Arabic Shopify stores,
built right-to-left.

Most "Arabic-ready" themes flip the stylesheet and stop. The result is a storefront where the layout is mirrored but the typography is wrong, numbers and prices run the wrong way inside sentences, and the checkout reads like a translation — because it is one. We build in Arabic because we work in Arabic.

What actually breaks in a mirrored theme

• TypographyLatin type scales do not carry to Arabic. Line height that looks generous in English crowds Arabic descenders; font weights that read as confident in Latin read as heavy. An Arabic storefront needs its own type scale, not the same numbers with a different family.
• Bidirectional textPrices, SKUs, sizes and phone numbers are left-to-right runs inside right-to-left sentences. Get the isolation wrong and "199 ر.س" renders as nonsense — usually only in the places that matter, like the cart.
• Directional iconsChevrons, carousel arrows, progress steps and back buttons all have to flip. Logos, play buttons and brand marks must not. A blanket transform gets both wrong.
• Forms and checkoutField order, label alignment, and validation messages that were written to sit to the right of an input. This is where machine-mirrored themes visibly fall apart, and it is the one screen where that costs you the sale.
• Merchandising, not just wordsSizing conventions, address formats, the way a Gulf shopper expects to see delivery framed. Translating the interface is the smallest part of localising a store.

How we build bilingual stores

• One theme, two directionsA single codebase with logical CSS properties, so the Arabic and English storefronts cannot drift apart. Two mirrored themes is the setup that guarantees one of them is out of date.
• Shopify MarketsLanguage and market configuration done properly, so each language gets its own indexable URLs with correct hreflang — rather than a JavaScript switcher that search engines never see.
• Arabic-first reviewThe Arabic storefront is reviewed by an Arabic speaker on a real phone, because that is where bidirectional bugs actually surface.

Shopify, Salla or Zid?

A fair question in Saudi and the UAE, and the honest answer depends on where you sell. Salla and Zid are built around local payment and logistics, and for a purely domestic Saudi store that convenience is real. Shopify wins when you need to sell beyond one market, when you want the app ecosystem, or when you need a storefront that does not look like every other store on the same platform — which is the case for most brands that care how they present.

We build on Shopify. If your situation genuinely points at a local platform, we will say so on the call.

Questions we get asked before signing

Can you write the Arabic copy, or do we supply it?

Either. We write and adapt Arabic copy natively, which is different from translating English — an English product page translated literally reads stiff in Arabic. If you have a copywriter already, we work to their text.

Will one store serve both Arabic and English?

Yes, through Shopify Markets, with each language on its own indexable URLs and correct hreflang so both versions can rank. One theme serves both directions, so there is no second storefront to keep in sync.

Do you handle Gulf payment gateways?

We integrate what your market needs through Shopify Payments and the gateways available in your region. Payment availability is set by Shopify per country, so the practical constraint is your store's country — something worth confirming before design starts, not after.

Our theme claims RTL support already. Is that enough?

Sometimes. Open your cart and checkout on an Arabic phone and look at how prices sit inside sentences, and whether the back arrow points the right way. Those two checks separate genuine RTL from a flipped stylesheet in about a minute.

Do you work with Saudi and UAE brands from Egypt?

Yes — same timezone band, same language, and the entire engagement runs remotely. Most of our Gulf work has never required a flight.

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