Mrfqy vs Shopify for Arab stores: local commerce vs global scale
Shopify powers millions of stores worldwide. For Arab merchants, the real question is whether global tooling beats region-native payments, RTL, and pricing.
Shopify is the default global commerce OS — excellent app store, mature themes, and international brand credibility. Arab merchants often adopt it for English-first brands or when targeting Western diaspora. The friction appears at checkout: local payment methods, RTL polish, and governorate-level shipping usually require paid apps, custom theme work, and ongoing maintenance.
Who each platform serves best
Shopify suits merchants selling globally in USD/EUR, D2C brands with agency support, and businesses that need Shopify Payments in supported Western markets. Its ecosystem is unmatched for plugins, ERP connectors, and enterprise workflows.
Mrfqy suits Arab-world-first businesses: Egyptian COD-heavy catalogs, GCC brands needing Tap or HyperPay natively, and sellers who want Arabic admin without hacking theme CSS for RTL. The free Starter tier also removes Shopify's monthly fee while you validate demand.
Influencer-led brands should note audience locale. Shopify shines when your audience buys in dollars from diaspora markets; Mrfqy shines when your audience pays in EGP or SAR with COD and wallets they already trust on local Instagram shops.
Arabic and RTL experience
Shopify supports Arabic translations, but RTL layout quality depends heavily on your theme and custom CSS. Many Arab stores on Shopify invest in developers to fix alignment, numerals, and checkout field order — workable, not free.
Mrfqy ships bilingual EN/AR storefronts with RTL as a platform primitive. Theme builder blocks, product galleries, and checkout address forms respect right-to-left flow on mobile without per-merchant theme surgery.
Numerals and currency display trip many Shopify themes — Eastern Arabic numerals, SAR vs AED symbols, and right-aligned price blocks need explicit QA. Mrfqy handles these as platform defaults, which matters when 80% of sessions are mobile Arabic product discovery.