Cart
Your cart is currently empty.

Shopify Unite 2019: Is Shopify Globalisation finally here?

Going from Beta in 2018 to full-on multilingual, Shopify has given merchants the ability to localize their stores in the various languages listed below. That’s the first step towards globalization. This promises to be implemented in the Themes and Interface of Shopify, but they have also provided a Translation API, Shop Locale API, and Translations in GraphQL Admin API. Additionally, Shopify has been able to provide Multiple Currencies in Shopify Payments. What does all this stuff mean? Shopify
Shopify Unite 2019: Is Shopify Globalisation finally here?

Going from Beta in 2018 to full-on multilingual, Shopify has given merchants the ability to localize their stores in the various languages listed below. That’s the first step towards globalization. This promises to be implemented in the Themes and Interface of Shopify, but they have also provided a Translation API, Shop Locale API, and Translations in GraphQL Admin API. Additionally, Shopify has been able to provide Multiple Currencies in Shopify Payments. What does all this stuff mean?


Shopify in the past was limited by its own cloud strength of being very US/English focused as a centralized platform to all merchants. After much outcry by the merchant community to expand its stores to multiple markets worldwide, Shopify has delivered a comprehensive set of tools to allow your store to go global.


Shopify Plus used to provide merchants a multi-store capability, where you would have to replicate your English store into separate stores to handle a different language and payment system for that currency. This was difficult for merchants to manage without the use of an ERP to consolidate the stores and manage all the various products, inventory, shipping methods, and all financial reporting into one place. It looks like Shopify has reached a place where we can now develop and implement a multi-lingual/currency store within Shopify Plus.


The NEW Shopify Plus is “Coming Soon” as of June 19th, 2019. It will be exciting times for shopkeepers to going “global” as it will be an upgrade away for a global reach – but there are still challenges ahead.


Languages: ((2018)) English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, and Japanese. ((2019)) Dutch, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Malay, Hindi, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, and Thai.


Currencies: GBP, AUD, CAD, EUR, HKD, JPY, NZD, DKK, SGD, and USD.


Here is the caveat for this new-found capability. Your Theme and Apps will have to be compliant and up to date to the new enhanced API. While your data/products/orders/history is preserved in your current store with the “upgrade to Shopify Plus”, you might have to check to see if your Theme vendor has a Multilingual Theme that’s compliant, or having to change the Theme to a compliant one.


With Shopify Payments, it is not expected to have any impact. Shopify will know what language the user has been in since languages will be tracked by URL (ie. Shop.com vs. Shop.com/fr for French).


To ensure a smooth transition, and proper planning in this capability – a consultation with your Shopify Expert or eCommerce store developer would be wise. Additionally, a conference call with a Shopify Plus manager to assess the effort in taking this important step can be set-up.


Enhanced API: https://help.shopify.com/en/api/getting-started?itcat=partner_blog&itterm=shopify_unite_2019_announcements


Source: https://www.shopify.co.uk/partners/blog/shopify-unite-announcements-2019


Work with us

Ready to take your business to the next level? We'll help you create the website you deserve.