How to Offer a Smooth Multi-Currency Experience Without Shopify Payments

Our custom currency conversion solution lets merchants set a base currency, define manual conversion rates, and deliver real-time local pricing through a dynamic JavaScript system. Shoppers see product prices instantly converted into their local currency while browsing, creating a seamless global experience. At checkout, transactions remain in the store’s default currency to stay fully compatible with Shopify’s payment workflows.

Challenges

The client faced several challenges that needed to be addressed:

The client wanted to display prices in local currencies and set custom pricing for each market instead of relying on automated currency conversion. However, this was challenging because  Shopify Payments required Shopify Markets to enable market-specific pricing that is not supported in Kuwait, and Shopify also imposes currency change limitations based on the country.

Custom Currency Conversion and Pricing: Solving Shopify’s Global Currency Limitations

For businesses selling across borders, accurate currency conversion is essential. Customers expect to see product prices in their local currency, but Shopify’s built-in features often fall short when it comes to manual pricing control and global currency flexibility.

The Role of Shopify Markets

Shopify introduced Shopify Markets to help merchants manage international sales from one store. With Shopify Markets, businesses can:

• Set up different markets for different regions.
• Configure localized domains and pricing rules for each market.
• Offer regional content and payment options to enhance the local shopping experience.

However, Shopify Markets comes with a big limitation:

• When Shopify Payments isn’t available in a region, currency conversion stays locked to the store’s base currency.
• Even if you define a market for the UK and want prices in GBP, Shopify Markets will keep prices in the base currency if Shopify Payments isn’t supported there.

This leaves merchants without a way to display prices in the local currency for many international customers.

Our client needed a solution that would:

• Set product base prices in one main currency (e.g., Kuwaiti Dinar – KWD).
• Convert prices dynamically into the shopper’s local currency, no matter where they are browsing from.
• Allow custom conversion rates for each product, rather than relying solely on fluctuating live exchange rates.

Since Shopify didn’t provide these features out of the box, our  Shopify expert built a custom currency conversion system for all countries and regions.

Our Custom Solution for Global Currency Conversion

Here’s how we tackled the problem step by step:

Base Currency Setup: 

All product prices were first set in a primary base currency (e.g., KWD, USD, or any currency the client prefers).

Manual Custom Conversion Rates: 

We introduced the option to set custom conversion rates manually. This gave the client control over pricing strategies for specific markets where competitive pricing or rounding rules were required.

Dynamic JavaScript Front-End Conversion:

Using JavaScript, we built a front-end currency conversion system that detected the customer’s location and instantly converted prices into their local currency. This worked for all countries worldwide, providing a consistent experience for global shoppers.

Real-Time Currency Conversion for Product Pages:

• Our custom solution enhances the browsing experience by adding real-time currency conversion directly to product and category pages—something Shopify’s native tools couldn’t fully support.
• Using JavaScript, we built a system that instantly converts product prices into the customer’s local currency as they browse. This allows shoppers to see prices in the currency they’re most comfortable with, making the experience seamless and intuitive.
• It’s important to note that this conversion applies only until checkout. Once a customer proceeds to checkout, Shopify requires all transactions to be completed in the store’s default currency. Also, the checkout can only be accessed based on Shopify plans.
  
• This ensures full compatibility with Shopify’s native payment workflows while still providing customers with the convenience of browsing in their preferred currency.

The Benefits for Global Businesses

• Global Reach: Prices automatically adjust to each customer’s currency, regardless of their country.
• Pricing Flexibility: Manual conversion rates ensure control over pricing beyond standard exchange rates. Shopify stores worldwide, overcoming its native limitations.

Final Thoughts

With this custom currency conversion and pricing solution, we’ve helped businesses expand globally while maintaining full control over how their prices appear in every market.

If your store needs  Shopify multi-currency custom development with flexible pricing strategies, contact us at hello@amwhiz.com to discuss how we can help.