How Can I Preview Products Available Only in Specific Countries?

[anarepa]

Hello,

I have products in my Shopify store that are only available to customers in certain countries. I'm trying to find a way to preview these products as if I were a customer from those specific locations, but I'm not sure how to do it from my current location. I've tried using the admin preview, but it only shows the products available in my location. Is there a way to simulate being in another country, or a tool that allows me to see what customers in different countries would see when they visit my store?

Thank you!

[DaisyVo]

Hi @anarepa 

I see what you're trying to do, and it's definitely an important step in making sure your store setup works as expected. Since Shopify dynamically displays products based on location, you won’t be able to preview restricted products through the standard admin preview if they aren’t available in your region.

Here are a few solid ways to simulate a customer experience from another country:

1. Use a VPN (Virtual Private Network)

• A VPN lets you change your IP address to another country, allowing you to browse your Shopify store as if you're a customer from that location.
• There are many free and paid VPN services (NordVPN, ExpressVPN, ProtonVPN, etc.). Just set the VPN to a country where your restricted products are available, then visit your store in an incognito/private browser window.

2. Change Your Shopify Markets & Test with a Manual Location Switch

• If you’re using Shopify Markets, try adding a manual subdomain or domain redirect for different regions. Then visit that specific URL to see if the correct products are shown.
• Go to Settings > Markets, set up your markets, and ensure your products are assigned properly.
• If you have country-specific pricing or availability, adjust it under Products > Manage availability to ensure everything is set correctly.

3. Use a Proxy Testing Tool

• If you don’t want to install a VPN, you can use online tools like GeoPeeker or BrowserStack to see your site from different locations. These services give you a real-time preview of how your store looks in various regions.

4. Create a Test Account in Shopify with a Different Shipping Address

• Add a test customer account and set the shipping/billing address to a country where your restricted products should be available.
• Log into the store with that account and check whether the products display correctly.

5. Modify Your Store Theme for Quick Testing (Temporary)

• If you want a quick way to see which products are hidden, you can temporarily disable the country filter in your theme code. This will allow all products to appear regardless of location.
• Go to Online Store > Themes > Edit Code, find the file controlling product visibility (usually product.liquid or collection.liquid), and comment out any country restriction logic. (Make sure to revert this after testing!)

Example Code Adjustment (Temporary Preview Only)

If your theme uses Liquid to restrict products, look for something like this in product.liquid:

{% if customer.country == "United States" %}

   <div>Product Available</div>

{% else %}

   <div style="display: none;">Product Not Available</div>

{% endif %}

To temporarily bypass it for testing, you could comment out the restriction:

{%- comment -%}

{% if customer.country == "United States" %}

{%- endcomment -%}

   <div>Product Available</div>

{%- comment -%}

{% else %}

   <div style="display: none;">Product Not Available</div>

{% endif %}

{%- endcomment -%}

Just don’t forget to undo this when you're done testing!

Final Thoughts

If you're regularly working with country-specific products, I recommend using a VPN or Shopify Markets for the most reliable testing. If you need a quick one-time check, a proxy tool like GeoPeeker is a good option. And if you’re comfortable with theme code, temporarily adjusting the country filter can work too.

If you need extra help, just let me know asap. Thanks
Daisy.