Shopify Arabic Support: What Gulf Merchants Should Do Now
Shopify Arabic support now covers admin, checkout and Horizon themes. Use this checklist to launch a bilingual Arabic-English store that works for Gulf buyers.
Shopify Arabic support just got a real upgrade. On 2 October 2026, Shopify announced improved support for three right-to-left languages, Arabic, Urdu and Hebrew, across the admin and storefronts, including checkout, customer accounts and the Horizon family of themes. If you sell in Saudi Arabia, the UAE or anywhere in the Gulf, this is the right moment to launch a proper Arabic version of your store, or to fix the one you already have.
This guide explains what actually changed, what did not change, and gives you a practical checklist to run a bilingual Arabic and English store that feels native to Arabic shoppers instead of looking like a translated afterthought.
What changed in Shopify Arabic support
The October 2026 changelog covers two sides of the platform: the tools you use to run the store, and the pages your customers see.
The admin speaks Arabic
You and your team can now work in the Shopify admin in Arabic, with the layout flowing right to left. According to the changelog, the display language is picked up from your device settings when available. Each staff member can also set a preferred language from their own profile in the admin, so an Arabic-speaking operations team and an English-speaking marketing team can share the same store comfortably.
Storefront, checkout and customer accounts
The improvement is not limited to the back office. Shopify says the better right-to-left support reaches the storefront, checkout and customer account pages. Those are the moments where a broken layout costs you money: a misaligned price, a form field that reads in the wrong direction, or a button in an unexpected place at checkout makes shoppers hesitate.
What did not change: your own content
This is the part many merchants miss. The update does not translate your products. Merchant content such as product pages stays in the languages you have enabled, and Shopify points merchants to the Translate & Adapt app to add translations. In other words, the platform is now ready for Arabic, but your catalog, collections, policies and blog still need Arabic content that you provide.
Why this matters for Gulf merchants
Many Gulf stores have run on English-only themes for years, or used Arabic with layout problems that were hard to fix without custom code. Built-in right-to-left support in checkout and customer accounts removes much of that friction. It also means your Arabic-speaking staff can manage orders, products and settings without switching mental languages all day.
The opportunity is simple: shoppers who browse, compare and pay in their own language tend to trust the store more. The risk is just as simple: a store that switches to Arabic but shows machine-translated product descriptions, English size charts and a half-mirrored layout can look less trustworthy than a clean English store. The checklist below helps you avoid that.
Checklist: launch a bilingual Arabic-English Shopify store
Work through these steps in order. Do them on a draft or a duplicate theme first, then publish once everything has been tested.
- Add Arabic as a store language. In your admin go to Settings > Languages (admin.shopify.com/settings/languages), click Add language and choose Arabic. Shopify’s languages documentation explains that you add the language, add translations, then publish it when it is ready. Keep it unpublished until the content is done.
- Check that your theme supports right-to-left. Shopify’s help center states that the latest versions of themes in the Horizon family support right-to-left languages such as Arabic, Hebrew and Urdu. For any other theme, confirm right-to-left support with the theme developer before you commit. If you are on an older Horizon version, update it on a copy first.
- Make sure shoppers can switch language. Your theme needs a language selector, or you add one through an app. Place it where Arabic shoppers expect it, usually in the header and footer.
- Translate your most important content first. Start with best-selling products, main collections, navigation menus, the cart, shipping and return policies, and contact details. Then move to blog posts and secondary pages.
- Review every machine translation. Auto-translation is a starting point, not a finished product. Have a native Arabic speaker check product names, sizes, units, and anything related to returns or payment.
- Translate URL handles where it helps. Translate & Adapt lets you translate URL handles manually. Decide on a consistent approach before you start, so you do not change links later.
- Test checkout and customer accounts in Arabic. Place a full test order in Arabic, from product page to confirmation. Then log in to a customer account and check order history and addresses.
- Test on mobile. Most Gulf traffic comes from phones. Check menus, sliders, product galleries, price alignment and icons that point left or right on at least one iPhone and one Android device.
- Publish the language and monitor. Once everything works, publish Arabic. Watch the first weeks of orders and customer messages for confusing wording or layout issues.
Translating products properly, not just quickly
According to Shopify’s Translate & Adapt documentation, the app lets you translate products, collections, blog posts, pages, store policies, theme settings and metafields, and it can auto-translate into a maximum of two languages. If Arabic is one of your main markets, use one of those two slots for Arabic, and plan carefully, because the documentation notes that once a language is auto-translated you cannot switch that slot to a different language.
