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Shopify Currency Converter — Guide, Apps, & Best Practices

GemPages Team
Updated:
12 minutes read
Shopify Currency Converter — Guide, Apps, & Best Practices

Imagine if the world had only one currency across all countries!

Wouldn’t it be amazing to sell internationally without ever worrying about currency conversions? Okay, sorry! Let’s not daydream about something that doesn’t seem feasible in the near future.

But currency conversion is an important factor for your sales conversions if you’re selling in multiple countries. So, let’s talk about the solution — Shopify currency converter apps.

In this blog post, we’ll share a detailed guide on Shopify currency conversion solutions and how you can increase your store’s conversion rate.

Let’s get started!

Why Does Your Shopify Store Need a Currency Converter?

Customers can buy products even in a foreign currency if they want to. So, why should you offer a currency converter? Well, the short answer is — it’s all about enhancing the shopping experience with your brand which also leads to other benefits as well.

Here are the benefits of offering a currency converter on your Shopify store:

  • Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO):

CRO is a master plan of strategies aiming at increasing the conversion rate. By offering the preferred currency to your website visitors, you can increase the chance of converting your potential customers into paying customers.

  • Localization of Your Global Store:

When you have customers from different parts of the world, it’s hard to provide them with a localized experience. There are several factors that you can implement to enhance the localized shopping experience, and a currency converter is one such factor. It helps you make it easy for customers to feel like shopping from a local store.

  • Better User Experience:

When you have a currency conversion tool on your Shopify store, customers won’t have to go through the hassle of converting the currency multiple times. Also, it’ll be easier for them to explore a bunch of products without making those quick currency calculations in their minds.

  • Increased Trust and Transparency:

With a currency conversion solution, your customers can figure out exactly how much they need to pay without any unpleasant surprise due to the high currency conversion rate. As a result, this helps you build trust which can also lead to long-term business relationships.

How to Set Up a Currency Converter on Your Shopify Store

Mainly, there are two different methods to set up a currency conversion feature on your Shopify Store:

  1. Set up a currency converter using an app
  2. Use custom code to set up a currency converter

Important note: The second method (custom coding) is complex and requires coding knowledge or experience. That said, you can hire a professional developer to do that for you. But remember, it may cost high and you’ll need to hire a developer again if there’s any bug or major upgrade on your site.

In this guide, we’ll cover the easiest way to do it, i.e., installing a Shopify currency converter app.

Set Up a Currency Converter Using an App

Step #1: Research and Finalize Your App

Shopify App Store has many great apps for currency conversion — it’s really a tough decision to choose one. So, you may need to take some time to finalize which app to go for.

First, go to the Shopify App Store and search “currency converter”. You’ll see multiple different options, and that too with good ratings and reviews.

Comparison of currency conversion apps

By the way, we’ll make this comparison process easy for you in one of the next sections where we’ll review the top currency conversion apps.

Step #2: Install a Currency Converter App

For the purpose of this tutorial, we’ll go with the BEST Currency Converter app. Click the Install button to proceed with the installation process.

BEST Currency Converter app

Review the access permission and click the Install button again.

BEST Currency Converter app installation

Then, the app will require you to choose the plan. We’ll go with the Free plan for this guide. It’ll let you add up to five currencies and you can upgrade to the paid plan if/when needed.

Pricing plans of BEST Currency Converter app

Step #3: Configure the App Settings

As soon as you select the plan, the app will take you to the configuration page. It will have the instructions regarding the next steps you need to follow.

App configuration for Currency Converter app

That said, if you’re not comfortable making those changes on your own, you can get assistance from the app developer. Just click on the “Contact us” link if needed.

3.1 Change the currency formatting

Once you click on setting #1, you’ll see the instructions to change currency formatting.

The in-app guide to change currency formatting

It is to be noted that the above visuals given in the app’s FAQ are a bit outdated as the Shopify settings look slightly different now. (But there’s nothing to worry about as it’s just a slight change in Shopify’s interface. The core settings are still the same.)

Basically, you need to go to the Shopify admin, and then go to Settings > General > Store defaults. Under “Currency display”, click on the three dots and you’ll find an option to “Change currency formatting”.

Add “<span class=money>” before the existing code and “</span>” at the end — in both the “HTML with currency” and “HTML without currency” fields. And then, save the settings.

Change currency formatting setting in the Shopify admin

3.2 Embed the app in your theme

Now, click on the “Embed App” button.

BEST Currency Converter app configuration

Then, click on the “Customize Theme” button.

