Adding Tabby and Tamara to Shopify: a UAE and Saudi setup guide

Buy now, pay later is now a normal part of checkout in the Gulf. Shoppers in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh are used to seeing Tabby and Tamara on product pages, and many of them look for those logos before they decide where to buy. If your Shopify store sells to the UAE or Saudi Arabia and you do not offer instalments, some of those shoppers will go to a store that does.

This guide covers how BNPL works for shoppers in the region, how each provider connects to Shopify, where to place the on-site messaging, what each provider needs from your store, and how to present instalments so they help conversion rather than clutter the page. Everything here is based on the providers’ own Shopify documentation at the time of writing. Both providers update their apps often, so check the current docs before you go live.

How BNPL works for UAE and Saudi shoppers

From the shopper’s side, the flow is simple. They pick Tabby or Tamara at checkout, go to the provider’s hosted payment page, get an instant decision and pay the first instalment. The provider collects the remaining instalments from the shopper’s card.

• Tabby offers Pay in 4, which it describes as four interest-free payments, plus longer plans of up to 12 monthly payments. According to Tabby’s pay later page, a service fee may apply to the shopper on plans with more than four payments.
• Tamara says shoppers can pay in up to four instalments and promotes no late fees.

For you as the merchant, the important point is that the provider makes the credit decision and collects the instalments. Your job is to connect the payment method correctly, show it early in the journey, and keep your order data clean so settlements reconcile.

Before you start: accounts and contracts

Neither app works on its own. You need an approved merchant account with each provider before installing anything.

• Tabby: register through Tabby’s merchant portal (there are separate UAE and KSA portals), complete your business details and get your live API keys.
• Tamara: apply as a Tamara partner or contact their commercial team. Tamara’s Shopify page says applications go on a waiting list and the team responds within a few business days.

Merchant fees for both providers are not published as a public price list, so you will agree them during onboarding. Make sure your contract covers every market you sell to. A country mismatch between your contract and the shopper’s billing address is one of the common reasons Tabby lists for checkout errors.

Connecting Tabby to Shopify

Tabby has an official payment app in the Shopify App Store. The setup in Tabby’s Shopify documentation goes like this:

1. Install the Tabby payment app from the Shopify App Store.
2. In the app settings, paste your live public and secret API keys from the Tabby merchant dashboard.
3. Create the webhooks Tabby asks for under Settings, Notifications, Webhooks. These cover order, transaction, checkout and product events, in JSON format on the latest API version.
4. Copy the webhook verification code Shopify generates and save it in the Tabby settings.
5. Activate the payment method.
6. Make sure test mode is off, email is enabled as a customer contact method, and phone number is required on shipping addresses.

Do not skip the webhooks. Tabby uses them to update order numbers, pass phone numbers and order lines, and read product category and brand data. Without them, shoppers may be asked to type their phone number again on Tabby’s page, which adds friction at the worst moment.

Tabby limitations worth knowing

• Tabby accepts orders for billing addresses in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, in AED and SAR. Shoppers from other countries will see an error, so hide Tabby for them using Shopify checkout customisations.
• Multi-currency stores are supported, but you need to switch on multi-currency processing in the Tabby settings.
• Stock is not locked while the shopper is on Tabby’s page. Turn on the Check Inventory Stock setting, which needs inventory tracking on and overselling off.
• Edits made to an order in Shopify after purchase do not sync back to Tabby, so handle changes through refunds rather than order edits.
• Tabby orders are captured automatically, and refunds are started from the Shopify admin.
• The payment app cannot add order tags. If your fulfilment process relies on tags, use Shopify Flow.
• The hosted checkout runs on Tabby’s own domain, so update any analytics referral exclusions to stop it breaking your attribution.

Connecting Tamara to Shopify

Tamara’s official app is listed as Tamara Split Payments. Tamara says the app itself has no extra cost and needs no coding. The installation steps in Tamara’s Shopify payment app guide are:

1. Open the Tamara Split Payments listing in the Shopify App Store and add it to your store.
2. On the activation screen, leave the Enable test mode box unticked. Tamara’s docs say it is not supported.
3. Click Activate, then check that Tamara appears under Settings, Payments.
4. Complete the configuration steps in Tamara’s documentation.

