A user planning to launch a skincare business in the UAE is concerned about Shopify’s limited features in the region, particularly the absence of Shopify Payments, third-party calculated shipping rates, and shipping discounts. The main worry is increased costs—paying both standard credit card fees and additional gateway fees (totaling approximately 4.9% + 30¢ per transaction).
Recommended Solutions:
Use local/regional payment gateways like Tap, PayFort, Paytabs, or Stripe to reduce fees
For calculated shipping rates: upgrade to Advanced Shopify, add the feature for $20/month, or choose yearly billing to get it free
Integrate shipping carriers (Aramex, DHL, FedEx) through apps like Multi Carrier Shipping Label
Consider 3PL warehouses (Automyze, Farfill, IQ Fulfillment) that connect to Shopify for inventory and fulfillment management
Additional Limitations:
Shop Pay may be unavailable, local carrier integration can be challenging, and VAT setup isn’t fully automated.
Consensus:
Despite missing features, multiple users confirm Shopify remains viable for UAE businesses due to its ease of use, scalability, and available workarounds through third-party apps and services. Many UAE companies successfully operate on the platform.
Summarized with AI on October 29.
AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
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?
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.
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?
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.
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.
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!
I hope you have chosen the right solution for you and the store is all set!
Regarding the Carrier-calculated shipping feature; there is no need for you to upgrade to Advanced Shopify plan to avail this. There are two other options to enable this in your store;
Add this feature for an additional $20/month on your current Shopify plan
Choose a yearly subscription for your current Shopify plan, with which you can get this option for free.
Along with this feature, you can use an app like Multi Carrier Shipping Label that helps you integrate with top shipping carriers like Aramex, DHL, FedEx, and many more for shipping from UAE.
HI! I’m facing the same problems with Uae payments getaways and shipping methods? If you find any solutions for this problem, can you please share with me, because I’m about to give up Shopify, because it is so comlicated to solve this problems in UAE?
Is it enough to use only Stripe app as payment getaway for Shopify payment in UAE?
How can I arrange courier to pick up and delivery to my customer if I cannot use Shopify DHL? What exactly are my steps to arrange and make shipping possible, to be calculated on my Shopify online store?
If you have a Stripe account that solution works regardless your store’s location-country and supports many payment methods supported by your Stripe account >> https://lnkd.in/diJN5YcB
You are correct that Shopify in the UAE does not have some important features such as Shopify payments, third-party calculated shipping rates and shipping discounts.
In addition to that Shop Pay may not be available, there could be challenges integrating with local carriers and setting up VAT might not be fully automated.
As a result users will incur extra charges (for example 2% + gateway charges) and have to find ways of shipping manually.
Nevertheless, Shopify remains an excellent option because of its simplicity, scalability, as well as a wide range of applications available (for instance; pay tabs for payment, shipment through Shippo).
It could also prove expensive given that many companies manage with it fine in the UAE.