BEST Currency Converter app configuration

It’ll open your current theme’s “App embeds” section and automatically turn the toggle on. Just click the Save button to ensure the app is enabled on your store.

BEST Currency Converter app configuration

Now, you can also review and change the Design and Price Configuration as per your requirements.

BEST Currency Converter app configuration

Once everything’s configured, make sure to click the Save button.

And that’s it for the configuration part. We’re all set with our currency converter function.

Step #4: Review and Test App Functionality

Whenever you install a new app or make any major changes to your store, you must review and/or test your website to see if everything’s working properly.

As we can see below, our demo store shows the currency converter widget in the header section, and it’s functioning smoothly.

Demo store with currency converter

If you’ve set the default currency per the visitor’s country, you should also test it to see if it’s functioning correctly. Use a VPN to check if the correct currency is shown when visiting your store from different countries.

Not ready to commit but still want to kick the tires?
No problem! Get started with GemPages' free plan. Explore wonderful features that can do wonders for your store.

Best Practices to Create Localized Experience in eCommerce

Currency conversion is a great way to create a localized experience for your customers. However, it’s not just about currency. 

There’s a lot you can do to create a localized experience on your Shopify store in various other ways. Here are some of the best practices you can implement on your store:

  • Local Language

Displaying your website content in a local/regional language helps the target audience to read your content easily. On top of that, it also helps them feel connected with your brand.

  • Content Localization

Displaying or writing content in a local language is one thing, but you could go a step ahead in creating truly localized content through the cultural aspects. For example, connecting the dots with local historical events or sharing content about local personalities.

Visual elements like images and videos also play a crucial role in adding an element of localization.

  • Implement Robust SEO Strategies

Every country may have certain unique elements that they try to search on the internet. For example, if we talk about the sports niche in general, the UK audience is more likely to search for “cricket” than the US audience. 

Research your target audience and their search intent. Then, optimize your website content for local SEO by using relevant topics and keywords.

  • Local Customer Support

Customer support is one of the most important functions to build a strong brand loyalty and customer base. Offering customer support in the local language can make your customers feel more comfortable and speed up the resolutions as well.

How to Increase CRO from Your Landing Page with the Currency Converter App

When we talk about CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization), a landing page is one of the biggest and most effective tools. According to Omnisend research, landing pages have the highest conversion rate, i.e., 23%.

So, we discussed about creating a localized shopping experience for your customers with regional language and content localization.

Now, here’s a pro tip:

If it isn’t feasible for you to go for localization for an entire site, due to lack of budget or resources — you can create a landing page using GemPages to specifically target a certain region. This could also be greatly helpful if you just want to experiment with a new market before going all-in.

GemPages offers a huge library of professionally designed landing page templates. Also, if you’ve already installed a currency conversion app on your store, you don’t have to worry about taking any additional steps to add a currency switcher on your landing page.

GemPages Landing page with a currency converter

Top Shopify Apps for Currency Conversion

As mentioned before, Shopify App Store has plenty of great options to choose from. Here are some of the best currency converter apps for Shopify:

Free Shopify Currency Converter Apps

1. Nova: Multi Currency Converter

While Nova has quite an impressive rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars (1603 reviews), it is still a free currency converter app. It offers currency conversion for over 130+ different currencies.

Nova: Multi Currency Converter app

Key Features of Nova:

  • Automatic & Manual Conversion: Performs automatic currency conversion based on the customer’s location and allows customers to manually switch the currency too.
  • Customizable Branding: Match the currency switcher with your branding by customizing the design and color scheme.
  • Reliable Exchange Rates: Uses Shopify's conversion systems and API to help you with up-to-date currency exchange rates.

Ratings & Reviews:

4.9 Out of 5 Stars (1,603 Reviews)

Pricing: FREE

2. BUCKS Currency Converter PRO++

BUCKS is another great yet free currency converter app that is widely used by thousands of merchants. The app has also earned the “Built for Shopify” badge which shows that it meets Shopify’s quality, design, and performance standards.

BUCKS Currency Converter PRO++

Key Features of BUCKS:

  • Automatic conversion: Just like other apps, it converts currency automatically based on the customer’s location.
  • Instant loader: Offers fast loading speed with instant loaders to enhance the user experience.
  • Checkout conversion: Fully supports Shopify Market for seamless checkout conversions.
  • Customizable branding: Easily customize the currency switcher to match with your branding.

