The Challenge — A GCC business serving customers in English only
Design House Dubai sold across UAE, Saudi, and globally — but the store ran in English only with AED prices. Arabic-speaking customers (the majority of GCC traffic) bounced. International buyers couldn't pay in their own currency. The 5% UAE VAT setup wasn't generating compliant invoices with TRN.
Markets Setup (Week 1)
Configured Shopify Markets with 4 markets — UAE (AED, EN/AR), Saudi (SAR, EN/AR), India (INR, EN), USA (USD, EN) — with auto-currency conversion and per-market pricing rules. Activated Arabic locale via Translate & Adapt and translated 480 product titles + 90 collection descriptions.
GCC-ready stack
Plus + Markets + a properly built RTL theme + GCC-native payment methods. The whole nine yards.
- Shopify Plus
- Shopify Markets
- Translate & Adapt
- Liquid (RTL-aware)
- Tabby
- Tamara
- Aramex
- DHL
- UAE VAT (TRN-compliant invoices)
- Saudi ZATCA
- Klaviyo (multi-locale)
Arabic RTL Theme (Weeks 2–4)
Custom Arabic typography with proper line-height and font fallback. RTL layout rebuilt for header, mega menu, product page, cart, and checkout. Bilingual EN/AR toggle prominent in header. Tested on 8 real Arabic-speaking users for cultural and UX feedback before launch.
Best Shopify partner we worked with across MENA. Multi-currency, Arabic RTL, GCC-native payments — all dialled in by people who understood the nuances. Our Saudi conversion rate is now higher than our UAE one.
— Aishah Al Mansouri, Director, The Design House Dubai
VAT + Logistics + Launch
5% UAE VAT setup with TRN-compliant invoices auto-generated on every order. Aramex + DHL integration with live rates. Saudi VAT (ZATCA) compliance for cross-border sales. Tabby + Tamara BNPL integrated for GCC buyers. Launched on a Friday evening (the GCC weekend) with zero downtime.