To optimize a Shopify checkout for Saudi Arabia, show prices in SAR with VAT included, run the checkout in Arabic, put mada and Apple Pay first, offer Tabby or Tamara and cash on delivery, and collect a valid National Address and a Saudi mobile number. Then state a clear delivery promise and measure each change by market and payment method. The 12 fixes below cover what to change, why it matters and what your Shopify plan allows.
ConversionsKing is a Shopify and Shopify Plus agency in Dubai that does conversion work for stores selling across the GCC. This article covers payments and tax, so treat it as general information, not legal, tax or payment advice, and confirm the details with your provider and adviser.
Key takeaways
- Shopify Payments is not available to businesses based in Saudi Arabia at the time of writing (November 2026). Saudi stores need a third-party gateway for cards and mada.
- mada is the payment method to get right first. It needs a gateway with a Saudi acquirer, and it often reaches checkout through Apple Pay.
- Since 1 January 2026, parcels in Saudi Arabia need a valid National Address. Your address form should collect it.
- Showing SAR is not the same as charging SAR. Only Shopify Payments or Adyen as the primary gateway can charge in the customer’s local currency through Markets.
- Most checkout changes on the information, shipping and payment steps need Shopify Plus. Non-Plus stores still have settings, apps and the thank-you page to work with.
What makes checkout in Saudi Arabia different?
Saudi shoppers buy mostly on phones, many prefer Arabic, and most local bank cards run on mada, the national debit network. First-time buyers often want cash on delivery, and Tabby and Tamara are widely used. On top of that, the Transport General Authority now requires a valid National Address on parcel shipments from January 2026. A default Shopify checkout set up for the UAE or Europe misses several of these points.
If your checkout basics are not in place yet, start with our general Shopify checkout optimization guide. This article covers what is specific to the Kingdom.
Which payment methods work on Shopify in Saudi Arabia?
Shopify’s list of Shopify Payments supported countries includes the UAE but not Saudi Arabia, and Shopify says merchants in unlisted countries need a third-party provider. A UAE-based store with Shopify Payments can sell to Saudi customers, but confirm mada support with Shopify before you rely on it. Shopify also adds a plan-based transaction fee on third-party gateway orders, though not on manual methods such as cash on delivery.
| Method | How it reaches a Shopify checkout | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| mada debit cards | A third-party gateway with a Saudi acquirer, for example the Checkout.com Shopify onsite payments app or Tap’s native checkout app | Checkout.com says you need a merchant ID from a Saudi acquirer, mada must be captured in full, and mada through Apple Pay can only be processed in Saudi Arabia |
| Visa, Mastercard, Amex | Shopify Payments for a UAE-based store, or any card gateway | Authorization rates for Saudi cards on a foreign acquirer |
| Apple Pay | Shopify Payments, or a gateway app that supports it onsite, such as Checkout.com or Tap’s native app | That mada cards stored in Apple Pay are accepted |
| STC Pay | Only if your gateway supports it on Shopify | stc pay is becoming STC Bank, and the Checkout.com and Tap Shopify apps do not list it; ask your gateway |
| Tabby | Tabby’s own Shopify payments app | Per Tabby’s Shopify docs, SAR and AED only, and only billing addresses in KSA and the UAE |
| Tamara | Tamara’s own Shopify payments app | Tamara operates in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain; enable only the markets in your merchant agreement |
| Cash on delivery | Shopify manual payment method or a COD app | Orders arrive unpaid; courier COD fees, refusals and reconciliation |
For BNPL setup and placement, read our Tabby and Tamara on Shopify guide. For COD rules, fees and refusal control, our cash on delivery guide applies to Saudi Arabia too.
12 fixes for a Shopify checkout in Saudi Arabia
Work through these in order. The first six decide whether a shopper can pay; the rest decide whether they trust you.
- Publish Arabic and test the checkout in Arabic on a phone. What to change: publish Arabic as a store language, make sure your theme supports right-to-left layouts, and place test orders in Arabic on iOS and Android. Why: Shopify lists Arabic among the languages with built-in checkout translations, and says the latest Horizon themes support right-to-left. Older or heavily edited themes often break RTL in the cart drawer, which is the step before checkout. Our Arabic Shopify store guide covers the theme side.
- Show SAR prices through Markets, and know whether you can charge in SAR. What to change: create a Saudi Arabia market with SAR prices and rounding that looks local. Why: Shopify’s Markets payments documentation says only stores with Shopify Payments or Adyen as the primary gateway can charge customers in their local currency. With any other gateway, SAR is display only and the charge happens in your store currency. A Saudi-registered store on a local gateway should simply use SAR as its store currency.
- Put mada at the top of the payment step. What to change: connect a gateway that supports mada through a Saudi acquirer and show the mada logo by name, not just a generic card icon. Why: most Saudi bank debit cards are mada cards. If mada transactions fail or the logo is missing, many shoppers assume their card will not work and leave.
- Turn on Apple Pay and test it with a mada card. What to change: enable Apple Pay through Shopify Payments or an onsite gateway app that supports it, then pay with a real mada card stored in Apple Pay. Why: many Saudi iPhone users pay with mada inside Apple Pay, and Checkout.com notes that mada through Apple Pay can only be processed in Saudi Arabia. A wallet that declines mada causes declines with no clear reason for the shopper.
- Add Tabby or Tamara, and show it before checkout. What to change: install the provider’s Shopify payments app, then add its on-site messaging to product and cart pages. Why: shoppers decide on instalments while browsing, not on the payment step.
- Keep cash on delivery, but manage it. What to change: offer COD, use a payment customization app to hide it for very large carts or risky regions, and confirm COD orders by phone or WhatsApp before dispatch. Why: removing COD loses first-time buyers; unmanaged COD fills your returns shelf. Public apps built on Shopify Functions can hide or reorder payment methods on any plan except Starter; custom-built Functions need Plus.