Ratings & Reviews:

4.9 Out of 5 Stars (1,366 Reviews)

Pricing: FREE

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Free + Paid Shopify Currency Converter Apps

3. BEST Currency Converter

BEST is one of the most widely-used currency converter apps on the Shopify App Store. And we’ve already seen this app in action in our step-by-step guide.

BEST Currency Converter app in the Shopify App Store

Key Features of BEST:

  • Location-based automatic conversion: As soon as the customer visits the website, the local currency is displayed automatically depending on the customer’s location.
  • Manual Currency Switcher: Customers have the option to manually switch the currency.
  • Automatic header placement: The app works with any Shopify theme and the currency converter is automatically placed in the header section of your theme.

Ratings & Reviews:

4.7 Out of 5 Stars (9,615 Reviews)

Pricing:

Pricing Plans of BEST Currency Converter

4. Webrex ‑ Currency Converter

Webrex is a Shopify app that not only helps you offer currency conversion but also a language selector. This way, you can provide an enhanced localized shopping experience to your customers.

Webrex ‑ Currency Converter app

Key Features of Webrex:

  • Currency & Language: Offers two dropdown options: Currency converter and language selector.
  • Auto-Detection: Helps automatically convert prices for more than 200 ISO currencies.
  • Shopify Market: Lets you configure Shopify Market and non-market countries.
  • Payment Providers: Whether your store has Shopify Payment or not, it works with all types of payment providers.
  • Fully Customizable: Customize the currency switcher widget with rounding rules and format — and select a custom position as well.

Ratings & Reviews:

4.9 Out of 5 Stars (314 Reviews)

Pricing:

Pricing plans of the Webrex ‑ Currency Converter app

Alt-text: Pricing plans of the Webrex ‑ Currency Converter app

5. Currency Converter Plus

Currency Converter Plus app offers conversion for 222 currencies which also includes cryptocurrencies and precious metals. The app has a “Built for Shopify” badge as well.

Currency Converter Plus app in the Shopify App Store

Key Features of Nova:

  • IP Geolocation: Uses IP geolocation through high-quality IT databases with frequent updates.
  • Latest Exchange Rates: Updates the exchange rates every minute with the help of reliable providers. 
  • Customizable branding: Lets you customize your currency switcher with options for styles, rounding, and the menu button.

Ratings & Reviews:

4.9 Out of 5 Stars (828 Reviews)

Pricing:

Pricing Plans of Currency Converter Plus

Final Thoughts on Currency Conversion

Scaling your business to the global market requires strategies serving multiple different regions. By offering the option to pay in local currency, you can showcase that your brand cares for the customer experience.

It could help grow your business with more sales and revenue. And on top of all that, you could do it with free Shopify apps as well. So, there’s no reason left to not do it.

Learn more about eCommerce marketing and tech solutions through our Blog and join the GemPages Facebook community to network with eCommerce entrepreneurs and experts.

Not ready to commit but still want to kick the tires?
No problem! Get started with GemPages' free plan. Explore wonderful features that can do wonders for your store.

FAQs on Shopify Currency Converter

Does Shopify have a currency converter?
Shopify App Store has many currency converter apps — free as well as paid — that can help you configure a currency converter on your Shopify store. Search ’currency converter’ in the Shopify App Store and you’ll find many great apps.
How do I convert Shopify to USD?
To change your Shopify store's currency to USD, go to the Shopify admin and click Settings. In the General tab, you'll find a section for ’Store defaults’. Under ’Currency display’, click on the three dots, and then click ’Change store currency’. Select the ’US Dollar (USD $)’ option.
How to change Shopify currency?
You can change your Shopify store's currency through Settings in Shopify admin. Go to the General settings tab, you'll find a section for ’Store defaults’. Under ’Currency display’, click on the three dots, and then click ’Change store currency’. Select the currency of your choice.
Can I change my Shopify country?
Yes, you can. However, keep in mind that you also need to consider other critical aspects related to your taxes and other legal requirements.
How do I add two currencies on Shopify?
If you're looking to sell in two or more currencies on your Shopify store, you need to use Shopify Payments and activate the ‘International’ tool. Also, you can use a currency converter app like Webrex which can help you offer multiple currencies even without Shopify Payments.
What should I do to integrate GemPages with a currency converter app?
As for integrating GemPages with a currency converter app, you don’t need to do anything extra. Most popular Shopify apps that offer currency conversion support GemPages natively. They usually work seamlessly with the GemPages price drag-and-drop element, automatically displaying the correct currency based on the user’s location or selection.

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