Run a free gift offer in other currencies and languages

Selling to shoppers in other countries is one of the best things that can happen to a small store. It also quietly breaks a lot of promotions. A banner that says "free gift over a set amount" is easy to write in one currency and one language. The moment a shopper in another country opens the cart, three questions appear. What does that amount mean in my money? Do I understand what the offer says? And will it actually work for me at checkout?

A free gift offer that only makes sense to your home market is half an offer. This article walks through what has to travel with the shopper, and how a minimum spend gift offer made with Giftproof, a Shopify app built for this one job, handles it.

#The money question: what does the minimum mean abroad?

You set one minimum, in your store currency. A shopper browsing in a different currency still needs a minimum that makes sense to them. If you did the conversion by hand, you would need to keep updating it as exchange rates move, and you would end up with odd looking amounts that change without warning.

Giftproof leaves that to Shopify. For a shopper paying in another currency, the minimum is converted at Shopify's exchange rate. You think in one number, and the shopper meets the same goal expressed in their own money. The gift is added when their cart, in their currency, reaches that converted minimum.

Two practical points follow from that:

• Enter the minimum in your store currency. The field says so, and the conversion happens for you.
• Expect converted amounts to look a little different from what you would pick by hand. A converted minimum follows the exchange rate, so it may not land on a tidy number. That is the trade for not having to maintain a price list per currency.

A promise that reads clearly in the shopper's own money and words is a promise they trust.

#The words question: can the shopper read the offer?

Money is only half of it. The progress message, the short line that tells shoppers how much more they need to spend, is the most important sentence in the whole offer. If it is in a language the shopper does not read, the offer might as well not exist.

Giftproof ships built in text for the progress message in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese. If your store is published in one of those languages, shoppers browsing in it see the message in that language. You can also write the message in your own words, which is useful when you want a specific tone, a brand phrase, or a language that is not on the built in list.

The checkout message is also in the shopper's language for the same set of languages. That matters more than it sounds. If something is wrong at checkout, a shopper who cannot read the message is likely to leave. A short line in their own language, asking them to return to the cart and remove the gift, keeps the moment calm instead of confusing.

#Setting it up so the pieces match

A few habits make an international gift offer feel solid.

1. Check which languages your store is published in. The built in text follows the languages your store offers, so start there. A language you want to serve has to be on the store first.
2. Add the progress message block. In the theme editor, add the Giftproof progress block to your cart page, or your product page. On some themes, such as Dawn, the cart page needs it added through an Apps section.
3. Decide whether to use your own words. Built in text is a good default. If you write your own, write it in each language you serve, since a custom message replaces the built in one.
4. Look at the cart in other languages and currencies. Switch the storefront to a second language and a second currency, and read the message the way a shopper would.
5. Run the checks. Use the cart tester and Diagnostics to look for setup problems before the offer meets a shopper.

#What a good international offer looks like

Think about what an overseas shopper sees. They open the cart. Beneath the items they read a short line, in their language, telling them how much more to spend in their own currency. They add one more item. The gift appears. At checkout, nothing surprises them.

That small journey is what makes an offer feel generous instead of fiddly. A shopper who felt looked after in their own language has a reason to come back.

#What to say plainly on your own pages

Honest copy helps. A few lines to consider on your offer page or in your FAQ:

• State the minimum in your store currency, and mention that shoppers in other currencies see it converted at Shopify's exchange rate.
• Say that the gift is added to the cart when the cart reaches the minimum, and that it comes off again if the cart drops below it.
• Mention that the offer works through the cart. Express checkout buttons on a product page, such as Buy it now, skip the cart, so those orders do not get the gift.

None of these lines needs to be long. One clear sentence per point is enough, and it answers the messages you would otherwise get from puzzled shoppers.

#A word on testing

Test the offer in more than one currency and language before you promote it. Build a cart just under the minimum and just over it, and check that the gift and the message behave. Look out for a theme where the cart drawer needs a page refresh to show the gift, because it is better to find that on your own screen. Your admin looks the same whatever the shopper sees, so the storefront is where the test matters.

#The takeaway

A free gift offer earns trust when it speaks the shopper's money and the shopper's words. Enter your minimum once, in your store currency, and let it convert at Shopify's exchange rate. Use the built in progress message for the languages your store offers, or write your own. Then look at the cart the way an overseas shopper would, and fix anything that reads oddly.

To see how Giftproof handles a minimum spend gift offer, take a look at Giftproof. It is coming soon to the Shopify App Store.