Tamara’s Shopify page also sets out its settlement options. Weekly settlements are paid every Tuesday, and settlements under 2,500 AED or SAR carry a 25 AED or SAR bank transfer fee. Settlement terms can change, so confirm them in your contract.

A note on Shopify’s own transaction fees

Tabby and Tamara connect as third-party payment methods. Shopify’s help centre says third-party transaction fees apply to transactions processed through third-party and alternative payment gateways. The rate depends on your Shopify plan, and you can see it under Settings, Payments. Include it, along with the provider’s merchant fee, when you work out the real cost of each BNPL order.

Adding on-site messaging to product and cart pages

Adding the payment method only puts BNPL in the last step of checkout. Many shoppers decide much earlier, on the product page. Both providers offer widgets that show the instalment amount next to the price.

Tabby snippets

Tabby provides theme app blocks. In the theme editor, open the default product template, add an app block and choose Tabby Installments, then drag it just below the price. For the cart, open the cart template and add the Tabby cart block near the totals. If your theme shows the instalment amount wrongly, Tabby offers a no-price version of the block that hides the figure. Themes without app block support can use a manual snippet file instead. The widget picks up your store language from Shopify, so Arabic and English storefronts work without extra settings.

Note that the snippets do not switch Tabby on as a payment method. Tabby must already be live at checkout before you add them.

Tamara widgets

Tamara’s Shopify widget is set up through the theme code. You create a snippet file named tamara.liquid, paste Tamara’s widget code into it, and set your country code (SA or AE) and public key. Then, in the theme editor, add a Custom Liquid block to the product information section that renders the snippet, and place it below the price as Tamara recommends. The widget follows your store’s locale for language.

Tamara’s Shopify widget guide covers the product page. If you also want the widget on the cart, ask your Tamara account manager for the correct cart setup rather than copying the product code, which reads the product price.

CRO best practice for instalment messaging

BNPL messaging is a conversion tool, so treat it like any other element on a key page. Some practical rules:

• Place it next to the price. Both providers recommend just below the price. Do not hide it in a tab, the footer or an accordion.
• Keep it to one line. If you offer both providers, two large widgets stacked under the price can push the add to cart button down, especially on mobile. Check the product page on a small phone with both widgets showing and make sure the button stays visible without scrolling too far.
• Check the numbers. Instalment amounts must update when the shopper picks a different variant, and must be correct with discounts and multi-currency pricing. A wrong figure damages trust. If it cannot be fixed, use a no-price version.
• Match the checkout. Do not show a BNPL widget on products, markets or cart values where that method will not be offered at checkout. Shoppers who expect instalments and then do not find them may leave.
• Support both languages. Arabic shoppers should see Arabic messaging. Test the right-to-left layout so the widget does not break your price block.
• Watch page speed. Each widget loads its own script. Measure the product page before and after adding them, and remove leftover code from old BNPL apps.
• Order your payment methods deliberately. Use Shopify checkout customisations or a Functions-based app to set the order and visibility of payment methods. Legacy Shopify Scripts are no longer the route for this.
• Measure it properly. Track BNPL share of orders, average order value and conversion rate by device and market. If you can, test widget placement or copy rather than assuming the first version is the best one.

A quick go-live checklist

• Merchant accounts approved, with every market you sell to included in the contract.
• Payment apps installed, live keys added and test mode off.
• Tabby webhooks created and the verification code saved.
• Phone number required at checkout and email enabled as a contact method.
• BNPL hidden for countries the providers do not support.
• Product and cart widgets placed under the price and tested in English and Arabic, on mobile and desktop.
• A real low-value test order placed and refunded, so you can confirm the order, refund and settlement flow end to end.
• Analytics referral exclusions updated for the providers’ checkout domains.

Getting help with your setup

Tabby and Tamara are straightforward to install, but the details matter: webhooks, market rules, theme placement and mobile layout. If you would like a second pair of eyes, ConversionsKing works with Shopify and Shopify Plus stores across the Gulf. You can read about our conversion optimisation service or learn more about working with our Shopify agency in Dubai.