Shopify from UAE- is it worth it?

[sk94]

Hi

I have a skincare company under the works that I am planning to launch in about 5 months and I am looking to get my hands on an ecommerce store like Shopify.

However, I am operating from the UAE and just because of this reason, Shopify doesn't allow features like Third-party calculated shipping rates, Shipping discount, Shopify Payments, and a few more. This is really putting me off from subscribing to Shopify! I'm most pressed about Shopify Payments as now I have to pay online credit card rates AND additional fees for using other payment providers!

Can you please tell me if there are any other features that will not be available to me because I'm in the UAE?

Do you think it is a good idea to consider Shopify because of the non-availability of these features? Do you have a lot of clients from the UAE?

Thanks a ton.

[JHKCreate]

Hi @sk94 !

Regarding the issues you've mentioned they really shouldn't stop you from using Shopify. The ease of maintance and relative ease of setup should outweigh any missing features.

For Calculated Rates at Checkout you would need the Advanced Shopify Plan along with an app like Aramex or DHL for this to be operational, nothing else.

For the payment gateways, choosing a local or regional gateway goes a long way in padding those costs, like Tap or PayFort for example.

Cheers!

[sk94]

Hi @JHKCreate,

Thanks for your reply.

I'm sorry but I am not in a position to use the Advanced Shopify Plan as it is a small business that I am yet to launch. Can you please explain what exactly this feature is? Calculated rates at checkout?

And about padding the payment gateways costs, do you mean that if I choose a local gateway, I would supposedly have to pay a fee lesser than 2%? But hasn't Shopify partnered with almost all the payment gateways available in UAE? 

So basically in total, the total fees that I have to pay Shopify for the Basic plan is 2.9% + 30c + 2%= 4.9% + 30c for every transaction. Is this right or is there more?

Thanks in advance, appreciate it!

[MySandaly]

I'm starting a business from UAE as well, and I suggest you to look into Paytabs or Payfort as payment gateway, while if you have the possibility check for a 3PL warehouse to manage your inventory, packing and deliveries, as they have software in place for this and are all connected to Shopify.

Another option is opening a company in the US using Stripe Atlas for payment procedures and all, but I'm not really an expert on that so I don't go further explaining.

It is indeed unfortunate Shopify Payments is not available here, but need to cope with that and find an alternative.

[sk94]

Hi @MySandaly,

Thanks a lot for your reply.

So I can choose any 3pl warehouse in Dubai and they can be connected to Shopify?

Can you please suggest any good 3pl warehouses that you know of in the UAE? I'm just confused as to which ones are good considering it's such an important aspect.

Thanks a lot!

[MySandaly]

Automyze, Farfill, IQ Fulfillment...there are more but these 3 I guess are the main players.

I will go with Automyze, but it's just a matter of personal preference. IQ Fulfillment is a high tech warehouse, with robots doing all the storage, pick/pack, printing labels and so on...incredible!

[sk94]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions!
Robots doing fulfilment? Oh my God, that IS incredible! I'll have a look into it.

Thanks so very much for your help, I appreciate it