widget on your top ten pages. That list is your launch checklist, and translation comes after it.

Together with Insense

Your BFCM Creator Calendar is Already Mapped

Still sourcing creators when your Black Friday ads should be running? Every delay leaves less time to test what actually sells before your biggest spending weeks.

Insense’s free BFCM + Q5 Creator Marketing Playbook gives marketers a week-by-week plan from September through January, so every creator campaign starts with a clear deadline and purpose.

Inside, you’ll find:

• A week-by-week August-to-January calendar showing when to secure permissions, test content, scale winning creators, and move into Q5.
• A practical creator scorecard using conversions, engagement quality, and reliability, so November budgets back proven performers over follower counts.
• Q5 action plan covering licence extensions, January creative, and the recommended 10–15% budget reserve for the lower-cost post-holiday window.

You’ll also get benchmarks for creator-handle ads, modular UGC testing, live shopping, hook rates, and creative volume, helping your team set measurable targets before spending rises.

⚡Small Amazon budgets need focus before expansion

This framework argues that smaller Amazon advertisers should prioritize Sponsored Products before spreading limited budgets across multiple ad formats. Building consistent performance on proven keywords and products creates a stronger foundation for expansion.

Why it works: Concentrating spend gives core campaigns enough traffic and conversion data to identify what works. Once profitable targeting patterns emerge, brands can introduce Sponsored Brands and other formats without weakening their existing campaigns.

Where it needs balance: Sponsored Products aren't always the best starting point for every brand. Sponsored Brands or video can sometimes deliver stronger results depending on competition, category, and creative quality. Budget allocation should follow performance and business goals rather than a rigid campaign sequence.

🎥 Reel of the Day

What Works:

1. Cross-Category Brand Collaboration - Summer Fridays partners with LEORA Café to transform three Body Collection fragrances into matching drinks. The collaboration introduces skincare products through a familiar café experience, reaching audiences beyond beauty shoppers.

2. Turn Scents Into Flavors - Frozen Pistachio Matcha, Pink Guava Lemonade, and Vanilla Crème Latte translate fragrance profiles into drink flavors. This sensory connection makes the skincare collection easier to remember and encourages customers to explore the products.

3. Reward Every Purchase - Every collaboration drink comes with a full-size Lip Butter Balm and deluxe skincare samples. Adding beauty products to a café purchase creates tangible value while introducing customers to the wider Summer Fridays collection.

Partner with a complementary lifestyle business to turn existing products into a limited-time experience. Match the visuals, offer valuable samples, and introduce exclusive rewards that encourage customers to visit, purchase, and share.

Advertise with Us

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Thanks for reading this edition! Keep pushing boundaries, testing ideas, and staying inspired. See you in the next edition with more ways to ignite your marketing success. 🥰