Despite the fact that the main language of the platform is English, you can create an online store in any other language on Shopify, but with some restrictions. Let's consider in order what and how can be translated into your domestic in Shopify.
Is there full support for a domestic language in Shopify?
Shopify is a Canadian-based company and is currently the second most popular e-commerce platform in the world. Despite this, only in 2018 did Shopify announce the availability of the store's administrative panel in 5 new languages (excluding English). And now the admin panel is available in 20 languages. But this does not mean that Shopify is available in your domestic language soon. Its a complicated a bit.
One of Shopify's core values is providing highly qualified customer support. This means that in any language available on the platform, users can contact Shopify support, find the necessary help information, chat on the forum, participate in company events, access video tutorials, and much more - all in their native language. Therefore, the appearance of the each language may require a lot of effort from the Shopify team.
Another factor that is holding back Shopify's development in domestic segments is the need for carriers and payment systems in the local market that are ready to work internationally according to international standards.
What is available in the Shopify store in domestic language?
Despite the uncertainty of the prospects for a domestic-speaking entrepreneur, there is no need to be upset, because the language restrictions only concern the internal organization of the store. You can create a Shopify store in you language, and your store users may not even know that they are buying products on a foreign e-commerce platform. As a store owner, you will be affected by some restrictions:
- The store's administrative panel will be in English (or any other officially presented language).
- Communication with support of apps installed in the store will have to be conducted in English.
To answer the question of what is available in Shopify in domestic language in detail, it is worth dividing the Shopify store ecosystem into several components:
- Shopify store administration panel.
- Store theme (the website your customers see).
- Apps installed in the store.
- Store content.
- Email notifications received by buyers or registered users.
These components are closely interconnected, but they work functionally independently, so the ability and method of translating content and interface into domestic language differs.
Shopify Admin Panel
The Shopify administrative panel is represented by two dozen languages of the world, among which lot languages are not yet available.
Shopify store theme in Domestic lamguage
There are a huge number of themes in the Shopify store, but they cannon cover lot languages. Any theme can be translated into any language yourself, and there is a built-in convenient tool for this. This is what it looks like:
But if you are satisfied with the capabilities of one of the free Shopify themes, then the Shopify team has already prepared the translation for lot of languages. All you have to do is activate it.
In this article, we wrote how you can activate a domestic language in a Shopify theme or translate it yourself.
Shopify apps in Domestic language
Since the main language in Shopify is English, app developers primarily focus on it when creating their products and subsequent support for their customers. But developers also understand that Shopify stores work in many other languages, so in most cases, they leave the option to translate all the content of the application into any language convenient for visitors. This can be done from the application settings.
If there is no translation section in the app settings, you should contact the support of the specific app directly with a request to clarify the possibility of translation.
Shopify store content in Domestic language
Description and name of products, contents of store pages, articles of your blogs – all of this can initially be written in Domestic language.
Even the URL names of your pages can be in Domestic language. But if you care about the purity of URL names, it is better to write them in English, which is familiar for search engines. You can do this in the SEO settings of each page, product, collection:
Postal notices in Domestic language
Shopify email notifications are available in several dozen languages. They are translated automatically according to the language selected in the store's settings.
Multilingual Shopify Store
The problem of the lack of a native language in Shopify is not new. Residents of many countries are trying to add their language, if not to the platform interface, then at least to the website for visitors of their online stores.
If several languages are used in a country or a store trades in the markets of several countries, then the issue of the store’s multilingualism is of primary importance.
You can solve this problem (add a new additional language to your store) by installing the application. This allows you to easily manage the translation of all store content from one place, saving you from the associated difficulties.
The downsides of using apps are the additional cost of using them and the increased weight of the site code, which results in a slight increase in page loading time.
Conclusion
If your goal is to create a Shopify store for domestic-speaking users, and you have a basic knowledge of English, then you can easily create a Shopify store without waiting for the official addition of your language to the Shopify platform.
Language difficulties you will encounter – store management and app support correspondence will only be available in English.