Do people care about foreign currencies when checking out

[TheManTheGuy]

I'm using Stripe and I'm not using shopify payments, so my store main currency is GBP. And everyone will be checking out in GBP, even though on the product landing page the currency will be converted to the customers currency. Now should I advertise only to UK, since this will be a huge drawback for my sales, or do people from: New Zealand, US, Canada and Australia generally not care about the currency being GBP instead of their own.

[Victor]

Hi @TheManTheGuy,

Offering customers the opportunity to pay for their order in their own currency is certainly beneficial, as it removes any uncertainty around how much the cost will be and the customer won't then be required to concern themselves with exchange rates and conversion fees. A customer from the United States or New Zealand, say, may not know how much an order in GBP is worth in USD or NZD, and this could become a barrier to conversion. You want your checkout process to be as smooth as possible and any confusion around currencies could be detrimental to this.

That said, it's hard to say to what extent this effect is felt. If you're offering currency conversion prior to the checkout then customers will at least have a general idea of the cost to them, and it may become less of an issue depending on what type of products you sell. If the products you're selling are uniquely British, or if it is clear that your store is UK-based when visiting the storefront, then international customers may have less hesitancy when it comes to making their purchase in GBP as it'll be more expected.

As mentioned, it's hard to quantify. This article on the Shopify Plus blog speaks to this in more detail and outlines the benefits of offering multiple currencies on your store, and may give you a better understanding of its importance. 

Are you and your business based in the UK, and do you know if you are eligible to use Shopify Payments?