- Collect the National Address or the short address. What to change: edit the address field labels and helper text in the checkout language editor, or add an address extension on Plus, so shoppers enter their building number, street, district, postal code and the 4-letter, 4-digit short address. Why: carriers must reject parcels without a valid National Address under the 2026 rule. A missing address now means a failed delivery, not just a call from the courier.
- Require a Saudi mobile number in a predictable format. What to change: set the shipping address phone to Required in Checkout settings and show an example such as +966 5X XXX XXXX. Why: couriers, COD confirmation, BNPL providers and bank 3-D Secure all depend on reaching the shopper by SMS. Many of those messages carry a one-time password (OTP), and a wrong number blocks the payment itself. Shopify notes that a required phone only applies when checkout has a shipping step.
- Show a delivery promise by city, and name the carrier. What to change: give shipping rates names such as “Riyadh, 1–2 business days, SMSA” rather than “Standard”, and show the same promise on product pages. Why: delivery time is a common reason to abandon checkout. Aramex and SMSA have Shopify apps, and multi-carrier apps such as OTO add SPL (Saudi Post). Promise only what your carrier actually delivers.
- Show prices including 15% VAT, and say so. What to change: price products VAT-inclusive for the Saudi market and add a short line such as “Prices include 15% VAT” near the total. Why: ZATCA sets the standard VAT rate at 15%, and Saudi shoppers expect the price they see to be the price they pay. Tax added on the last step feels like a hidden fee. Ask your tax adviser how this applies to your registration and e-invoicing.
- Show Saudi trust signals in the footer and checkout. What to change: display your e-commerce verification certificate, commercial registration and VAT number, and a returns policy in Arabic. Why: Maroof no longer registers stores. The Ministry of Commerce now points online stores to the Saudi Business Center’s Business Platform (business.sa) for verification, so show that certificate instead. Selling from abroad? Say where you ship from.
- Measure the funnel by market, language and payment method. What to change: set up the reports below before you change anything. Why: without a baseline you cannot tell whether a fix helped or just coincided with a sale.
What can you change in Shopify checkout without Shopify Plus?
Shopify’s checkout apps documentation says apps that customize the information, shipping and payment steps are available only on Shopify Plus. Apps on the thank-you and order status pages work on Basic and higher. In practice:
| Change | Non-Plus plans | Shopify Plus |
|---|---|---|
| Arabic checkout, logo, colours, field settings | Yes, in Settings | Yes |
| Hide, rename or reorder payment methods | Through public App Store apps using Functions | Public or custom apps |
| Extra fields, banners or address validation inside the checkout steps | No | Yes, with checkout UI extensions |
| Thank-you and order status page content | Yes, with apps | Yes |
One trap for bilingual stores: content you add as a static block in the checkout editor is not translated. Shopify’s Checkout Blocks documentation says the editor does not support translations, so an Arabic shopper may see an English banner. Use translatable app content or keep that text out of checkout.
How do you measure checkout conversion for Saudi Arabia?
Compare two sources; neither is perfect alone.
- Shopify analytics. Open the conversion rate breakdown report and filter it to the Saudi Arabia market. It shows sessions, sessions with cart additions, sessions that reached checkout and sessions that completed checkout. Shopify changed how it measures sessions in late September 2026, so do not compare figures across that date without checking the change notes in your admin.
- GA4 through the Google & YouTube app. Google says the app sends begin_checkout, add_payment_info and purchase events, which feed GA4’s checkout journey report. Add a comparison for country = Saudi Arabia and for language, so you can see where Arabic sessions drop.
- Orders by payment method. Export orders by gateway each week. Watch the share of mada, Apple Pay, BNPL and COD, and the COD refusal rate.
- Delivery outcomes. Track failed deliveries and address-related returns from your carrier. These show whether the National Address fix is working.
Change one thing at a time and compare at least two normal weeks, not White Friday, Ramadan or Eid.
When you do not need an agency
Most of the 12 fixes are settings and app installs. With one Saudi market, a gateway that already supports mada and someone who can test in Arabic, you can do this yourself.
An agency is worth it when the hard parts overlap: a store selling from the UAE into Saudi Arabia with two currencies, several gateways and Plus checkout extensions; a custom theme with broken RTL; address validation that has to work in Arabic and English; or a funnel that dropped and nobody can explain why. That is the work our conversion optimization service covers.
FAQ
Is Shopify Payments available in Saudi Arabia?
Not for businesses based in Saudi Arabia, at the time of writing (November 2026). Shopify’s supported countries list includes the UAE but not Saudi Arabia, so Saudi stores use third-party gateways for cards, mada and wallets. Check the list again before you plan, as Shopify adds countries over time.
How do I accept mada on Shopify?
Connect a payment gateway that processes mada through a Saudi acquirer and has a Shopify payments app, such as Checkout.com’s onsite app or Tap’s native checkout app. Expect to need a Saudi acquiring agreement, and test real mada cards, including inside Apple Pay, before you launch.
Should Saudi prices include VAT?
Saudi shoppers expect VAT-inclusive prices at the standard 15% rate, so show the full price and say it includes VAT. Confirm how this applies to your business, invoices and e-invoicing with a tax adviser, since this article is not tax advice.
Do I need the National Address at checkout?
Since 1 January 2026, carriers in Saudi Arabia must reject parcels without a valid National Address. Collect the building number, street, district, postal code and the short address code at checkout, so your carrier can deliver the first time.
If your Saudi checkout converts below your UAE checkout and you are not sure why, tell us about your store and we will review it, or start with a free speed audit of your product and cart pages.