The same documentation lists content that cannot be translated through the app, including tags, collection filters and content from third-party apps. Check your reviews widget, size chart app and upsell blocks, and confirm how each one handles Arabic.
Write for Arabic shoppers, not for a dictionary
- Use clear Modern Standard Arabic for product names and descriptions, so the text works across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait and the rest of the region.
- Keep brand names and model names in their original form when customers search for them that way.
- Rewrite benefits instead of translating word for word. A sentence that sounds natural in English can sound stiff in Arabic.
- Be consistent with numbers, measurements and currency formats across the whole store.
- Translate trust content first: delivery times, returns, payment options and contact details.
Adapt by market where it matters
Translate & Adapt also supports market-specific adaptations, such as regional wording or promotional announcements for one market. If you sell across several Gulf countries, you can adjust messages per market without building separate stores. Delivery and shipping settings by market are a separate topic, covered in our guide to Shopify market-driven shipping for Gulf stores.
Arabic SEO basics on Shopify
An Arabic version of your store is also a chance to appear in Arabic search results. Shopify’s languages documentation covers the main technical points:
- Separate URLs per language. Each language gets its own URL, either as a subfolder such as example.com/ar or a subdomain such as ar.example.com.
- Hreflang tags. Shopify adds hreflang tags automatically for language-specific URLs, which help search engines show the right version to the right user.
- Sitemaps. All published languages are included in your sitemaps.
What Shopify does not do for you is write Arabic titles, meta descriptions and product text that match how people actually search. Treat Arabic SEO as its own task: research Arabic search terms, write unique meta descriptions, and make sure each important product has a real Arabic description, not an empty or English one.
Quick comparison: what Shopify handles and what you handle
| Area | Handled by Shopify | Your responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Admin in Arabic | Right-to-left admin, language from device or profile | Choosing the language for each staff member |
| Checkout and customer accounts | Improved right-to-left support | Full test orders in Arabic on mobile |
| Theme layout | Latest Horizon versions support right-to-left | Updating the theme or confirming support for other themes |
| Product content | Translate & Adapt tools, auto-translation for up to two languages | Reviewing and improving every translation |
| SEO | Language URLs, hreflang tags, sitemaps | Arabic keywords, titles and meta descriptions |
If you are also getting used to the redesigned back office, our Shopify new admin guide walks through the main changes.
How MaXab.ai helps you build a strong Arabic Shopify store
MaXab.ai is an AI-powered e-commerce platform, and its team offers ready-made services for merchants who want to move fast without hiring a large team.
- Shopify store design and migration. Our Shopify store design service covers building and migrating stores, so you can launch a bilingual Arabic-English store on a solid theme instead of patching an old one.
- AI content in your brand’s voice. MaXab.ai’s AI writes product titles, descriptions and SEO articles in your brand’s voice, which gives your team a strong first draft to review instead of a blank page.
- A dropshipping catalog without inventory. If you also run a store on Salla (get a 10% discount with the code F-GTFFU30M), the MaXab.ai dropshipping app is integrated directly with Salla. You get access to more than 10,000 products in a catalog that is updated continuously, import products with one click and hold no inventory. Some categories, such as women’s bags and men’s wallets, are stocked in Saudi Arabia, while featured products such as mobile electronics, audio and smart devices are shipped directly from China to your customers.
- A real intermediary, not just a connector. MaXab.ai buys the product from the supplier and follows the order until it reaches your end customer, so you do not deal with suppliers or shipping yourself.
You can compare plans on the MaXab.ai pricing section, or browse all MaXab.ai services to see which one fits your store.
Frequently asked questions
Does Shopify translate my products into Arabic automatically?
No. The October 2026 update improves Arabic display in the admin, storefront, checkout and customer accounts, but your product content stays in the languages you configure. You add Arabic translations yourself, for example with the Translate & Adapt app, which can auto-translate into up to two languages.
Which themes support Arabic right-to-left layouts?
Shopify states that the latest versions of the Horizon family of themes support right-to-left languages such as Arabic. For other themes, check with the theme developer that right-to-left is supported before you publish Arabic.
Where do I turn on Arabic in my store?
Go to Settings > Languages in your admin (admin.shopify.com/settings/languages), add Arabic, add your translations, then publish the language when everything has been tested.
Conclusion
Better Shopify Arabic support removes many of the technical barriers Gulf merchants have dealt with for years. What is left is the work that wins customers: a theme that truly supports right-to-left, reviewed Arabic product content, a tested checkout and a mobile experience that feels natural. Start with the checklist above, and if you want help with design, migration or AI-written content, explore MaXab.ai and see how we can support your next step.
