Using the Geolocation app

The Geolocation app makes language and country recommendations to your customers based on their geographic location and browser or device language. It also has an option to display a country selector in the footer of your online store that enables your customers to choose their language and country or region. Customers can accept a recommendation or use the country selector to browse your store in their preferred language and check out in their preferred currency based on the country or region selected.

After a customer accepts or dismisses a recommendation for a different country or region, they aren't presented with another recommendation on your store for 14 days. If the customer clears their cookies, then this wait time is reset. Language recommendations are displayed in every new session.

After you add your first country or region, multiple currencies are activated and the Geolocation app is automatically added to your Shopify store. If necessary, you can install the Geolocation app manually. When the Geolocation app is installed automatically, country and language recommendations are activated by default. However, you need to activate country selectors so that your customers can choose their country and language when they visit your online store.

Requirements for using the Geolocation app

To use the Geolocation app, your store must meet the following requirements:

The Geolocation app offers recommendations for only the languages and countries that you activate within International.

Install the Geolocation app manually

If the Geolocation app doesn't install automatically, then you can install it manually.

Steps

  1. Go to the Geolocation app page in the Shopify App Store.
  2. Click Add app. If you aren't logged in to your Shopify account, then you're prompted to log in.
  3. Click Install app.

Show location and language recommendations to your customers

Country and language recommendations are automatically enabled when the Geolocation app is installed. For example, if your store is based in the United States, then your default country is the United States, where prices are displayed in USD and your default language is English. If you create a market for France that sells in Euros and French, then the Geolocation app recommends that visitors from France select France and the French language to display your store in Euros and French. If you don't have these country and language options enabled, then your store remains in your default country currency and language settings.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.
  2. Click Geolocation.
  3. Click Open app.

  4. In the Recommendations section, check Show recommendations.

  5. Click Save, and then click Save again.

When you enable recommendations, all published languages and currencies are displayed to your customers by default. If you uncheck Show recommendations, then all recommendations are removed.

Customize recommendation settings

By default, the Geolocation app automatically detects and matches the theme colors used on your online store. If you want to change how the recommendations are displayed to your customers, then you can customize the color settings for your recommendations.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.
  2. Click Geolocation.
  3. Click Open app.

  4. In the Recommendations section, click Customize.

  5. Click the color swatch that you want to change.

  6. Choose a color by using the color picker, or enter a hex code.

  7. Click Save.

Previewing country and language recommendations

You can preview your country and language recommendations in the Geolocation app before you publish them on your store.

If you're located in your store's default country or region, then you need to use a VPN service to simulate browsing from other countries or regions before you can preview recommendations. For example, if you want to preview your recommendations from the United States, and your store uses the United States and English by default, then you need to use a VPN service to simulate browsing from another location. Otherwise, no recommendations are displayed because the store already matches your preferences.

Show country and language selectors

Country and language selectors enable your visitors to select their language and country or region at any time.

If your online store uses a theme that has country and language selectors built in, such as Dawn, then you don't need to enable country and language selectors in the Geolocation app.

If your theme doesn't have built-in country and language selectors, then you can use the Geolocation app to add them to the footer of your online store.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.
  2. Click Geolocation.
  3. Click Open app.

  4. In the Selectors section, check Show selectors.

  5. Optional: Click Customize, and then select a footer position for the country and language selectors.

  6. Click Save.

If you uncheck Show selectors, then the selectors are removed.

Uninstall the Geolocation app

  1. From your Shopify admin, click Settings > Apps and sales channels.

  2. Click Remove.

After the Geolocation app is uninstalled, you don't need to remove any unused code snippets from your theme template.

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